The wild Dragons
Disclaimer: Eragon belongs to Christopher Paolini
Eragon and Karris were walking along the barrens of Kuthian having left the court of Uru'baen. Eridor and Saphira have gone ahead to the forgotten valleys: ancient valleys which no human, elf or dwarf have trespassed in for thousands of years, except one. Karris had gone there before and Eridor and Saphira had gone ahead to convince them to let Karris and Eragon enter the valley.
Eragon and Karris could run faster than horses and made very good time across the barren plains. Eragon had drawn level with Karris and had started talking "Karris why are we running this way? The valleys are over there." He pointed to an area to the left of them. He had seen Saphira and Eridor flying towards it. Karris pointed to the north. "We are going to one of the few cities that survived the wars." He smiled a cynical smile. "You didn't think all of them were destroyed did you?" Eragon was about to retort when he saw the faint outlines of a few towers. "Mighty Narriak. Our military city. The royal army used to assemble here. As such it could defend itself against the Ra'Zac. Also there was a large moat. We didn't know it at the time but the Ra'zac are very afraid of water. They were always edgy while attacking Narriak and we beated them easily there. Unfortunetly they then started attacking farms and draining our food supply. We had to flee." Eragon glanced at him. "How old were you when that happened?" Karris shrugged. "Five."
They stopped talking. They had arrived at the city.
What was once a moat had been destroyed and formed a swirling river. They approached a bridge when a man popped out. "This 'ere is my bridge. You gotta pay to cross." Eragon wondered how Karris would handel this. Brom just pickpocketed this kind of person. Oromis would probably pay him and try to convince him to chance his ways. Karris calmly took out Elvesbane and held the sword loosely. "How long has this been your bridge?" The man smiled. He obviosly had no idea this was a rider and his king. "Five months now" he said with a smarmy smile. "It's been five months since I was here last. To you now what happened to the previous owner?" The man shook his head , no longer smiling. He probably just wanted his and to go back to bed, not listen to Karris. Karris, however had chosen to grin evilly. "Guess, but here's a clue: you got his job!" The man's eyes widened. He suddely realised who he was talking to. "My lord" he said bowing down to one knee Karris sheathed Elvesbane. "Take me to Lord Mediroc"
Eragon and Karris were walking along the streets of Narriak, Karris occasionally nodding to people who bowed to him. "Are you their King?" asked Eragon. Karris looked a bit uncomfortable. "They realise I'm their king but they answer only to their Lord. I enjoy certian privaleges but I don't claim the throne." Eragon was surprised. He could have just rebuild his kingdom here but he chose to reak vengance on the elfs. "I spent my time here during Galbatorix's reign enjoying myself and helping the people with my magic. In that time I grew so popular they thought I wanted to take over the ruling of the city. They sent a company of twenty men to take me in. I killed them all in two minutes and after that they pretty much left me alone. I stayed in the citadel and people kept a respectfull distance. "More like a fearfull distance" said Eragon. "Karris, the way you act scares people. Your not evil, just unafraid of being it." Karris looked thoughtfull. "What to you mean?" Eragon sighed. "Karris, like good person you only commit acts of evil when you have to, unlike a good person you have no problem doing it and you even sometimes enjoy it." Karris looked away. "The elves and even my father tried to use me as a puppet" he whispered. "In the end, instead of the hand moving the puppet, the puppet moved the hand." A silence fell and it continued until they reached the citadel.
