AN:Thanx for the reviews! Ya'll are so sweet and you keep me going!
Max: Thank you very much. I particularly like this one too.
Daydreamin' Angel: Wow, you sound like me when I want an update...Hehe, it feels so good to be appreciated. Oh, and a POV stands for Point of View, so if I say: Aiedail's POV, it means it's what she's thinking and what she's seeing.
Raven The Black Rose: Yes, it is very cute. I had people say it was too much LOTR, but I didn't care.
Yuyogopoopy: I can't remember whether you reviewed the last chapter or not, it's been awhile since I got your review. Well, thanks for reviewing.
Ok, on with the story...
Chapter 7
The Final Battle
Eragon found himself standing in front of the Queen's personal library awaiting entrance by the guard, who had kept him here for the past five minutes.
"I don't understand why I can't go in. All I need to do is ask her something!" He tried to keep his voice down, but he was so aggravated. Was he not an ally? Why would he possibly want to harm Izlanzadi in any way?
"You must wait." That was all the guard would mutter.
I can't believe this.He shouted to Saphira.
Patience, little one. I'm sure there is a good reason for her security.
"There better be." He mumbled to himself.
Eragon stood before the guard for ten more minutes, but then his legs began to hurt, so he sat down on a nearby bench. He intended to be the first person the Queen saw when she stepped out that door. So he waited. And waited, and waited, and waited. He was holding his head in his hands when he finally heard the door open.
Izlanzadi emerged from the door followed by three heavily armed guards. Her appearance was weary, as if she had just heard terrible news. She had made the same face when she had heard of Brom's death. When she became aware of his presence, her expression lightened, but not a lot.
"Eragon! How long have you been out here?"
"Hm, I don't know, two, maybe three hours?" He turned to the guard. "What would you say?"
The guard ignored him and continued to stare forward.
"My goodness, why did you tell me?" The question was directed to the guard, who just opened his mouth as if he was going to talk.
"I, er, uh, I…" He could not get the words out.
"Well, you could've at least told me that I had a visitor!" She turned back to Eragon. "Now, what is it you wish to speak to me about?"
"Well, Aiedail said that one of my friends had arrived and that you would know more about it." He scratched the back of his neck with his left hand and stared at the floor.
"Oh, yes. Your friend, I do believe he went by Murtagh, is in one of our guest rooms. We did not want to interrupt your lessons. Ira would not be pleased." She said the last sentence as though she were speaking to herself.
"So Murtagh is here then?"
"Yes. One of my handmaidens will take you to his room." She signaled for one of three handmaidens to come forth.
"Right this way, Shur'tugal."
The young handmaiden led Eragon down a long, narrow corridor with lanterns hanging on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Paintings were on the walls and depicted violence and slaughter. They seemed out of place.
"What are these paintings on the walls?" He asked, stopping in front of one with a particularly gruesome battle.
"They depict our past. The ones down this corridor tell the story of our war with the dragons. The one you are looking at is the battle with Eragon and Bid'Daum. This was the final battle where they brought peace between our two races. See? There they are." She pointed up to a dragon flying in the sky with one rider.
"So this is the last battle?" He meant it more as a statement than a question.
"Yes. This is the end of the war we so deeply regret. We have this painting down every hall as to remind us of mistakes once made, and prevent us from repeating them."
They gazed at the picture a few moments more before the handmaiden said, "We should get going."
The woman looked at each door down that hall, contemplating whether it was Murtagh's room or not. This worried Eragon. He did not want to knock on some stranger's door at this time of night. Although it was not terribly late, he reckoned that most everybody was in bed and relaxing.
"Ah, here it is."
Eragon turned towards the elf, who was standing beside a door. He took it as his queue to knock. Behind the door was a loud crashing noise, some grunts, cursing, and then the door opened.
"Nasuada?" Eragon was thoroughly confused. Why had Nasuada said she was Murtagh and why did the Queen say a man had come?
"Yeah, Murtagh is inside. He just cut his foot trying to get to the door."
Eragon peered over Nasuada's shoulder. Sure enough, Murtagh was sitting on the floor holding his foot, red blood dripping through his fingers.
"Hey." He said curtly.
Eragon waved back.
"Why did you come? I thought you were going to take over Aji-."He stopped. Ajihad was still a delicate subject for her; at least it was when he left. After all, he was her father, though the resemblance was not there.
"Oh, I gave the spot up. It didn't seem like the right thing for me. I don't think it's what my father wanted. He would've rather had you take his place." She looked down at her feet.
"Hey! Before I bleed out, can you maybe, oh, I don't know, heal me?" Murtagh screamed the last part, making Nasuada choke down a laugh.
"Oh, right. Of course." Eragon made his way past Nasuada into their little room. He knelt beside his old friend and held out his right hand.
"Waíse heill!" His palm began to glow and the cut on Murtagh's foot disappeared instantly.
"Thanks."
Eragon got up first, and then extended a hand to help pull his friend up. In the process, the Mithrandil slipped out from underneath his tunic, causing Murtagh to look at it in wonder.
"Where did you get that?" He asked, eyeing the crystal with some interest.
"A friend gave it to me, so that I could protect it."
Murtagh looked at him suspiciously.
"A friend?"
"Yes."
"You sure? Because if you ask what I think, I say some lady-friend has an infatuation with you." He gave Eragon this look that could only mean that he knew the entire story. Well, at least the part about a woman giving it to him.
"Positive." He gave Murtagh the same look, inquiring about Nasuada's presence.
"We'll talk later."
