Author's note: It's a week til Christmas, woot woot! Also, I'm happy to share that the side story is up! Look for 'Searching for Hidden Gems' under the Inheritance Cycle/ HTTYD crossover section. That will take priority over this for a while in the new year. Also, thanks Blaze1992 for the idea of settings for Cade/Ghidorah's powers for the size issue. I've changed it a little so there's the normal 'Ghidorah/dragon powers' (Lightning, Dragon magic, Eldunarí, etc) and 'Rift powers' (Plainswalking, Growing, Shrinking, etc) as the settings instead of a positive/negative, but still, thanks! That will be explained in SFHG. Also, I've just realized that I've been spelling the Eggbreaker's name wrong. I've been spelling it as Galbatrobix, when it's actually Galbatorix. And I'm fourteen chapters in. Guess I'll have to go back and edit those. *sigh* Anyway, as usual, reviews are welcome, and may your swords stay sharp, and your skies stay clear!
In response to reviews/PMs:
Blaze 1992: Yeah, I'm trying to ease into the romancey sort of stuff. As for videogames you think they should play, send me some ideas. The RC car was just a start, to help Cade/Ghidorah get used to the control system. If he had to fly a drone or something, he'd likely crash it in the first five minutes. Or Saphira would eat it. As for the robot, the brief was for something that could manipulate scrolls, not a death machine. Those will be coming later. Oh, crap I've spoiled the plot! Oh well. Also, don't feel that you have to submit an OC. I'm just saying that people can send some in if they want. Perhaps I'll use them, perhaps I won't. It depends if I can fit them into the storyline. I don't really want another Plaiswalker running around in Alagaësia though.
eragon95159: You are very focused on having Vroengard's radiation cleaned up, aren't you? Okay, so I did some research about this, and I understand that Boron stops neutrons of the radioactive ions. Nukes unleash mainly gamma radiation with the initial blast, although gamma and beta radiation is found in the fallout. Gamma radiation doesn't interact with particles, instead acting as a wave. I think. I'm doing Physics A-Level, but I haven't got to radiation yet, so I'm acting on what I remember from my GCSE. Anyway, the boron would only stop the beta radiation, but it wouldn't absorb it. Boron does work well as a radiation blocker, but it doesn't actually clean up any of the radiation, it just stops it from getting around. Okay, science over. As for Brom dying, it will happen. Sorry for any people who want stuff other than that to happen.
UNHOLY LIGHT: Thanks! I'll be sure to keep updating until the fic is finished (at the same point Eragon does, after the battle of Farthen Dûr). I plan to do sequels, but it may be a while until I get round to them.
JustAnotherWildDragon: Thanks! It's good to know that people are liking the **** my brain comes up with. :D
OechsnerC: Thanks!
Wizzer96: Thanks for the size change suggestion, even though I decided not to go with it in the end. Sorry. I've never played MTG, and I wanted the ability to be something Cade/Ghidorah could trigger on his own without outside aid. As for your guess, stop reading my mind! Okay, there won't Iron Man suits, but I plan to include certain pieces of technology as Eldunarí controlled troops. See if you can guess what I'm intending!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.
Chapter 14: Let's hunt some Orc!
I'd packed everything up and was ready to go by the time Eragon and Brom got out of Teirm. As the duo left the city, I'd slung my pack onto my back, done up the straps, pressed play on a boom box that I'd replaced my phone with, and leapt into the sky alongside Saphira, rock music blaring.
"So." I asked nonchalantly over a link between me and my three companions. "Where are we headed?"
"Dras-Leona." Brom replied. "But before I reveal anything else, you will explain what the armoured beast I'm carrying is, and where you found it."
I chuckled. Armoured beasts indeed. "First off, robots aren't alive themselves. The best way that I can describe it so that you can all understand is that they are machines that are controlled by some kind of mind."
"So why can't Brom or I sense this one's mind?" Eragon asked.
"Because I'm the one who's been in command." I said.
"But how?" Brom inquired. "There is nothing in this… construct that can be controlled."
"Eragon, you may recall the headset that I have." I began to explain.
"Yes."
"And what did I say that it did?"
"That it would convert thoughts into signals that… oh."
"What?" Brom demanded.
