Hey guys I am back for chapter 16! Double upload for the today!
OMG GUYS you freaking killed it with reviews from last chapter! I got 10 or 15 reviews talking about the chapter and your predictions for the future it was amazing! Thank you to Manofsteel for like 9 reviews! It was really fun to go through and read your reactions as you read each chapter! Also regarding Arya returning to Ellesmera….. good guess! You will find out if you are correct soon!
Thanks to Silver912 for the review! I hate reading cliffhangers too but they are super fun to write lol
Also thanks to an unnamed guest or 2 I'm not sure if it's the same person. Thanks for the review and I am glad you like the story so far!
I am either uploading this the day before Valentine's day or the morning of the day itself so Happy Valentine's day everyone!
User IDK—You are going to like this
This is a long chapter, so I hope you enjoy!
Now chapter 16 let's go!
Arya's POV
It had been three days since her conversation with Eragon and she had avoided him at all costs. This was unfortunate because the ceremony was scheduled for today and they would have to stand side by side for hours while the ceremony took place.
Arya sat on a small bench on the outskirts of the city. People passed her without a second glance, but she liked it that way. It left her alone with her thoughts.
Arya was still processing all that Eragon had revealed to her. Her mind swirled as thoughts shot out as though at war with each other.
"He didn't tell me about the egg!"
"He had excellent reasons not to do so"
"He betrayed you!"
"He withheld information that I didn't need to know its not the same thing"
"He asked you to leave the throne!"
"And how many times did you consider doing that yourself over the last few years?"
"HE SLEPT WITH ANOTHER WOMEN"
"He was drunk and we were and still are not together, he may do whatever he pleases"
"IT WAS KAYLA!"
That was where her arguments stopped. She struggled to believe that Eragon had slept with the person in the world Arya hated most, but there she sat contemplating her predicament. Arya had no wish to leave without resolving this with Eragon. It would decide how their friendship would go moving forward. Arya wished she had more time to ponder but Arya planned to leave tomorrow night to give Firnen as much time to prepare as possible.
She heard someone approach and sat down next to her. It was Nala, one of the elves who had accompanied Eragon to Mount Arngor.
Nala greeted her before speaking
"My queen, Eragon Shadeslayer has sent me to inform you that the ceremony will take place in two hours' time."
"Very well I will be there shortly" Arya replied still lost in thoughts
Nala regarded her before saying slowly
"Everything is not always as it seems, my queen"
She hurried away leaving Arya to consider what she said
After a few more minutes Arya stood and reluctantly headed for her room. She entered and prepared for the ceremony by bathing and changing into her finest clothes. She stayed in her room for some time, dreading the upcoming ceremony and the awkwardness that it would surely bring up before finally leaving the room and entering the streets.
The ceremony was to take place near a small cliff overlooking the sea a good distance from the city.
By the time Arya got there the sun had begun to slowly set over the horizon.
It seemed she was the last one there as she looked around and saw the many people standing around while Eragon stood in front of his students. Arya took her place reluctantly on the other side of Eragon who looked at her hopefully, but she just shook her head and stared around. Arya noticed Eragon's face shift to sadness then guilt before regaining his composure.
She watched as his eyes scanned the crowd before them. His eyes met someone and his face tighten and contorted with anger before regaining its composure once again.
Arya looked over to where he had been looking and saw Kayla off to the side observing the ceremony.
Arya had to shut her eyes and look away to avoid her face showing any emotion
When everyone was ready Eragon began to speak. He spoke of the riders of old and their values and weaknesses and he spoke of each student as well. Of their past, upbringing and journey to becoming the person (or dragon) they were today.
He then had them recite oaths in the ancient language. Oaths that bound them to be a Rider and to look out for the good of the people over their own selfish needs.
"This is part of the reason Eragon feels so guilty about asking me to leave the throne. He feels it could be a violation of his oaths"
Although the oaths were not truly binding in the sense that they made acting against them impossible it was a symbol and public commitment that you were in this for life.
Finally Eragon asked them to kneel in front of him. He drew his sword and for dramatic effect lit it on fire.
Arya couldn't help but smile at this as he touched each shoulder of each rider and dragon and pronounced them full riders. They did not rise though but remained kneeling on the stone. The dragons still had to signal their approval. Saphira and Firnen stepped forward and each blew fire at the riders and their dragons. The fire curled around them harmlessly as it engulfed the area around them. It grew into a small tornado circling around the riders for a moment before it dispersed.
The now full riders rose to their feet and Eragon and Arya embraced and congratulated them.
A feast was held in celebration and Arya stayed until late into the night smiling and drinking. She never spoke more than a few words to Eragon though.
Finally, she called it a night and headed to her room. She could feel Eragon watching her on her way out, but he didn't follow, for which she was grateful. She was not in the mood for chatting.
