Author's note: Sorry, but there's no Snapshot this week. Snorri's arc has finished there, and I need some time to get some extra ideas. As a more pressing notice, expect my upload schedule to be all over the place for the next month. I'm starting my second year of A-Levels now, and I'm going to have to go through a lot of virtual open days for universities. I'm sorry about that, but I think it's only fair that you guys get to know in advance.
In response to reviews:
d8rkforcen1ght7: Well, a lot Primordials are born from Limbo. And fanart?! I'm gonna look forward immensely for this!
Blaze1992: Running toward this is the solution this time.
awesomesniper86: *Dies from overexposure to EEE.*
MoosHeadFamLit: Ah, I doubt that'll happen. Sorry.
Guest: Yeah, a Shadow-centric story would be interesting, but I don't really have it on a list of stuff to do.
Disclaimer: I do not own the IC.
Thanks to Wizz and Slack for beta reading.
Chapter 22: Big issues, big secrets.
It didn't take too long for Eragon and I to find the kid. My friend's keen eyes managed to pick them out of the forest at the same time as I detected an unexpected and quite recent surge in rift energy in the area. Pinpointing where I thought the center of the signature was as Eragon pointed in vaguely the same direction, I slowly descended towards the forest floor.
Landing as softly as I could, I mentally started searching for whoever it was who had yelled while trying to piece the information I had together. The voice had definitely sounded like a child's, so it could have just been an elf kid… if not for the recent surge of rift energy. So we most likely had a new Plainswalker on our hands.
I shrunk down to human size, making Eragon leap off me. "'Rags, I think we've got someone like me here."
"Another Plainswalker?" my friend asked. "But they sounded so young!"
"Death doesn't care how old you are." I said sadly. "I'm only a year or two older than you, and here I am."
"So what's the plan?" Eragon wondered. "You're the expert in matters like this. What should we do?"
"We find the kid, try our best to calm them down, and then take them to Locostral with us." I shrugged. "Beyond that… I just don't know."
Eragon nodded, then gestured off to our left. "I saw something over that way as we were landing. It might be the new Plainswalker, but then again, it might just be one of the things that live in Du Weldenvarden."
I cast out my mental senses that way and nodded. "Yeah, I've found them."
"And?"
"I can see their mind, but I'm not gonna enter it yet." I said as I started to walk off, pushing through dense clumps of plants. "That'd just freak them out more than they already are. They were human until recently, so they'll probably respond better to you than to me. When we get there, you'll go and talk to them."
"Got it." Eragon nodded.
And that was when we heard the snarls and the screams.
Breaking into a run- on all fours for me- Eragon and I charged through the undergrowth. I just bulldozed my way through the greenery while he used his new speed and agility to their full extent, almost dancing his way through the plants.
The two of us burst into a clearing and assessed the situation in a fraction of a second. A pack of what might have once been wolves before a chemical accident and heavy mutation. They had shaggy, electric blue fur, serrated claws, and fangs that stuck out of their jaws, seemingly at random. They were also twice the size of any regular wolf, and even a single one of them would have given a bear a run for its money. Seven of them prowled around a small tree stump, which was where I could sense the new Plainswalker was taking refuge.
I couldn't help but snarl in anger, making the seven mutations turn towards us. A name for the things popped into my head at random, coming from when I'd read the Hunger Games.
"I'll deal with the muttations." I said, cracking my knuckles. "Our friend is hiding in that stump. You get them out, and I'll cover you."
"Got it." Eragon said, drawing Zar'roc.
The nearest mutt pounced.
"Go!" I yelled, growing to double the size of the thing before snatching it out of the air and slamming it into the forest floor. Telekinetic Gravity Beams threw three more of the things into each other, and the three that were still on their feet turned their attention to me, leaving Eragon an opening to dash to the tree stump, which he took.
