Thanks for reviewing I got three this time It will get better and could I ask a favor could you guys give me names suitable for elves. You guyz are in for a surprise when you read this chapter It's soooooooooo cool
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Chapter 3: The new Du Varang Gata
When Eragon had explained that he had promised Roran that he would rescue Katrina before he did anything else, the elves made no comment when Eragon asked why they told him that they were just his guards and that they have no say in what you do or where you go.
"Well let me clear this up" Eragon said angrily "you have much more experience in how Galbatorix operates than I do and your lives are in my hands so if you think we should or should not do something say it and I will give it the highest priority"
"Thank you" The apparent leader replied "That is really something coming from someone of your stature as for rescuing your cousins girlfriend we agree but we think that you should wait for about two months before you go after her I'm sure Galbatorix wont kill her."
"Ok but why should we wait Galbatorix's army just lost to us and he thinks we are really weak"
"Yes but he is mobilizing his army against the elves that means that his cities will be on alert if we wait they will realize that Dras Leonas is not a target and it will lure them into a false sense of security and then we strike"
"That's a good plan but what if the elves actually attack Dras Leonas?"
"It is already part of our plan to leave Dras Leonas alone because it is too difficult to maneuver in the area"
Saphira suddenly said something to everybody that convinced them that waiting would be the best idea
Eragon, I just realized if the elves plan succeed then Galbatorix's army will be divided not only will it make it easier to take but it could mean all out victory for the Varden.
Your right Saphira I'm with you all. I have no doubt that our plan will succeed but the hard part would be convincing Roran
Roran had been coming to Eragon's tent every morning to check if Katrina was still alive by asking him to skry her.
"Can I come in Eragon" Said a familiar voice
Eragon head shot up to the flap of his tent. there were three shadows two of them were big and one was a small.
Eragon stood up.
"Come in Lady Nasuda" Eragon said and the big shadow pushed the flap of the tent allowing Nasuda to pass. Now Eragon saw who they were. His eyes automatically went to the elves surprisingly they did not even flinch. They ignored the urgals completely. Instead they focused all their attention on Nasuda and greeted her.
She replied.
Eragon gestured to the foot of his bed and Nasuda made her way around the room and sat.
"I was just informed of your arrival and made to you as fast as I could. I hope you came across no trouble in your journey."
"None at all" replied their leader "Just a couple of extra soilders which we took care of"
"Thank you, you do realize that you will be treated here as if you were of the highest rank ask anything and it shall be done"
The elves nodded as if they were expecting this and said
"Thank you but we want no special treatment aside from being allowed in your meetings with Eragon"
"Ok then our first meeting will be tomorrow after the battle assessments and I'm sure you are tired and hungry meet us at the camp center I'll have your food prepared. without meat I expect"
"Yes, thank you" they said and made their way out of Eragon's tent to the guide who was waiting to take them to their own.
"Peculiar aren't they"
Eragon who had lived with elves for many months dint find them peculiar at all.
"What's peculiar is that they know our names but we don't know theirs"
Nasuda laughed "ha Eragon your right"
None of them said anything for a few minutes then
"I have to go get ready for the feast, Eragon see you later"
"Fine" He replied then when Nasuda went out he went to the spring to take a quick bath. He quickly stripped his clothes and dove into the water suddenly he gave a yelp and pulled his head out of the water. What he had seen surprised him a lot. After a few minutes of thinking he put his head slowly into the water, what had surprised him was that he could see as clearly underwater as he could on land. Then he realized that this was another gift given to him in Esselmera by the dragons.
After he spent a few minutes swimming he went back to his tent shaved with magic and donned the clothes Izlandia had given him. It was only now that he truly appreciated how comfortable this really was.
Since he had no sword and didn't wish to go unarmed he brought a long elven made knife which he could hide under his tunic.
000
Now at the feast Eragon just sat him self beside Nasuda and talked for about an hour he just talked and ate then he realized something was missing.
