Chapter six:
P.O.V: Norin
"Who is this woman?" Norin thought, watching Lerah move away from the curious townspeople. It had been an hour since the house belonged to Fin and his wife Katia caught fire. But both were more relieved that their daughter Anabel had survived, both of them reminding Lerah of the debt they owed her for her rescue. Lerah for her part exchanged several polite "you're welcome." but quickly got annoyed by the reminders and had tried to leave, only to be surrounded by everyone else in town all with their own questions.
Norin watched and listened as she answered her share of questions, though they were often vague and incomplete.
What had amazed Norin the most however was that other than a couple of singe marks on her clothes and a few pieces of her hair had been burnt off, she was completely unharmed. Her attitude after the event was almost completely relaxed, she showed no signs of the intensity of the situation affecting her. And just the simple fact that she had ran into a house going up in flames without a second thought either made her incredibly brave or very stupid. Personally Norin believed the first explanation rather than the second.
The house had burned down almost completely, much of the first floor seemed intact but it had been buried by the collapse of the second floor and the rough. Though if there was a silver lining to the situation it was that no one was seriously injured and no other houses caught fire.
It had gotten to the middle of the day when the crowd finally began to disperse, the rain had stopped and the sun was piercing through the clouds again. There were now four people talking to Lerah, one being the unofficial mayor of the town Holden. He had been trying to find a suitable way to reward her for her efforts in the cheapest way possible while trying not to make it too obvious. The other two people were Frin and Katia, along with their daughter Anabel, who was the most curious about Lerah and was asking the bulk of the questions whenever she got the chance.
"You should go talk to her," Valek said from behind patting Norins shoulder.
"And what am I going to say?" He asked, watching Anabel point to Lerah's arm, raising her eyebrow Lerah rolled up her long-sleeve, revealing her muscular arm. The little girl laughed in amazement, instantly latching onto her biceps.
"Oh I don't know, maybe praise her for her heroics?" Valek pointed out.
"Just like everyone else has been doing for the past couple of hours?" Shaking his head he began to walk back to his house.
"Well maybe she'd appreciate it coming from you." Valek persisted.
"How does that change anything? I barely know her." He replied.
"But you never know."
Now getting very tired of this conversation on multiple levels, Norin turned around before entering his home, "Don't you have anything better to do?" Valek had a way of his nerve most days, but conversations like this were something that Norin had the lowest patience for.
Smiling Valek responded with "Just trying to help a friend out", before turning away.
Norin made a final check to ensure that Lerah was still occupied before entering the house, he made his way quickly to the hatch in the kitchen, to his horror the wool rug had been removed from the hatch.
"How did it move?" He thought worried, had it been by accident while he was cooking? Or did he just forget to put it back when he moved the notes from the carriage down there? No, he was sure that he had moved the rug back into place.
Then how did it move? could it have been possible that Lerah had moved it? Opening the hatch he ran down the stairs, lighting a few candles on the basement floor. The room wasn't much bigger than the kitchen section of his house. But it was packed with boxes and notes, there was a table at the end of the room, a map of Alagaesia on the wall next to it. On the table, there was the box from the carriage, the notes still in it.
Norin made sure that nothing had been taken, most of the notes were just records of his sales and finances, a few old books scattered about for flavor more than anything. All the sensitive information that was still relevant was kept in a small box under a pile of useless information. It wasn't the best security measure, but it was all he could really work with.
Norin went back up the stairs, putting the rug over the top part of the hatch so that when he closed it, the rug would rest on top of the hatch again.
Opening the letters and notes in the box on the table, Norin moved a chair and candle, so that he could sit with a fair amount of lighting to read with. It took him some thirty minutes to unravel the nonsense of the notes into code that he knew had the vital information he needed.
The messages revealed two single words that he could find. They Know. Chills went up his spine, he knew that agents in Terim were having a rough time but he never suspected that they would be found out so quickly. The message was a warning for him, they knew where he was and would most likely expect him to run, drawing out any allies he may have.
"How did they know?" he thought miserably, but he knew the most likely possibility, Galbatorix had spies of his own. Now with the defeat of his army under Farah-Dur, the tyrant king was about to go on another offensive, it didn't take a genius to figure that out. But where? Should he try to escape to Surda? No doubt they would be waiting for him on the road, the fact that he hadn't been attacked by Galbatorix's agents was remarkable and suspicious.