Arya lay on her bed as she thought about all that Eragon had told her as well as Nala's statement.
"Ugh I don't know what to do" She said to Firnen in frustration
"Help me!" She asked him
"I am a dragon… I am not well versed in these types of human matter" He responded
"Give me your best guess" she said "I need a someone who is impartial to look at facts and help me decide what to do"
"I am partial toward you" He pointed out
"Yes but you are as close to impartial as I am going to get"
Firnen paused for several minutes while he cycled through her memories of each event including what she knew of Eragon, Of Kayla and what Nala had said.
He finally spoke and it was not what Arya was expecting
" It seems to me something is going on between Eragon and Kayla"
"obviously, they slept together remember?" Arya said with a pang of anger
"That is not what I mean" He said calmly
"Eragon does not seem the type of man to drink away his problems, He faces them head on, he doesn't avoid them. Furthermore, I don't take Eragon as someone who would sleep with just anyone given how devoted he is to you. This mixed with what Nala said to you this afternoon is enough to at least investigate."
Arya thought about it more
"It does seem odd timing, especially because a few hours earlier Eragon was threatening Kayla and clearly Eragon has no love for her as evidenced by the look he displayed today."
"Hmmm something to look into tomorrow perhaps"
Arya agreed before slowly falling into a dreamless sleep
The next day Arya awoke early and slipped out of her room and onto the streets. She decided she would try to learn more about that night and she first had to find Nala who had first hinted she knew more than she let on.
She found her on guard duty overlooking the eastern side of the island.
They greeted each other before Arya spoke
"You said to me yesterday that "Not everything is as it seems" ….. What did you mean by that?"
"Exactly what you think I meant."
"So you were there the night Eragon….. the night I left" Arya said quickly
"I was" Nala said gently
"Can you tell me what happened? did anything seem strange?"
"Nothing seemed overly strange although Eragon was clearly not in his right mind"
"Eragon had entered a small bar on the outskirts of the city. He seemed down and depressed and was drinking quite a lot more than he normally did. He had become quite inebriated by the time Kayla showed up. He seemed less than pleased to see her but allowed her to sit next to him as he drank. He eventually decided to call it a night but Kayla pulled out a flask and poured one more drink for him before they both exited."
"Do you know what the drink was?" She asked eagerly
"Faelnirv if I am not mistaken" she said
"And how did you know they….slept together?"
"I didn't but Iris was on watch that morning and he reported they both exited Eragon's chambers, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened"
"How did the elves react to this?" she asked curiosity getting the best of her
"We were unhappy with Nala as we felt she had taken advantage of Ebrithils state of mind at the time and I don't mean just because of the drinks, but there was nothing we could do"
She paused and spoke again
"If you don't mind me saying my queen, you make him better… you are good for him."
Arya nodded as she thanked her and made to leave
"Oh and my queen?"
Arya turned back to Nala
"Shift change is in ten minutes" she said with a small smile
Arya nodded understanding what she meant and thanked her again before making her way up the street. She stopped across the street from Kayla's residence and waited.
Not five minutes later Kayla exited the building and walked down the street toward where Nala stood guard.
Arya waited to ensure she was gone before she entered Kayla's building and quickly erased the wards around her door with the name of names before stepping inside.
Arya began to search every inch of the small room. She combed through dressers and under the bed as well as the window. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for but she knew she would know it when she found it
Finally she had almost given up when she found a small box hidden near her nightstand. Inside the box was a few random assortments of items such as a necklace and some scrolls but among the assortment of items was a flask and a small vile filled with a light purple liquid. Arya opened the empty flask and sniffed it. It smelled of berries and Arya was sure Faelnirv had been carried in the flask as somepoint in the past. She then looked at the light purple vile. It was about 1/4 empty and sparkled slightly in the light of the room. She opened it and sniffed it. She immediately felt slightly dizzy and tired. She closed the vile and stood in shock.
"Nightshadow!" She thought in shock
Nightshadow was a drug created from a specific flower found in Du Weldenvarden. In very small doses it can help a person sleep but in larger doses it can cause memory loss for a certain amount of time. The thing was Nightshadow was a dark purple liquid not light purple as the vile was. Arya considered the reason for this change.
She thought back to all she knew about Nightshadow and something her mother had told her many years ago popped into her head
"Never mix Faelnirv with Nightshadow" She had warned her
"Why not?" She had asked
"Both alone are useful but when mixed together it creates a potion that makes a person very susceptible to persuasion. Even the strongest willed people can fall under its spell. Even worse it erases the memory of the person involved so they will never know what they did"
Arya swore she was going to kill that elf as she left the room taking the flask and nightshadow with her as she went.
Arya went straight to Eragon's room, but he wasn't there. She looked around for a while thinking how ironic it was that when she finally wanted to find him he was nowhere to be found before finally deciding to confront Kayla alone.