"That it would convert thoughts into signals that machines could understand." I supplied. "When that robot's battery is full, I can send orders to it that it will enact. Think of a robot like a servant that requires power instead of food and drink to survive. It has no will of its own, but will take orders from a living being that can think for itself, or its software or AI."
"What are software and AI?" Saphira asked from beside me as we reached the level of the clouds.
I mentally groaned. "Think of software as a set of instructions that will tell the robot, or any computer really, what to do. AI, or Artificial Intelligence is a step up from that, as the software is sentient and can actually think for itself, just like the three of you and I can."
"Machines that can think?" Brom snorted in disbelief. "I'll only believe that when I see it. Besides that, you still haven't said where you found it."
I just gave him an amused hum in acknowledgement. "Where I'm getting my stuff from is for me to know, and for you to not find out."
"We'll see about that."
The defiance in his tone made me laugh. He had no idea what he was getting himself into if he really wanted to know.
About an hour later, when Teirm was out of sight from the ground, Saphira spiralled down to the ground, picked up Eragon and re-joined me.
"Sup." I greeted Eragon. "Nice to see you in the sky again."
"It's nice to be up here." he replied with a grin.
I nodded as I hit a small thermal, the warm current of air pushing up on my wings. Even though I'd been a dragon for a couple of months now, I still loved the freedom that flying gave me. I loved the sensation of soaring though the sky, the feeling of the varying air currents pressing against my wings, the wind blowing through my toes.
For no reason other than pure pleasure, I rolled over and around Saphira and Eragon with a loud whoop and three grins.
"You seem happier than you have been in a long time." Saphira commented as I settled back into a stable flight path. "Is there any particular reason why?"
I would have shrugged if I wasn't using my shoulders to help me not plummet to the ground. "Not really. Maybe it's just being on the move again. Maybe it's just the thrill of flying. Who knows?"
Saphira seemed like she had wanted me to say something else, but accepted my statement as we rode the winds side by side.
We flew until what I judged to be lunchtime, when we descended back down to the ground to meet up with Brom. A quick meal later for the two humans, and we were back in the sky again.
Brom and Eragon talked about the power struggle between Galbatorix and the Varden over the new generation of Riders. Saphira began to relay the conversation to me, but I stopped her by saying that I knew about the issue already.
"You have told us that you are not under the command of the Eggbreaker, so do you serve the Varden?" the blue dragoness asked.
"Not really," I answered, "although my bosses' interests align with theirs. My job though, as I've said before, is to protect you and Eragon. And that includes protecting you from the Varden if you decide to go to them. If I have to, I will kidnap you two."
"That does not fill me with confidence of how we would be treated by them."
"Oh, make no mistake, they'll love you guys." I said. "I'm just saying that they will try to politically back the pair of you into a corner."
"And what do you know of politics?"
I chuckled and sent Saphira a memory of the 'I am the Senate' scene from Star Wars.
"So very little then." She decided.
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, that was just me messing with you. From what I understand, politics is a lot like a verbal game of chess. It's just strategy, which is what I'm good at, so don't worry too much over it."
"Very well."
A contented silence fell between us as we flew on, apart from my boom box deciding to play Viva La Vida, a song that I'd never heard before. I'd transferred all of my music from my phone to the new device, but apparently someone had decided to add on some of their preferred soundtracks. If it had been Jacob, I genuinely feared for my sanity, given that his favourite song was the earrape version of Mine Diamonds. Yeah, for real. I needed new friends.
In the middle of my paranoid thoughts, Islingr contacted me. "Would you like to learn more of our kind's history?"
"Err… sure." I decided.
"As you know, we dragons are one of Alagaësia's three native races, the others being the Dwarves and the Grey Folk. Since the dawn of our history, there has always been an Alpha of us- a dragon or dragoness who leads our race in times of great tragedy or hardship."
"Like now..." I realised.
"Indeed Fledgling, although you should not worry yourself over such things. As of this moment there are only three bodily dragons in Alagaësia-"
"Actually, there are at least six of us." I interrupted. "Me, Saphira, Shruikan, Glaedr- partner of Oromis, and the two eggs in Galbatrobix's possession."
"How do you know of the Mourning Sage and his companion?" Islingr demanded. "Apart from the Eldunarí of my brethren in the Vault of Souls, they are one of our best kept secrets!"