There was a slamming of the door from upstairs, Lerah must have been home. Quickly turning off the candle and stuffing the notes in a corner, Norin moved to the stairs. Careful not to make any noise as he went up he listened to the sounds of footsteps, when he was confident that she was far enough away and thus most likely out of sight, he quickly ran up the stairs, using the rug to mask the existence of the hatch.
He realized that she would also be under suspicion since he foolishly decided to grant her housing. She wasn't normal and he knew it, he also knew that the empire would most likely go after her, he couldn't be sure if they would let Lerah go after they realize that she knew nothing, but he could be sure that they would torture her first and maybe bind her to servitude with the ancient language, though how they did this he wasn't too sure.
But having her travel with him to Surda would put her in even more danger, and how was he going to convince her anyways of the danger, she seemed to barely know any of the political distraught that was happening on the land. But there was also a possibility that she was a magician, that was the only way to explain how she had run through a burning house and received mild burns for injuries.
Norin sat at the table pondering the issue.
Though the challenge then if that were the case, how could he get her to trust him? She had just met him, and what was he going to say "By the way I'm a varden spy, listen I know you have magic and everything but we really need to use it to try and defeat an unkillable tyrant, you wouldn't mind that would you?"
Norin could not see that going well at all, like all the many people in these types of towns and villages, she might not care who sat on the throne, just to move on with her life.
Just then there was the sound of a closing door, Lerah walking out her face stone cold, her eyes seemed distant. She sat down on the other end of the table, putting her arms across each other. She proceeded to bury her head in them, letting out a frustrated "Urgh".
"Is everything alright?" Norin asked.
"Questions, questions, questions." She said, her voice muffled by her arms. Raising her head she gave Norin an aggravated look, "That mayor of yours doesn't know when to shut up, or take a hint for that matter."
"Yeah he can be a bit of a pain at times, but he means well." He gave her a reassuring smile, but her expression didn't change. After a moment she got up going to the kitchen.
"You got any mead?" She asked, looking at some of the cupboards.
"Oh! I have some wine from Kuasta, it's on the shelf to your right." Norin said, purposefully directing her to a weaker vintage, not wanting to get her drunk and all.
Lerah found the bottle, uncorking it with her bare hands she took a sniff at the bottle. Then turning him with a look of disappointment on her face, "Really?"
All Norin could do was shrug, suddenly realizing that this woman probably knew her way around the bottle.
Grabbing two tankards Lerah returned to the table, pouring herself and Norin a drink. Raising his cup he said enthusiastically "To a heroic rescue."She raised her tankard to his though didn't say anything.
Still standing she then proceeded to drink the whole thing in a single sip, raising the tankard higher and higher until it was all gone. "Urgh… too sweet." Turning back to the kitchen she continued her search mumbling "where is the proper mead… come on… come on… at least give me some ale."
Norin hadn't even taken a sip from his, this woman just continued to surprise him. After a moment of reluctance, he spoke, "If you want some good Ale it's on the cupboard on top of you."
She gave him a doubtful look, but reached up at the cupboard and got a bottle of Ale, uncorking it she took another sniff, Leah's eyes widened and a smile formed. "Now this is what I am talking about."
Grabbing her mug Lerah poured herself another serving, drinking the whole thing in one go again.
Norin watched in fascination, he'd never met a woman that drowned powerful Ale like that, it was rather nerve-racking for him.
At the very least she didn't seem intent on getting blackout drunk, after downing the second serving she proceeded to sit down, rubbing her head thoughtfully.
They sat for a few minutes in silence, the light from the day reaching its peak, distorted by the moisture left by the rain.
"Would you like something to read?" Norin asked lamely.
Taken out of her train of thought, it seemed to take her a minute to process what he had said. "Wouldn't do me much good." She said finally, taking a frustrated breath "I don't know how to read."
"Oh!" Norin said, "...Anyways I think that I should get back to work and start planting for the next harvest." The ground was still muddy but he wanted to take advantage of the fact that there was so much water still soaked in the soil.
He barely finished getting up when Lerah jumped with enthusiasm, "That's a great idea!"
"Wouldn't you like to rest though?"
"I spent too much time asleep already, I need to get my muscles moving." She said, shaking her head.
"What about what you did today? That must have been exhausting"
Lerah shrugged "Not really, it was pretty standard actually."
"Oh."
They spent the rest of the day working on the garden, Norin was surprised by the amount of energy that she had, making room through the wet field with almost limitless energy. And though she didn't know much of gardening, she followed his directions quite well. The horses Frinic and Ghost had no energy to push the plow and acted nervously whenever she got too close.
