Defection

It had been five days since Eragon had rescued the Varden host. Over the last five days rumors were spreading among the camp among what had happened on that day. Everyone thought surely after Roran gave his talk that the Varden resistance was going to end right then and there. The only person who knew who had really rescued them was Roran. There were numerous rumors among the camp. The three most prominent ones, were that Eragon had come to help them, which was correct. But people did not believe it because one, the could not believe a rider could reek so much destruction in 10 minutes. The other rumor was that a rider of the old order had returned to help them, far stronger than Eragon. And the third rumor was that the Gods had shown there displeasure to the empire and were finally aiding the Varden.

Roran was not sure what to do, or if he should dispel the rumors. Recruitment levels had been a tad higher in the five days since the pseudo last stand. Many of the Surdan tribes who had not already joined the rebellion joined them when they heard of the victory. Roran ordered the tribes of Surda to take Melian. His spies had told him Melian was poorly defended and could be taken with ease. It was optional to take Melian, but Roran decided that it would be best so that the empire could not flank them from the rear on the march to Dras Leona.

He was in his commanders tent. He had a simple, brown chair, and a mirror in the room. There was also his cot. He also had a new table put in. The dwarves had given him one carved from stone. It was a sturdy table, and would not break. It was also very heavy, though it was moved with magic. He summoned 3 pages to summon the three other leaders.

20 minutes later, they arrived. The reasons Roran wanted to speak with them were three fold. He wanted a report on their numbers since the fight. Also, they were getting close to Dras Leona, and he was hearing rumors of another group of soldiers coming from the east. It was not General Dinja and his group, as they had returned to Uru Baen. Lasty, Roran wanted to talk to them about the rumors. He started,

"Before we discuss anything else, I wanted to know our troop count. If Orrin can confirm this, our last count was about 1,000 humans after the fighting with Dinja."

"That is correct Roran, in addition we have 300 elite cavalry still alive." Orrin confirmed.

"The second batch of dwarves arrived yesterday Stronghammer. Our numbers are at 10,000. The remainder of the dwarven race shall join us after we have taken Dras Leona posibly."

"I currently have 1500 rams under my command, and more of our race shall join us after Dras Leona." Nar Garhzvog grunted.

Roran thought for a moment. The elven host, though small, was deadly. It was just under 10,000 after they massacred the group opposing them. The Varden coalition was at around 13,000 at the moment. That would make for a total of 23,000 soldiers. Plus, two riders. He hoped it would be enough to capture Dras Leona. Roran then inquired about what to do about Dras Leona. Orrin, being the brain trust, suggested, "I would think it is best we wait until the siege itself. The elves may have something planned." The leaders agreed.

Roran then addressed the final thing he wanted to speak about. The rumors. "I would like to hear about what you all thought of what happened 5 days ago. I know what really happened, but I first want to know what you heard."

Orik started, "The rumor among the dwarves is the Gods have intervened. Most of mine people are saying Guntera is strking down our enemies."

Orrin stated a similar story, "My story is similar to that of Orik's, only the Surdans think it was Gokura.

Nar Garhzvog said in his rough voice, "The Urgralga, or urgals as you call us, believe the same thing."

Roran stared at them all. The majority of the people thought it was divine intervention. He then said, "It was not a God that intervened on our behalf 5 days ago." The three leader's eyes grew wide. "It was Eragon." Roran then went into his story of how he had felt his cousin break his mind and explain the story. Orik then stated with shock,

"But how is that possible?! He killed all the magicians and a thousand of their soldiers by himself?!" His jaw seemed to be so big that his beard was touching the ground.

"Perhaps he has learned something else among the elves, or he was aided by Arya." Orrin stated. They nodded in agreement. Roran then inquired to them if they should dispel the rumor or not. Orrin, in his intellect said,

"It does not matter, either way it is a win win situation for us." He started babbling on and on. The only phrase Roran decided to listen to was, "If we let the rumors stay, morale and recruitment go up because people will think the Gods favor us, if we dispel them, then morale and recruitment still go up because people will hear of Eragon's might."

"He covered everything I wanted to say," Orik said.

"Alright then, assemble the troops." Roran decided to tell them what happened. It was chance to build trust with the soldiers. On top of that he felt that the soldiers should know the truth.

30 minutes later, they were assembled at the east side of camp. Roran wanted them to be ready incase the rumors of the eastern contingent soldiers was true. He was on Snowfire. He was pacing back and forth as he spoke.