The door guards moved out of the way unhesitintley. There was no bowing or scraping but fear was etched across their faces. The citadel was of unimpressive size but it made sense. This was a military capital. Eragon and Karris both gave brief bows when they came before the Lord Meridoc. Meridoc was a stout man with flowing red hair. When he spoke it was a joyous voice "My leige" he said bowing before Karris. "You've returned from your campaign!" He seemed genuinelly happy by Karris return. Either he was a good actor or Karris wasn't as evil as he let on. Karris acknowledged the bow like a nobleman. "Yes, and I bring good news! Galbatorix has been dethroned!" Their were thin smiles on the mens faces. They knew they were supposed to be pleased but it didn't really matter to them. Galbatorix had no idea that there were any people still on Kuthain. Only Meridoc seemed truly pleased, reingforcing the idea that he was a very good actor.Karris smiled. "We will only be here one night then we will leave, forever" There was complete silence in the room. " I'm going to restore the dragons to Algaslesia and take my empire's throne." Eragon looked at Karris. "Only if you win the election." Karris turned to face him. They then walked off to their rooms , led by some footmen. They both knew the election didn't truly matter. Karris was taking the throne either way.
The next morning Karris and Eragon left Narriak stealthly and unnoticed. They didn't bother telling anyone. Running faster then horses they started running towards the ancient valleys. Karris and Eragon slowed when the saw the fringes of green, however they did not stop. "Welcome to the homes of the dragons" said Karris breathing heavily.
Eridor and Saphira were surronded by two other dragons. The one dragon was as big as Eridor and quite imposing, but the other one was the very definition of it. A giacantic dragon , with one long, one chipped tooth. The dragon that represented his race during the dealings with the elves. He looked like a massive mountain. He suddenly told everyone "Welcome to the valleys of the dragons. It's been some time since I saw the other Eragon. Now you have taken his place." The dragon let loose a roar that made everthing shake. Hundreds of other dragons assembeled. Golden,YellowRed,Blue,Green,White,Brown and Black dragons. Karris had bowed before the massive dragon and walked over to Eridor. They seemed to have a brief conversation and Eridor flew over to a largish Red dragon. Karris shrugged at Eragon. "Eridor has been interested in that dragon for quite some time" he said. Eragon had the feeling that riders often had conversations like this. "We need to ask them if any of them want to return to Algaslesia. I doubt many of them would come. They live safe, happy lives here." With that he walked off and started talking to a small family of Yellow dragons. Eragon walked over to Saphira and the nameless dragon.
Saphira was beyond happy. She flew around talking with all the dragons. Several of the older dragons seemed to sympathize with her. "Karris always leaves himdelf several options" Saphira told Eragon. "You should try to find out if he saved anything else."
Eragon aproached Karris at the end of the day. Together they had managed to convince twenty dragons to return to Algaslesia. The included the large red dragon but not the nameless one. "Karris , did you save anything from the razing of Vroengrad?" Eragon asked. Karris looked irritated. "I burned all the elven things, but I saved several books. The are kept in a library in Farthen Dur." He smiled suddenly. "Not even the dwarves know the books are there." Eragon looked at him and realised something. "Was anything special done to the three dragon eggs?" Karris turned and looked at Eridor. "The third, green egg, was sired by Eridor. But more importantly we placed spells that the eggs would only hatch to one deticated to the forsworn. Or one of our children. Galbatorix didn't know me and Morzan shaped the eggs as such. However if you're looking for my share of the gold and wealth, I keep it in Leona Lake." Eragon smiled faintly. "So that's why you chose to camp there" Earsplitting roars filled the sky. The twenty dragons had assembeled along with Saphira and Eridor. It was mostly Green and Blue dragons like Saphira and Eridor. "Let us take our leave ,little ones" said Eridor in his deep voice.
Flying to Uru'baen was challenging because the wild dragons liked flying in odd directions. Eridor had to roar several times to keep them in line. The dragons , however had chosen to spend their time in the dessert. Eragon knew how Saphira felt about the place so he didn't question it. Already they had two eggs to present to the next generation of riders. Flying happily the two riders returned to Uru'baen.
"Eragon , something is wrong!" shouted Karris when the approached the massive city. 'The Varden have reassembeled their army!" He pointed to the great mass of soldiers Eragon had to assume were the Varden. "Who's attacking them?" Eragon shouted back. A few minutes of fast flying later there question was answered. At the head of four hundred shades , the ones who hadn't been stabbed through the heart , stood Murtagh.