"Nasuda, where is Arya?" Eragon asked surprise
"She went back to the elves the hour the magicians arrived she was talking with me about returning when the trumpets sounded she ignored them completely and stated that she wanted to go to the north to help the elves battle Galbatorix. When I agreed she said that she needed to do something in the Varden first ten she would go. After about 10 minutes she came back and left on horseback."
"I see" Eragon replied slowly while relaying the information to sapphire who was at the far side of the table eating
"Is there anything wrong, Eragon" Nasuda asked
"No, nothing at all" Eragon lied
000
Eragon was now lying in bed and talking with Saphira about the information Nasuda had given him.
Eragon, listen I think I have a general idea of what Arya did.
Yes Saphira, even I do it's so obvious Arya for some reason didn't approve of the elven magician's and wanted to tell me something before she left but for whatever reason she didn't and then the elves arrived.
Yes I figured that much but you said you could not see Arya face, why?
Aye, she was looking at you all the time
Looking at me but she wasn't talking to me
Of course you were sleeping then.
I see...
Look Saphira we'll never find out what Arya wanted to say unless she says it herself so lets just drop it, ok?
Saphira sighed
Ok, fine
000
The day after the victory feast at about 4 a.m. when almost everyone was asleep, a stranger walked stealthily to Eragon's tent. He quietly entered the tent, keeping a safe distance from the sleeping dragon, careful not to wake it up. He made his way to Eragon's bed, looked down on the person sleeping on it and smiled.
"Here lays the only hope for the Varden" he whispered to himself
000
Because of Eragon's new elflike senses Eragon knew that some one was coming even though his eyes were closed. Eragon allowed the person to get close enough for him to grab, while accessing his magical energy and readying himself to fight. The stranger slowly moved his hand to Eragon stomach but before he could touch him, Eragon leapt up and attacked him mentally. The intruder retreated back in surprise and pain. With one leap Eragon was in front of the retreating stranger and had a dagger pressed to the would-be-attacker's throat. But when he realized who the person was he was shocked.
000
"Jarsha what are you doing" Eragon barked
Jarsha was really scared, the pain in his head had stopped but the dagger was still pressed against his throat.
"Sorry Shadeslayer, Lady Nasuda sent me to inform you about the assessment meeting. It's about to start and she requests your presence."
"Assessment meeting" Eragon said as he lowered the dagger and looked outside "This early?"
"I'm afraid so. Lady Nasuda, the council of elders and king Orrin and company are already there" Jarsha replied then hesitated "I also have to fetch the elves so if you don't mind…."
"No never mind that I'll get the elves myself, you can go sleep"
"Really?" Jarsha asked and without waiting for a reply said "Thank you"
He bowed and ran out of the tent.
Truth be told Jarsha couldn't wait to get out of the tent. When he was a few meters from the tent he felt something wet. He looked down and saw that he had wet himself.
000
When Jarsha had gone out Eragon woke Saphira and told her what happened and followed her out of her tent.
The elves' tents were located just behind Eragon at the suggestion of the elves and for the convenience of Eragon during emergencies.
When Eragon reached the tents he didn't go inside out of respect to their privacy instead he contacted them through his mind and told them to come out quickly. Almost immediately they came out, ready with their swords held in a defensive position and looking from left to right.
"Relax there is nothing wrong, I came to ask you to accompany me and Saphira to the assessment meeting."
"Right now?" Said a tired looking elf who was rubbing her eye
"I'm afraid so" Eragon replied "come on!"
000
Eragon went inside the tent, bowed to Nasuda as a sign of fealty and took a seat at her right, and the elves went inside and took seats at Eragon's right and Nasuda's left. They were sitting at a U shaped table with Nasuda at the joint joining the two arms. "Ok now let us start the meeting" Nasuda said as she motioned to a person sitting next to the door
"Timdor you may begin"
The person called Timdor stood up, and went to the middle of the table where everyone could see him and started speaking
"I am Timdor, I am representing the Varden" he said "Our first problem is that we have three remaining magic users aside from Shadeslayer and the elves and they are not competent enough to heal more that cuts and bruises" as he said this, Eragon noticed that Orrin was looking rather happy.