All the while Norin tried to figure out if it was Lerah who had uncovered the hatch, or if it was just a freak accident of some sort.
They ended the day they were sweaty and exhausted, but it was work well done. Having a small dinner that night, Norin tried to make some small talk but Tarah wasn't really listening. They both ended up retiring early, with none of Norins questions answered.
The next morning Norin woke up exceptionally early, at the crack of dawn to be precise. After getting dressed, he went out to the back to check on the horses, his mind wandering to the Varden, and whether or not he should try to escape.
"Now that my cover is blown, I'm useless. I should probably report back to the Varden, maybe figure out where Thorgrim plans to move next and meet her there." The logistics of that would be a nightmare in it of itself, but the uncertainty of trying to recruit a magician was a whole nother headache. "I have to at least try, we need all the help we can get."
There was a rustle on the other side of the gate, the horses twitched nervously. Moving closer, Norin saw nothing out of the ordinary, cautiously he opened the gate, only to see several of Glabatorix's guards at the front of the house.
Panicked swooped him as he tried to back away, only to be hit in the head from behind. Falling face-first on the floor his head was ringing, he was vaguely aware of the spear tip pressed on his back. When he finally managed to look up, he could see a few soldiers storm into the house, while four others along with one in robes, no doubt a magician approached him. "Well, well, well, look what we found."
"What do you want?" Norin asked, immediately getting hit in the head by the soldier who had him pinned.
"We just want to root out any troublemakers that wish to disrupt the work of our most generous king." Leaning down the mage looked Norin in the eye. "And we hear that you are hiring someone that will be useful for the empire."
Then there was the unmistakable feeling of the mage engaging Norins mind, trying to rip out his secrets. He almost missed the screams coming from inside the house.
P.O.V: Tarah.
Tarah had woken up to the sound of heavy footsteps, her long years of fighting told her that trouble was close. Leaping out of bed she grabbed one of her Ebony axes, waiting next to the door to see who would come in. There were three distinct sets of footsteps, one went upstairs, the other was headed to the kitchen, and the third was rapidly approaching her door.
Slowing down her breathing Tarah waited for whoever was in the house to open the door, after a few heartbeats the door creaked as it slowly opened up. The moment she saw a red glove and brace appear, Tarah slammed into the door, surprising the trespasser and crushing him to the frame of the door.
With a momentary advantage, she leaped in front of the door to see an imperial soldier on a knee, shaking his head, without a second thought Tarah buried her ax into his helm, crushing through it with ease, his essence flowing into her as the drain vitality magic from the ax did its work.
She pulled her ax in the first soldier's skull, the commotion was enough to draw the attention of the other two, who were rushing towards her. Grabbing the fallen soldier's sword Tarah held her ground, the next soldier appeared, shield at the ready, his spear leveled at her.
"Fus" She shouted, a small wave of energy flowed out of her mouth, crashing against the man, his shield took most of the force but it was still enough to unbalance him and even push him back a couple of steps.
Tarah advanced, and in rapid succession disarmed the soldier of his spear with her sword, before going into an overhead swing with the ax, burying it in his neck with such force that it decapitated him.
"It's so much easier now that I don't have to worry about my sides." Tarah thought as she met the third soldier in the hallway. This one had a shield and a sword at the ready, he tensed when he saw her, raising his shield. Tarah on the other hand was relaxed, in her nightgown, sword, and ax in hand.
The soldier charged, thrusting his sword to her stomach, catching the weapon by crossing her sword and ax on either side of it. Tarah pushed back, swinging the ax overhead, just catching the shield when her opponent raised it. Taking the opportunity the soldier again thrusting his sword at her abdomen. This time Tarah parried with her sword, just barely getting a light scratch on her right side, grimacing through the pain Tarah pushed forward until she was right against the shield, her ax stuck at the top of it, her sword and his pressed against each other. Tarah was so close that she could see the exact shade of blue his eyes were, throwing her head back she headbutted the soldier. The impact gave her a splitting headache, but it accomplished her primary goal, the soldier's helmet had caved, the force was enough to send him to the floor. As he fell Tarah dropped her sword and released her ax, letting them fall with him.
His shield fell to his side, the ax still embedded in it. Moving quickly Tarah placed her foot on the shield, then with both hands she pried her ax from it. With a fast slash to the throat, the soldier was dead. His leg still twitching as Tarah retrieved the sword.