Two of the mutts tried a pincer attack, but I managed to simultaneously punch both of them in the face, dazing them enough for me to have easily finished them off if I wanted to. Hell, if I wanted to, they'd already be no more than grease spots on the forest floor. But I really didn't. I didn't like that I had to kill, although I understood and accepted that it was necessary in my new life. Shadows had to die so that they wouldn't take out Alagaësia- or any other realm, for that matter. The urgals I'd vanquished had to die because they threatened the life of the people who I'd sided with. And when I'd get to the Burning Plains, the soldiers of the Empire would have to die because they would do their best to kill my friends.
But now, I'd happily settle for a solid beating. Mutt after mutt got up, leapt at me, then were put in their place; either by fist, tail, foot, or telekinetic Gravity Beam. I had plenty of fairly non-lethal options, and I had no qualms about wounding these things. They just got up and came back for more punishment.
"Cade, we're far enough away by now to be safe." Eragon's voice said in my mind.
"Okay, just let me finish up here and I'll join you." I replied, knocking two mutt's heads together before throwing them back at their pack like bowling balls.
They were rather fed up by then, and a brief fight broke out between them. I used that as my opportunity to take off, leaving them to figure out what the hell to do next. After asking several elves over the next few days, I learned that their proper name was Togiragarm. That meant Crippled Wolf in English, on account that although they were massively powerful, they were also massively deformed.
"Can you tell me your name?" Eragon asked quietly as I slowly walked up to him.
Looking over his shoulder, I saw that he was speaking to a small owl. The kid's feathers were a purple so dark that it could have easily been called black, but their right wing was a little deformed. A small patch of white feathers on her chest made her seem a little more friendly, as did the other patch that helped define her face. Her amber eyes were wide, though, and she looked very, very scared, although Eragon seemed to have calmed her down. There were no tears though, which was probably a thing with her form.
"S-S-Sophie." she whispered before noticing me.
She squeaked in fright and tried to hide behind Eragon, which… hurt, but was expected. I knew that I was a dragon- well, Kaiju, but I thought of myself as a dragon- and that dragons usually had a reputation of kidnapping princesses, hoarding gold, and burning things. But on the inside, I still clung to the parts of humanity that I wasn't willing to give up.
"It's okay, Sophie." Eragon said soothingly after looking over his shoulder to see me. "Cade is just like you."
"But he's scary…"
"Only to naughty people." I said, trying my best to make her understand that I wasn't a bad guy. "Like the wolf things. They had to be taught not to do that. But you're a good girl, and I promise that I won't hurt you."
Sophie seemed to relax a little at that, and came round Eragon to give me a proper look. "You have three heads."
I tried for a friendly smile that wouldn't show my teeth. "So I do, but that's because I'm special. Like you, I used to be human. And now, we're both like this."
The little owl did her best to take in the information and cocked her head. "Why?"
"Because we're special." I said, not entirely sure that Sophie would even understand more beyond that. "You'll understand better when you're older."
"Okay." Sophie said.
There was an awkward silence before I asked "Are you… happy... like this? I know that it was scary for me at first."
"It's like an ad… adven… adventure!" the small owl said happily, utterly oblivious to the bottomless pit that those words opened up inside me.
Sophie would never know what a normal life would be like. She was too young to realise that this was permanent- that she'd be brought up in a multiverse that expected her to eventually fight against Shadows. Although she was still innocent now, that wouldn't last. And she was only…
"How old are you, Sophie?" I asked.
"Six!" the young owl hooted excitedly.
Six years old. And she'd been torn away from her family-
A whisper of pure power entered my mind, and softly spoke "There is enough of my power in the area for me to risk contacting you, but this will be brief. I saved her mother too. She is in Locostral now, asking for her daughter."
"I understand." I sighed, my conflicting emotions bleeding back over the link to Rift.
"What is it?"
"Do you realise that Sophie is only a child?" I snarled.
"...Yes."
"And you expect her to fight Shadows."
"When she grows up, yes. You are old enough for this, so she will manage once she comes of age."
Anger burned through me. "You haven't saved her. You've damned her."
"But-!"
"We'll talk about this when we have more time." I growled, snapping the mental link closed.