So the spell on the Vault had erased Islingr's memories of the eggs there, but not mine. Huh. Perhaps it was because I knew the information before I even came to Alagaësia. Perhaps it was because I was a Plainswalker. At least my mind wasn't being tampered with.
"You'll often find that I know stuff that I shouldn't." I sighed, cursing my big mouth. "If I told you how I know this stuff, you wouldn't believe me, let alone understand what I'm talking about."
"And why wouldn't I?" my Ebrithil asked.
"Ever heard of Multiverse Theory? You might call it something different, but the concept should be the same; many universes existing, but being impossible to reach?"
"I have not."
"And that's why."
I was keeping the Plainswalkery stuff secret because I was worried that Galbatorix, or someone that worked for him would eventually get hold of the information. The Plainswalking itself wasn't too much of an issue, unless Galbatorix caught either me or Angela, mentally broke us, and forced us to be his slaves, but that wasn't likely. I was strong in the mental and physical departments, and given that the Angela in the books would be able to reduce the Twins to gibbering idiots, I presumed that she'd be okay. What was a problem though, was our knowledge of the future, which we could not allow to fall into enemy hands. If Galbatrobix knew that, then I had no idea what we could do apart from nuking Urû'baen. Still, the longer I kept the information from Islingr, the more suspicious she'd become.
Sighing, I ignored my better judgement and said "I'll tell, and show you, how I know, next time I have to leave Eragon, Saphira and Brom, which will be in three days."
"Is there any reason for that particular date?" Islingr asked.
"I'll explain then." I promised. "What was it that you were saying about an Alpha, though?"
"Ah, my apologies. Now the Alpha…"
I'd got a pretty good education in draconic history by the time we stopped for Brom and Eragon to have dinner. There had only been five of them in time that the dragons had existed for: Bid'Duam, the partner of the first Eragon during the formation of the Riders, Belgabad, the largest dragon at the time of the Fall, Brisdomia, the first Alpha and the only female one, who had exceptional control of fire, Vanilor, who was also known as the King of all Dragons, and Eridor, his successor.
Throughout history, they had guided the Dragon race at crucial times, such as Du Fyrn Skulblaka and the Fall. The Alpha served not as a King or Queen, but purely as a warrior who commanded and fought for the dragon race. There were Kings and Queens of dragons, such as Vanilor and Eridor, but they would be underneath the Alpha if one rose. The rest of the time, they would be responsible for the usual stuff that leaders took care of, namely looking after their people and keeping the peace between them and the other races in Alagaësia.
Apparently, there was no set way of becoming the Alpha, although there were trials that dragons had to undergo to become a King or Queen. These included endurance flights, single combat until one of the combatants yielded or was knocked unconscious, control of the fire that dragons could utilize, and caring for a nest of hatchlings for a month.
"Why the last one?" I yawned, half-asleep.
"It was a test to see how well an applicant for the crown could look after their subjects." Islingr explained. "It also showed us how patient the dragon was, and their intelligence. Hatchlings often get into trouble, and it would be up to the dragon caring for them to keep them out of it, which was an all-consuming task."
"I can imagine." I replied, just thinking of all the crap I'd got into before I'd died, and how I'd probably given my parents a few dozen heart attacks.
Suddenly, Saphira leapt to her feet and began tearing into the forest. Then she turned back to Brom, grabbed him, and wrapped him up in her wings as she raised her tail and started scanning the perimeter of our camp.
"What's going on?!" Brom snapped, his voice muffled.
I hurriedly scanned through my memory of the first book as I got to all fours and began watching and sniffing for anything out of the ordinary. I vaguely remembered something about an Urgal attack and Eragon doing something stupid, but not much apart from that. Still, I should be able to take them on fairly easily.
There was a familiar smell and a rustle from the undergrowth. Saphira swung her tail at the noise, but I blocked it with one of my own at the last moment as Eragon burst into the camp. The young Rider yelped as our two tails slammed into each other, tried to backpedal, then slipped and fell on his butt.
"Accidentally killing your own Rider would definitely be an embarrassing way to go." I said humorlessly, lowering my long, mace-ended tail and checking it for any damage. It didn't seem to be hurt, but it seemed to be bruised, with the scales in the area that had been hit gaining a slightly silver tint. Strange.