"I see but what about Angela did you count her?" Nasuda asked
"Angela is not a magician she is a witch, even though she is a powerful one, she is useless to the magical community" this time it was Eragon who said this.
"So now we have to recruit enough magicians to protect all our soilders that will take a long time since the empire itself is conscripting, and even if we mange to get them there is still the problem of training them" Nasuda stated
"No, we have recruits" Eragon said as an idea came to him "We have Carvahall"
Orrin laughed "Eragon that's ridiculous"
Eragon stood up, turned his body so he was facing Orrin and locked eyes with him "Why?"
"Well…it's…um…" Orrin faltered under Eragon's angry gaze "It would take too much time training them"
"Oh use your common sense" Eragon said boldly "would it not take longer recruiting then training"
"King Orrin I think Eragon is right" Nasuda said and got a scowl in return from Orrin.
"But…" Eragon said grinning "…if you have a better idea please say it"
Orrin sighed "I guess I can't win against the two of you"
"Now our second problem" Nasuda said to Timdor
He nodded
"The Varden's second problem is much worse than our first-
We have lost more than ¾ of our soilders in this battle and the battle with the urgals before we had 4000 now we only have 1000"
"What can we do about that? Any Ideas?"
When nobody said anything Nasuda told Timdor to continue
"We have no more serious problem except just a few seriously injured people need healing, the remaining members of the Du Varang Gata weren't able to, and our supplies will last us more than a month so we have nothing to worry about" after he said this he bowed and sat down on his place.
The discussion continued to Orrin's side as another speaker rose to speak and then to problems with politics, then the problem of the dwarves and elves, after that Orrin made some nasty comments about a war run with lace. The only other good news was that the elves were stealing supplies from Galbatorix and giving it to the Varden.
The meeting ended and everyone made their way outside but before Eragon stood up Nasuda whispered to him
"Eragon meet me in my office in an hour bring Angela and Roran"
"Ok, but just one question do I bring the elves?"
Nasuda thought for a moment then said
"Yes, and remember 1 hour, earlier if possible" and made her way out of the tent.
Eragon watched her go; when she went out he followed.
The elves were waiting outside; Eragon quickly told them what Nasuda had said and gave them directions to Nasuda's office. Then he went to Angela's tent but he saw no one there. After waiting for a few minutes he decided to expand his consciousness: immediately he felt an intelligent life form lurking somewhere where his foot was. He quickly looked down and saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes. Eragon sighed
It's only you solebum.
I was wondering when you would notice me! Solebum said as he purred
Eragon laughed Right, sorry, could you tell me where Angela is? It's really important
Yes I could
Eragon sighed, not this again he thought
Then please tell me where she is?
She is returning from the Beor mountains. She'll be here in a few minutes.
Ok thanks.
When Solebum 'few minutes' turned out to be more than half an hour Eragon grew inpatient
Hey could you do me a favor? Tell Angela when she gets here to go to Nasuda's office.
When solebum bobbed his head Eragon said
Thanks.
But just as Eragon was about to go out of the tent, Angela went inside carrying a big bag. When she caught sight of Eragon she looked surprised then raised her eyebrows inquiringly
"Well…?"She asked
"Nasuda is calling you to her office for an important meeting be there in 15 minutes" Eragon replied
"Oh, ok" And she suddenly pushed him out of her tent
"Please step outside I would like to change" she said cheerfully
"Fine, I'll go call Roran now, meet us in the office in fifteen minutes" Eragon quickly said and left
Roran tent was not far from Angela's when Eragon arrived outside it he shouted
"Roran!"