By now, I was fairly certain that Rift liked me enough that I could get away with small stuff like that, even though she probably had joint first place at being the most powerful entity in the multiverse. But she just didn't understand some of the repercussions of some of her actions. She'd practically condemned Sophie to a life that just wasn't right. She was too young to even understand what she'd been through, saying to Eragon that the dark space was scary, but the glowy light had made her feel happy and warm. She probably hadn't even realised that she'd died, for the love of fuck!
"Do you have her key?" I privately asked Eragon.
"Yes. It's in my back left pocket." He replied mentally while listening to Sophie happily going on and on.
I gently pulled it out and cradled it in my hands. I'd never really touched someone else's key before. It felt wrong, as if I was using someone else's sword without asking to borrow it first. Slightly guilty and ashamed, I guess. But I remembered what it had been like for me. There was no way I'd let this thing take even a nick of Sophie's blood to bond with her. I'd pass it on to her mother instead.
"Why do you look sad?" Sophie asked as she wobbled her way into my field of view, using her small wings to try and balance herself. She nearly fell over thrice, and was only saved by Eragon.
"No reason." I lied. "Although, I've got something really cool to show you."
"What?!" Sophie asked, bouncing up and down in excitement and almost toppling over again.
"Oh, I can't tell you now." I said, smiling.
I felt terrible.
"No, tell me!" Sophie pleaded.
Although being around her mom again would be good for her, this was manipulating a child.
"If I tell you, it'll ruin the surprise!"
This couldn't be the life that Sophie would have wanted if she was old enough to choose. This was wrong. This was so, so wrong.
The reunion went smoothly. Sophie's mom was also an owl with the same plumage- just a giant one that was as big as I was at my preferred size. I think that the Ori games were where they had their forms from, but I didn't really catch much. Still, it was a sweet moment, but not one that I could fully enjoy.
Now, looking over the railing that stopped people from falling off the city's floating island, I scowled and brooded.
"You don't realise what you've done, Rift." I said quietly.
"Please, enlighten me."
Her tone was sincere, and I could tell that she wanted to know why I was so pissed with her.
"You conscripted a six year old into your army." I growled, my hands tightening on the railing with a screech like chalk on a blackboard.
"I promise that she will not fight until she is of age." Rift said quietly.
"SHE WON'T FIGHT AT ALL UNLESS SHE CHOOSES TO!" I roared, spinning around to leave the shape of my hands in the metal. "I didn't have a choice! I was lobbed into Alagaësia, and I had to improvise from day one! I'm still here because I know that defending the multiverse from Shadows is the right thing to do! I know it's my duty to fight, as I have the power to make a difference! I know that everyone in Alagaësia relies on me to fight!
"But with Sophie… she doesn't understand that. She'll grow up and see fighting Shadows as her job because she's been told to, not because she'll choose it. She doesn't even understand that she's died!"
"So you're saying that I shouldn't save children?" Rift asked.
"Ye- no- I… I don't know." I sighed. "Everyone should get a second chance. If I said otherwise, I'd be a hypocrite. I was an average Joe, and you picked me out. But kids shouldn't be indoctrinated that 'to fight is right', even if it is against Shadows. They should reach an age where they can choose what they want to do, and make it by themselves. If they want to fight Shadows, then they go into training or something. Otherwise, we use robots on the battlefield or something.
"Some people have described us Plainswalkers as one large family. I see us as a military force. If we can't choose whether we want to fight or not, we're just weapons, and that's no way for us to live. Prove me wrong."
"I understand." Rift said, hanging her head. "I… I will bring this to your Elders."
I nodded, still pissed, but satisfied. "That's all there is to it, then."
There was silence for a long time.
Hesitantly, Rift asked "How is it to just be you again?"
"Different, but I'm adjusting." I said curtly before trying to calm down a little. "Interestingly, this is technically the first time we've met."
"So it is."
There was more silence, stretching for about ten minutes this time.
I groaned. "Fuck it, I'm going now. We can talk another day, when I'm not thinking about this."
"I understand." Rift said again, with some degree of relief this time. "And… I'm sorry."