"Of course."
Nasuada looked from one to the other with a confused expression.
"I'm not even going to ask, because I know the two of you won't tell me, so I will just go to sleep. Night." She said, kissing Murtagh.
After she had retreated into her, or their, bedroom, Eragon turned back to Murtagh, whose face was bright red. Eragon couldn't help but laugh.
"Shut up." Murtagh mumbled. He sat down in a nearby chair and rubbed his face with his hands while yawning.
"So, what have you been up to?"
"You know, training, sleeping, eating. Nothing important." Eragon said, taking a seat across from him.
"So who's the lady-friend?"
The question surprised Eragon. Well, Murtagh was like a brother to him, it was only natural that he ask.
"Her name's Aiedail. She is Arya's younger sister."
Murtagh nodded. "What about Arya?How's itgoingwith you two?"
That was even more surprising. Eragon did not expect Murtagh to notice Arya's feelings for him.
"It's not. We got into an argument over Aiedail yesterday and we haven't spoken since."
"She'll get over it." He said, looking out a window into the night sky.
"I hope so."
They sat in silence for a few more minutes. There was really nothing to talk about. Eragon could ask him about Nasuada, but it was late, and he had a feeling it was a long story.
"Well, we should get some rest. I don't want to be blamed for you missing a lesson." Murtagh stood up and held out his hand at Eragon.
Eragon stood up also, but instead of taking his hand, he hugged him. Murtagh showed him the way out and soon Eragon found himself outside the palace walls.
Was it Murtagh?
Yeah, and Nasuada.
Why did Nasuada come?
I don't know. Tomorrow I'll need you with me when I have lessons with Ira. He's going to teach me how to fight on your back.
Alright. Goodnight little one.
Night. He broke the link and continued on his way to the house.
The next morning went by rather uneventfully. He ate breakfast with Murtagh, and then introduced him to Aiedail. When Ira's lessons came around, Eragon found himself racing against time. Saphira was nearly there, and Ira was almost surely there, waiting for him. If there was anything Eragon knew, it was that Ira had the temper of an angry shade. He had no tolerance for tardiness, which was what Eragon was afraid of. The fear was both pushing him forward and pulling him back.
He weaved around trees and elves alike, begging the gods not to make him late. Eragon was nearing the clearing quickly. If he was lucky, he could make it just a minute late. He pushed himself harder, he could already hear Ira's lecture. He more of stumbled into the clearing than ran, for her had lost his footing on a moss-covered rock. Cursing, he stood up, rubbing the dirt off his knees.
"I'm really sorry, breakfast took longer than I thou-." He stopped when he noticed that, aside from Saphira, he was all alone. Ira was nowhere to be seen.
Saphira, fly above and see if you can spot him anywhere.
There are too many trees, little one. Besides, I'm sure he's fine.
I'm not. Saphira didn't know Ira like Eragon did. He was NEVER late, ever.
There was only really one thing he could do. Wait. Ira would show up eventually, as Eragon very well knew. How long eventually was, was a different story, however. He took a seat on a nearby tree-stump. He might as well get comfortable while he waited.
He played Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt with Saphira. He practiced with Zar'roc on a tree, much to Saphira's disliking. Hour after hour passed with still no sign of Ira and Saphira was beginning to worry almost as much as Eragon himself was. Sighing, he brought himself up from his seat on the earthen floor. He had made up his mind.
Little one, where do you think you are going? Saphira's melodic voice filled his mind.
I think you know perfectly well where.
No, I am afraid you did quite a handy job of blocking your thoughts from even me as you sat there. Now, I will ask again; Where are you going?
To look for him, of course, I thought you, knowing me better than anyone else, would have figured that out.
I already did, though I hoped it would not be so.
Well, it is. I figured the first place I would check would be the surrounding area, then work my way back to Ellesmera. What do you think?
I think it is a sound plan for now. What would you have me do?
Fly back and ask Aiedail if she has seen him as of late. Feeling a twinge of guilt from being so demanding, he added, Please.
As you wish.
Her mighty wings beat downwards as her feet pushed off the ground and ever closer to the heavens. Eragon watched until the tip of her long sapphire tail was no longer visible, then commenced in his search to find his teacher.
Later, he found that the forest was clear. No sign of Ira anywhere, not even a footprint. He had gotten as far as to where he could hear the faint roar of a waterfall, and would have looked there if it had not been for the sun's slow descent from the sky. For some strange reason, he felt as though something terrible had happened there.
Eragon had barely made it back to the hidden city before it had grown completely black. He could see three figures, instead of the usual two, standing by the gate.
He recognized almost immediately the form of Aiedail. From the looks of it, she had noticed his presence too, for she was now sprinting toward him at a brisk pace. She didn't slow as she drew closer to him, but rather leapt into his arms with such force that she almost knocked him over.
"Aiedail, what is it? What's wrong?"
"Saphira told me what happened and, and Arya went out to go search for Ira on the other side of the forest. And when, when she came ba…back, she…she…" Aiedail was sobbing so hard she couldn't finish her sentence.
"Aiedail, you need to tell me what happened." Said Eragon, trying to calm her down.
"Arya's…she's…gone."
"What do you mean by 'gone'?" Dread filled his heart. He hoped that what he thought she meant was not the truth.
"Arya's dead, Eragon."
AN: HAHAHAHA DEADLY CLIFFHANGER! Wow, ya'll are almost caught up with the other site...hm. Not good. Review please! Oh, and whatever you do, don't ask how she died, because you'll find out later.