When no reply came he shouted again; he knew Roran was there because he had sensed his consciousness. Finally after shouting for the third time Eragon burst into Roran's tent and, surprisingly, found him on his bed asleep. After Eragon shook him awake he told him what happened and magically poured cold water onto his face. He waited outside as Roran changed and accompanied him to Nasuda's tent
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"So why did you want to see us" Roran asked Nasuda as soon as he arrived
"Sit down first, Roran, then we'll talk" Nasuda said pointing to a seat. And when Roran sat down she said:
"It's about Carvahall; you are still going to fight the empire aren't you"
"Yes, of-course! Why do you ask? "Roran replied as if he had been offended
"You see" Nasuda started to explain "the Varden is running low on magicians, and we cant win full scale wars without magicians, so to fix this problem we were thinking of turning into a group of magical warriors"
And Eragon added "and it would be easier to rescue Katrina and fight the ra-zac"
Roran thought for a moment then he nodded "I can see no fault in your logic and agree with it my self but unfortunately I cannot speak for the whole of Carvahall"
When he said this Eragon and Nasuda gave a sigh of relief
"Ok" Nasuda said "another problem is that even if Carvahall says yes there is still the problem of training them. Training the magicians will take a long time and be difficult even with the elves help."
"Difficult yes but not impossible" Eragon said hopefully "we could borrow about 17 magicians from the elves and then we just have to teach about 10 humans to 1 elf"
"Yes, your right Eragon that will make it mush faster"
Then a solider walked inside the tent and said to Nasuda
"My lady, a dwarf from Master Orik is here to see you"
"Well what are you waiting for" Said Nasuda laughing "let him in"
The solider nodded and went outside almost immediately the dwarf came inside and bowed to Nasuda then to Eragon.
"Master Eragon a message for you from Lord Orik" the dwarf said as he handed an envelope to Eragon "And another for you my lady" and handed another envelope to Nasuda.
"Thank you" Eragon said as he took the envelope. Inside it read:
Eragon,
I have bad news for you and the Varden. Our new king does not support the Varden and says that the dwarves are not going to fight against Galbatorix. I fear that he might be serious about his statements but there is still hope; because of Horthgar's death the dwarves are angry and they want revenge and they are putting a lot of pressure on the new king, so I think if you please him or do something good, something big, something the dwarves will never forget, he will be able to change his mind without losing face. Eragon, I think that you should do this quickly before the king gets accustomed to power. Hurry!
-Orik
"We just keep getting more and more problems don't we" Eragon said laughing at their misfortune
"Not really, Eragon" Nasuda said thinking
"What?" Eragon asked "of course this is a problem; I won't have time to teach Carvahall"
"I have an idea" Nasuda said then she turned and faced the dwarf "are you done repairing the dragon hold?" she asked politely
The dwarf looked down "no it will take about a month give or take a week" he said.
"Ok, please wait for me outside I want to talk to them in private" Nasuda said to the dwarf
The dwarf bowed and went outside.
"Eragon this is perfect you can win the new king's confidence and train Carvahall together if you bring them with you to Farthen Dur" Nasuda said happily
"Yes and we'll help you" Said the leader of the elves "after all the elves and the Varden have a common enemy and it's better for us if the Varden can do more damage"
"Yes that's all very good" Said Eragon solemnly "but two big problems remain. First problem: this all depends if Carvahall says yes and what is it says no? Secondly: even if Carvahall says yes, what about the other elves"
"I wouldn't worry about Carvahall after what had happened to them I'll bet they would relish a chance to get revenge" Nasuda said
"I don't think so, you don't know Carvahall" Eragon said
"Eragon do I have to remind you that I am the leader of the Varden and in the past months I have dealt with thousands of these cases and all of them had the same results" Nasuda said with sudden hostility
"Sorry" Eragon said, though he didn't think that Carvahall would agree he couldn't help but notice the wisdom behind her words.
She has much more experience than you and she means you no harm, listen to her Saphira told him
Yes your right, Eragon replied
"Ok, but what about the other elves"
"Queen Izlandia will have them magically transported" an elf said
"Ok, then I'll have to ask Carvahall and get them ready" Roran said and left the tent
"It will take a day to prepare the entire village" Eragon said grimly as Nasuda called the dwarf "even if they do agree"
"We'll continue discussing our plans tomorrow" Nasuda said before the dwarf come in
Eragon nodded and went to sleep and prepare for tomorrow. As soon as he fell on his bed he was asleep.