Running down the hallway to the front door Tarah was split between going upstairs and trying and assessing the situation through a window. Go to the roof, or head out back and possibly be able to flank anyone else that might be around to cause trouble.
As she neared the front door, which was partially left open, she heard the unmistakable sound of heavy chainmail boots heading her way from outside. Stopping in the front door in time for a fourth soldier to burst in, spear in hand and a shield in the other. He took a step back in surprise when he saw her. For a moment she wondered what she looked like just then. Still, in her sleepwear, her unkempt hair rampantly covering her face that was also splattered with blood, and two bloody weapons on either side.
She couldn't help but smile, she always enjoyed the look of fear on her enemy's faces when they saw her, not to mention the very opportunity to appear as terrifying as possible.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the pain-filled cries of Norin, coming somewhere outside. Cursing at herself for being so easily distracted by her own vanity, spinning her ax to a backward form then quickly back to a frontward facing one she charged her opponent with a ferocity that only a true Norse would have.
P.O.V: Norin
Norin desperately tried to keep the magician from his thoughts, raising mental barriers of all sorts. Fortunately for him, he had received basic training in the art of mental defense, it was the only reason the mage hadn't taken complete control over him yet.
He was so entranced in the battle that the soldier that had tackled him no longer needed to hold him down, instead he ran inside when the sound of the clashing of metal and the cries of battle.
"Lerah!" He thought, panicked his concentration was split. He knew that she could handle herself and that her magic would make her a formidable opponent, but not many could hold off against a trained soldier of Galbatorix, much less four.
His mental barriers began to crumble away at the might of the magician, he knew that in a few moments he would be at the complete mercy of his opponent.
There was the sound of the violent smacking of the door, breaking the concentration of both Norin and the mage, who instinctively turned around at the sound. Norin managed to look up in time to see the soldier that had thrown him to the ground mid-fall, his head snapped back, sword buried deep in his chest. In front of the falling soldier was Lerah, still in her nightgown but she wore a fierce expression on her, her right knee held high in the air, ax in her hand. Her hair was a mess and she was covered in blood.
He blinked and both of them landed, the soldier looking like he wouldn't be rising again, Lerah was standing in front of him painting. Turning her eyes landed on Norin and the mage, who even though his concentration was split, was still putting enough pressure on Norin that he dared not move less he gave his opponent an opening.
"Run!" He thought desperately. She may contain magic, but to go up against a trained magician was madness, even if their enemy wasn't the strongest magician out there. Desperately Norin tried to convey this to Lerah, but when he saw her she had a calm look about her, like the situation they were in was as standard as a walk to the store.
"So." She said walking slowly over towards them, casually swinging her ax from side to side. "I suppose you were the one that is responsible for all of this trouble."
"You show great promise, once you are within our ranks we can teach you how to properly harness your power." The magician said.
Lerah's face flared, tightening the grip on her weapon, "I'll show you what properly harnessed power looks like."
The magician smirked, before closing his eyes.
Lerah's face grimaced in pain, her body became still as the magician's mind battled against hers for control.
Norin's mind also felt the pressure of attack, but it was significantly weaker than before, giving him a small semblance of control over himself.
Lerah on the other hand was frozen in place, her hand gripping her weapon so tightly that blood was pouring out where her nails dug into her palms.
Knowing that the longer they were engaged in this type of combat, their likelihood of defeat increased. Turning his head to see the magician's focused expression not two feet away Norin used what little control he had to swing his arm in a wide fashion, hitting the magician in the back of the leg. It wasn't much but the force was still enough to make the magician stumble for a moment, breaking his concentration.
There was the gasping sound from Lerah, along with the soft thump of her weapon hitting the ground. Turning to swing again Norin saw Lerah's expression of rage as she threw her arms up before her, and without saying a word her palms unleashed torrents of fire at the magician.
The heat hit Norin like a brick, making him instinctively roll away a few feet to avoid the fire. The sound of the magician's screams was almost as bad as the heat itself.
When he regained visual, his blood froze.
The magician was on the ground screaming uncontrollably, rolling from side to side trying to smother the flames. But it was useless, as Lerah kept a steady stream of fire, adjusting her aim wherever he moved as she approached. Mercifully the magician quickly succumbed to his injuries, his screams dying with him.
She stood over him for a moment, panting heavily, before turning to look at Norin. Instinctively he froze, his heart-stopping. He had never been as terrified of someone as he was of her at that moment.