"Oops." Saphira said.
"Oops?" Eragon growled. "You could have killed me!"
"And yourself in the process." I added on.
Eragon glared at me and asked. "Where's Brom?"
"I'm right here." Brom grumbled from behind Saphira's wings. "Tell your crazy dragon to release me; she won't listen to me."
"Let him go!" Eragon yelled, clearly exasperated. "Didn't you tell them?"
"No." Saphira said sheepishly. "You just said to keep Brom safe."
As she lifted her wings and freed Brom, I detected a faint stench coming from the north. It was a familiar scent of a five-month-old cheese sandwich mixed with chili peppers. Urgals.
"Well what's going on?" Brom said.
Casting my senses in the direction that the smell was coming from, I cut off Eragon's explanation of the Urgal footprint with a report of "Urgals are heading towards us from the north. I count around twenty semi-shielded minds about two to three miles out, and they're coming in our general direction. I'm not sure about their pace, but it would be best to bug outta here now."
"Saddle the horses. We're leaving." Brom ordered, his expression serious.
Brom doused the fire with dirt, which stopped steam from billowing from the burning branches.
When Eragon didn't move, Brom turned back to him and asked "What's wrong with your arm?"
"My wrist is broken."
Brom cussed like a sailor and saddled Cadoc for him before turning to Saphira and me. "It's almost dark. You two may as well fly right overhead us. If the Urgals do catch us, they'll think twice about attacking when they see two dragons nearby."
"I could stay and deal with them." I offered.
"No." Brom ordered. "They might miss this place entirely and still find us. Like I said, fly above us, and if you have a shot, take it. Just be careful not to hit me or Eragon."
"Yessir." I grinned before rising into the cold, twilight sky.
There was a bit of a problem to getting a clear shot, namely the decreasing levels of sunlight making it hard for me to even see the trees below me, let alone the ground or anything on it. I had to navigate by my hearing, which was around the same level as it had been before I respawned, and smell, which was much more accurate, although I wasn't about to open fire unless I was sure I could hit a target, otherwise I'd just be wasting my bolts.
Unfortunately, Saphira and Eragon, who'd decided that it would be safer to fly with his partner, took matters into their own hands. Together, the two swooped down onto the trail the Urgals were following and being the idiots hat they were, landed directly in front of them. Cursing at their stupidity, I contacted Brom of the development and wheeled back towards where the pair had set down.
I was too late to prevent Eragon's stupidity though. I clearly heard him yell "Jierda", which meant break, or hit depending on how it was used. The magic was dramatic, but ineffective, sending beams of light into the Urgals, which flung them into the air. Nine of them smashed into trees while each of my heads snatched one of the monsters from the sky as I came in to land.
The last thing Eragon heard before he blacked out was my evaluation of "You're a ****ing dumbass" as I touched down in front of Saphira, my right foot squashing the one still-conscious Urgal flatter than a pancake.
Eragon fainted, and flopped off of Saphira like a ragdoll from the drain in his energy. I sighed, and set about making sure that none of the other Urgals would wake up. Ever.
"What's happened to Eragon?" Saphira demanded a little frantically.
"He's overexerted himself, because he's got the memory of a goldfish." I explained, my heads locked in silent snarls as I slammed a tail into a prone Urgal, making blood spurt. "I told him to think crap through before he did it, and Brom told him that he could kill himself if he did something beyond his capability! Does he ever actually listen?!"
"How do I fix him?!" Saphira demanded, crouching protectively over the still form of Eragon.
"Give him time to sleep and take in a meal, and he'll be okay." I grumbled, snapping up another of the monsters. "Take him to Brom and find a safe place to set up camp. I'll finish up here, and then I'll deal with the other eight Urgals that weren't with this group. I'll join you when I get them all."
"Thank you, and good hunting." Saphira said as she nosed Eragon back on to her back and spread her wings.
"If Eragon wakes up before I get back," I said as she took off, "tell him that he's a dumbass!"
I didn't get a response as the sound of Saphira's wingbeats steadily got further and further away, carrying away one idiot, and his draconic companion as I rose into the night and began the long, tiresome process of eliminating loose ends.