On a cloudless, clear sky Eragon saw himself flying on Saphira, On his right was a rider with a red dragon and on his left was a rider with a green dragon surrounding them were12 other dragon riders but their dragons were smaller and duller than ordinary dragons. Below them was a charging army, charging towards another army 10 times their size, behind which stood great high walls, suddenly the two armies clashed with a deafening roar sending blood flying everywhere.
Eragon woke, gasping for air, and saw Saphira's huge head looking down on him.
Eragon are you all right you were tossing and turning in your sleep?
I'm fine, I just had those future seeing dreams again. What did Arya say they were? I forgot
I don't remember either, but that's not the point. What did you dream about?
Eragon started to tell her but surprisingly he could not remember, so he forced himself to remember but every time he tried it just slipped further away. Then Eragon decided to just give up. When he told Saphira this she said
Never mind Eragon, we can't bother ourselves with this now, we have to attend the meeting.
Right I'll call the elves after I change
No need, I already called them and told them to go without us, they are already there
I'll wait for you outside Saphira said as she stepped out
Eragon quickly changed and joined her, and then they made their way to Nasuda's office together.
When Eragon stepped inside he saw that Roran, Nasuda, the elves and the dwarf were already there, Nasuda was sitting at a desk and reading some papers but when she saw Eragon come she put them down, welcomed Eragon and told him to take a seat in front of her.
"Ok, Roran begin your report" Nasuda said looking at Roran
Roran nodded "well, most of Carvahall agreed at help the Varden but about 25 of didn't like the idea of traveling once again. After I had a private talk with them they agreed but I am still uncertain of Carvahall's full cooperation. They might ask to go back to the Varden in the middle of the mission"
Nasuda bobbed her head as if she had known that this would happen "I thought that an situation like this might arise that's why I have arranged for a special gift to give to the Varden" she said
"A gift?" Roran asked surprised "what will you give them"
"Oh, nothing much" Nasuda said with a smile "good identical swords, a bow and quiver, and a full set of armor for each of them" she said this as is she was happy to give it away "oh, and a jewel encrusted into the hilt of the swords, Eragon personally requested this."
Roran looked at Eragon with a look of utter bewilderment "why?"
"I'll not tell you now, you'll find out in your training" Eragon said
Roran raised his eyes inquiringly then shrugged his shoulder and turned to face Nasuda and laughed "how can you give all that to 300 people the Varden must be richer than I thought"
"Well it's much richer because of lady Nasuda's lace thing" Eragon said proudly.
Nasuda turned a light shade of red but quickly recovered before Eragon could notice. "Thank you Eragon" Nasuda said hurrying to change the subject "as I was saying the gift would win over Carvahall's confidence and respect but Roran please don't tell anyone about the gift"
When nobody said anything for a few minutes Nasuda complied "ok so I guess our meeting is ov-", but she stopped suddenly when the dwarf cleared his throat
"Oh yes I almost forgot" Nasuda said apologetically to the dwarf "there are other reasons for you to go to Farthen Dur. You have to take part in the dwarf's election and also attend Horthgar's funeral though I don't get why they hold it after 2 months"
"It's their tradition" Eragon said replying for the dwarf "their priests pray to the gods for safe passage into the afterlife" Eragon had learned this from a scroll Master Oromis had given him.
Nasuda nodded understanding "If that's all you may go except you Eragon I want to talk to you in private"
When everyone had left Nasuda turned to Eragon "I suppose Oromis and Geldar thought you the bit about the dwarves" she said waiting for Eragon to respond "I'm glad he's doing his job"
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P.S. : Don't you just love cliffhangers? I do! (when I write them!) Haha keep reviewing and could you guyz suggest some names suitable for elves
Thanks.