"Most of you have heard rumors pertaining to what happened 5 days ago. I am here to dispel them." The soldiers shook with excitement. "It was not any God of any sort. It was not Gokura, not the Urgal gods, and not Guntera." The soldiers all had shocked looks on their face. "It was Eragon. He contacted me through his mind but wished to stay hidden." Roran guessed that Eragon stayed hidden because he did not want to stay long, and Eragon did not want to confront him yet about the horrible things he said. The soldiers looked on in disbelief and joy. "He has grown powerful! And together he and Arya will lead us to victory!" The Varden cheered with joy. It seemed to Roran they were even happier knowing their rider had grown powerful.

The cheers were drowned out by war horns. The faces immediately turned to despair. Roran's face had a scowl on it. He said, "Captains at the center immediately!" They all rode to him. Orik, Orrin, and the Urgal leader came as well. Roran was about to give out a battle plan.

Before he could though, they could see the host on the horizon. Orrin pointed out, "They are waving a flag of truce. Should we speak with them?"

"It could be a trap." Orik pointed out.

"We should, if we attack them in cold blood rumors will spread of our cruelty and may lower our recruitment numbers." Roran said. He continued, "On top of that, that is a bigger group then the one we fought a few days ago. If we attack them, we will lose. We should stick with diplomacy at the moment. We are too weak to fight on an open field until we reach the elves." The leaders agreed,

They saw a man upon a white horse ride out to the center with 3 others. Roran and the other leaders met him. The man spoke.

"I am Lieutenant Benedict of the Empire. We would like to speak with you about joining your cause." Roran and the other leaders gaped in amazement.

Orik, atop his pony, said roughly, "And how do we know we can trust you?"

Benedict continued speaking. "My company was heading towards Uru Baen. Galbatorix was going to cast the spells which would make us feel no pain against our will. We were supposed to be heading there 5 days ago. All of us did not like the concept of a man manipulating with our bodies. On top of that, we have seen the atrocities he has comitted. We have seen through the propaganda he has thrown around.

We are a tiny fraction of his core army. We are 7,000 strong. Some have put the amount of soldiers in his elite army at between 50,000 and 100,000, supplemented by conscripts. It is a large range, as we have never been revealed the official number.10,000 conscripts guard Dras Leona, with no core troops. Galbatorix is having them all gather at Uru Baen. He knows you plan to march there after Dras Leona.

As I stated earlier, my company did not want to be manipulated into soldiers without pain, and we did not want to fight for a mine who forced those to do things against their will. The last few days we considered assisting you. We marched here as fast as we could. We heard that an unseen force aided you in the battle and helped you win. That cemented us in our resolve to join your cause." Lieutenant Benedict ended his talk.

Roran talked among the leaders. After much debate, they concluded that they would let them join only after they could look at the minds of Benedict and his captains. Roran inquired, "How many captains and magicians are among you?"

"I have 23 captains, and I have 100 magicians among us." Benedict replied.

"Bring them here, we want to search their minds as well as yours."

Roran looked to the Varden, and asked for every person who was fluent in mind touching to come forward. Captain Garven, Angela, and 20 dwarven magicans who had come in the second batch of troops came forward. Roran instructed them to search their minds for any malice, and then to make them swear oaths in the ancient language that they meant no harm to the Varden and her allies. Luckily the dwarven magicians knew how to say the phrase.

It took 30 minutes to search the minds of all the captains. Everyone was shaking with fear and excitement. Some still suspected it was a trap. When Roran was satisfied, he then told the captains to make their soldiers say the same oath as Roran watched. They did so. When Roran was satisfied they meant no bodily harm to the Varden, he went back to Benedict. He said, "Welcome to the Varden. I am going to give you the rank of lieutenant as my second in command. You will be subordinate to myself and the leaders before me. However, you have led these soldiers this far and have sworn to do no harm to us. As I allow Orrin to control cavalry, and the other leaders to control their races, you may stay in command of your company."

"My thanks Stronghammer." Benedict said.

"Come, this is a time of celebration." Roran looked to Orik, "Orik, did that next batch of dwarves happen to bring more mead?"

Orik said happily, "For each dwarf there was two barrels. That is why they took so long to get here!"

Roran then addressed the Varden soldiers, "Welcome our new allies!" They roared a cry of victory and banged their swords on their chests. "Tonight we celebrate!"

As Roran headed back to camp, he was hopeful. The Varden had been battered and bruised, but now they were stronger than ever. They had been losing soldiers battle after battle even with their victories. Now their numbers and magicians were replenished. He would no longer need to be cautious if he encountered magicians. He quickly lost himself in the celebration as he downed a mug of mead.