As she entered the wall where Kayla was standing guard, she was surprised to hear voices speaking above her. She climbed the stairs and as she grew closer she recognized one of the voices as Eragon. She doubled her speed before she heard Kayla's voice as well.
They seemed to be arguing as Arya arrived at the top of the wall where the guards normally stood. She peaked around the corner of the stairwell to find Eragon and Kayla standing on top of the wall arguing about something.
Eragon stood with his back to her and from his body language he looked angry.
Arya crept closer as she could finally hear words being said
"Kayla I said no for the thousandth time"
"Eragon—"
"Kayla I said NO!" Eragon shouted the last word.
Kayla was quiet for a moment before she went in for a kiss.
Eragon seemed shocked for a split second before shoving her back so hard she nearly fell
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU I SAID NO!" Eragon shouted furious
"You didn't have a problem on that night" Kayla said sweetly
Eragon sighed as though he had said this a thousand times
"Kayla that was a mistake… I was drunk and hurt… It shouldn't have happened"
Arya strode from her hiding place
"Your right Eragon It shouldn't have happened" She said with venom dripping from her words and she stared at Kayla with hatred that she had never felt before turning to Eragon.
"Eragon do you know what Nightshadow is?" Arya said as she relished in the fear that had sprung in Kayla's eyes.
"A herb for sleeping potions?" he asked questioningly
"It can be if used properly but when it is mixed with Faelnirv some interesting things can happen." She said emphasizing the interesting part
She explained to Eragon the effects of mixing Faelnirv and Nightshadow.
"I am confused… why are you telling me this?"
"Tell me Eragon what is the last memory you have of that night"
Eragon thought for a moment
"I remember Kayla handing me a flask filled with Faelnirv and after that nothing" He said
Arya smiled slightly as she held up the flask and vile in her hands.
"Do you mean this flask?"
Eragon stared for a moment before backing away from Kayla and slowly backing into Arya.
"Kayla… don't tell me this is true…don't tell me you really did that to me." Eragon spoke in a soft voice but he was clearly shaken and horrified by the news
Kayla said nothing as she stared in hatred at Arya who returned the look
"You have ruined everything" She snarled as she drew her sword
"I have been looking forward to this" Arya stated as she drew her sword as well
Eragon began to draw his sword as well but Arya shook her head.
"No, she's mine"
Eragon reluctantly nodded as Arya and Kayla began to circle each other.
Arya swung first at Kayla's head but her attack was blocked.
Kayla counter attacked at her ribs but Arya rolled and avoided the blow. As she came up another strike came a her side as she parried and returned a thrust of her own. Kayla laughed as she parried the blow.
"Maybe if you were a better fighter Fäolin would still be alive" She taunted with a smile
Arya yelled in anger as she sliced past Kayla's guard and cut deep into her knee.
They continued this deadly duel for several minutes with Arya having a slight advantage. Both women were cut several times. Arya had a cut across her forearm and a deep cut at her midsection that bled quite badly while Kayla had an injury to her right knee where Arya had cut deeply. She also bled from her head where Arya had sliced part of her forehead. Kayla's knee injury had slowed her down as Arya pressed her attack.
Finally, Arya found an opening and hit Kayla hard across her face with the flat of her blade. Kayla fell to the ground hard and unmoving and her sword clattered out of her hand and off the side of the wall where it fell hundreds feet before landing upon the rocks below. Arya stood with her sword at Kayla's throat. Dimly she noticed Eragon standing several feet behind her.
Arya seriously thought about ending her right then and there but thought better of it. Believing Kayla was unconscious, she turned and walked a few feet back to Eragon intending to ask him what she should do with her. She looked him in the eyes and she watched as he met her eyes before focusing on something behind her.
She heard a shout and a soft thump as she was thrown sideways. Slightly disoriented she looked up and saw Eragon advance on a now standing Kayla with pure rage in his voice.
"Coward! You are a coward! He shouted at her as he grabbed her by the shirt and lifted her off her feet. She looked shocked as she stared at him.
"Attacking an opponent with their back turned after defeating you"
Kayla seemed to come out of her shock and did something odd, it loked like she tried to grab his stomach. Eragon was too quick and with a grunt he threw her straight off the side of the wall. Arya heard a scream for about two seconds before it suddenly fell silent. She got to her feet as Eragon slowly turned toward her.
Arya gasped in horror as she saw his shirt was drenched with blood and the hilt of a knife stuck out of the center of his midsection. Arya understood what had happened, Kayla had thrown a knife at her while her back was turned and Eragon had thrown her out of the way. Taking the full force of the knife in the process.
"Worth it" he said with a small grin before collapsing to the ground.
I hope you guys liked it! This chapter took several days to make so I have been chipping away at it slowly! Thank you to everyone who reviewed!
Stay safe guys!