"I accept your apology, but save it for the others who have been forced to fight." I said, walking away. "I understand and accept my duty."
Back in Alagaësia, I spent the rest of the day with Islingr, although I managed to see Eragon in the evening and bring him up to date on Sophie's situation. Saphira joined us for a while, and we just enjoyed being in each other's company.
For the next week, I was thrown at the Ancient Language in a rather 'sink or swim' manner. I could just about conjugate a sentence properly, although I frequently got the grammar wrong. As for writing it, a Shadow tried to spook me in my dreams for the second time in my life, and was promptly drowned under all the symbols and grammar rules. It was complete and utter torture, and both Oromis and Glaedr confessed that I was the worst student who they'd ever had to teach the Ancient Language to.
In other news, the Varden was shipping out of Aberon and heading to the Burning Plains. Galbatorix's army of over 100,000 men had been sighted, marching south towards Surda. My two Knights there were assisting with packing everything up and getting ready to leave, but I didn't tell anyone here in Ellesméra that apart from Amara. We both decided to keep it under wraps for now, although we did let Islingr into the loop too. She knew that my Knights contained Eldunarí, and I was pretty sure that she expected me to relay any important news to her.
She didn't seem too bothered, as she pointed out that with my speed, I could fly directly to wherever the battle would be in a matter of hours, and we could cheat for everyone else by using Locostral as a shortcut. If Amara ferried everyone there while I was in flight, then I could get to the battlefield, subtly open a portal, and then bring everyone out at my end.
Locostral probably hadn't been intended for that, but it was fun to abuse it for my purposes, as did a lot of other Plainswalker teams.
About a week before we guessed Eragon and Saphira would've left Ellesméra in Eldest, I was watching the sun set over the forest from my treehouse when Amara burst through the trapdoor in her human form, lugging a leather satchel along with her. Scrambling into my temporary lodgings, my cousin slammed the trapdoor shut behind her, then collapsed on the floor, her helmet rolling off her head as she did so.
"Where's the fire?" I joked.
"This…" Amara panted as he got her breath back, "is not… a laughing matter. I… found something you… need to see."
She weakly tossed me the satchel, which I caught and opened curiously. Inside, there were several no-longer pristine notebooks, all of them written in the Ancient Language. I had to read through the title of the first one I picked out several times before I was sure that I was reading it properly.
"Project Repentance- Comparisons between Elvish and Draconic physiology." I read aloud. Well, part read- part inferred.
"There's more." Amara said, and upon locking eyes with her, I could see that she was genuinely afraid. "Find the one that says 'Project Repentance- Regenesis Transmutation Experimentations.'"
I did as my cousin asked, bringing out the desired book and opening it at random. "'Although Mälor's arm survived the change at first, his body began to reject its own material. He has begun to waste away, the illness driving his entire body to start attacking and consuming itself. The process is irreversible. He has asked us to give him a quick, painless death instead of a long, agonising one. It is at times like this that I am glad to not be the one leading the project.'"
I flicked through a few more pages, my jaws slowly opening the more I read. Had the elves really tried this!?
Amara broke me out of my horrified reading by passing me a scroll. "Cuz, you remember a few weeks back, before the Blood-Oath Celebration, I had that duel with Vanir where you intervened? He said something like 'I cannot compare you to them'. I think that these elves are the 'them'."
"Are, not were?" I asked, locking eyes with my cousin from one of my heads as the others looked at the unrolled scroll in disbelief.
"Yeah." Amara said, waving another notebook. "This one is a record of everyone who worked in the project, which started after the Fall of the Riders. A lot of the members are dead from their own experiments before the project was ultimately shut down, but a few of them- including at least six test subjects- are still alive."
I looked down at the scroll again. It was a series of fairths captured into the parchment instead of a slate tablet. And in gruesome detail, they showed the process of an Elf being held in a swirling nebula of magic, and being transformed into a half draconic, half demonic… thing.
"They…" I said in little more than a whisper as I looked up from the silently screaming creature that was captured on the scroll, "they were trying to turn themselves into dragons."