Hey guys I am back for Chapter 29!
Sorry for the cliff hanger! I originally wanted to have this chapter and the last as one chapter, but it just ended up too big, so I split it into two. I also liked the idea of an entire chapter dedicated to this mental experience.
Hopefully you enjoy it!
Thanks to IDK and Lari Magicfeather for the reviews!
As always let me know what you think!
Onto the chapter!
Eragon's POV
As Eragon entered Arya's mind he was horrified by what he found or more accurately what he didn't find. There were no protective barriers around her mind but the reason for this quickly became clear to Eragon.
Where thoughts and feelings should have been flying around in her head there was an empty vacuum. He could detect no sign of Arya or her consciousness as he had only a day before. The only reason Eragon was sure that he was in her mind at all was the erie music that always seemed to play in the elven mind. It was faint but still clearly there. Eragon couldn't seem to pinpoint where it was coming from.
Eragon began to stretch his mind out throughout Arya's mind trying to find a sign of consciousness. He swept over her vast mind twice and was concerned Arya was too far gone but on his third sweep he found something. A single small bright spot in the surrounding darkness. Eragon pushed a mental probe towards it and found the poison still swirling around her weak consciousness. He could feel the poison's never-ending assault on Arya's consciousness as it jabbed again and again into her consciousness. It was as though the poison had a mind of its own as it continued to strike hammer blows against Arya's protective walls.
Eragon briefly wondered why the poison had not simply broke through her walls and killed her. It clearly had the power to overwhelm her easily and quickly if it wanted to. But he remembered Umaroth's words
" just as a dragon can fight with claw or mind, the poison attacks the body and mind. It weakens a person physically and forces them to relive the worst parts of their lives over and over again."
The poison was not made to kill. With a sick feeling Eragon realized that each time the poison struck Arya's barrier; Arya was forced to relive another terrible memory of her life.
Eragon moved forward and pressed his mind against her barriers. Immediately the barrier strengthened and Eragon cursed
"She has no way to distinguish me from the hundreds of other probes attacking her right now" He thought quickly
He didn't want to have to break into her mind if he could help it, but he could see no other option. Eragon pressed against her protective shield and began to break down her defenses. It took a significant amount of effort to break her down. Even when she was exhausted and close to death her mental discipline was powerful. He finally broke through and connected to her consciousness. For a moment he felt an intense amount of pain radiating from Arya's consciousness before he suddenly was engulfed in memory.
Eragon lay chained to the wall in a room he both recognized and hated. He was back underneath Helgrind when he and Arya had been captured by Helgrind priests. He tried to move but he found he had no control over his body. His eyes and head moved on their own accord. It reminded Eragon of when he fully shared his mind with Saphira. He could see through her eyes and feel everything she felt but he had no control over her body.
Eragon's head turned toward Arya who was also chained to the wall and Eragon realized
"Arya must be in the same position as me! Literally trapped in our own memories!"
Eragon watched in horror as Arya began to pull her hand free of the shackles. Her screams chilled him to the core as she fell unconscious. She awoke a few moments later and began to struggle with the second shackle. Eragon shouted mentally to her even as he knew how this ended.
"NO!"
"Eragon?" Was her shocked mental reply
"Arya? You can hear me?" he said bewildered
"I can….. how is this possible? You are simply a memory" Arya sounded more broken and shattered than Eragon had ever seen her. Eragon could feel her emotions through their link, She was in constant physical and emotional pain as despair gripped her.
"No Arya, I am really here. My body is a memory but the mind within is the very same you know now." Eragon said in a comforting voice
You fell into a slumber when you arrived at Mount Arngor. I was able to cure your physical body, but your mind is still under attack"
"But Eragon how did-"
She broke off as the scene shifted. Eragon stood now in a forest path. It was dark but Eragon could hear horses approaching him. He looked up and saw three elven riders. He recognized the middle elf as Arya instantly. The other two elves Eragon did not know although he knew they must be Faolin and Glenwing, the two elves charged to help protect Saphira's egg.
Eragon watched hopelessly as they were ambushed and arrows slaid both Faolin and Glenwing.
As before, Eragon could feel every emotion Arya was feeling as she was forced to watch her companions die once again. A crushing sense of hopelessness, sorrow, and regret was radiating from Arya's mind. Despite her pain Arya was able to ask Eragon
"Are you still here? I cannot see you" Eragon could sense her fear that what had just transpired was only a figment of her imagination.
Eragon assured her he was still there
"Why can I not see you?"
As she spoke, her horse was killed, and Arya's body ran off into the forest.
"I expect it is because I was never really here"
The scene changed and Eragon found himself in Ellesmera. Eragon watched as Arya stormed out of Tialdarí Hall with Islanzadi on her heels. They were clearly arguing about something. Eragon noticed the skin around Arya's yawe tattoo was red and raw as though it had only recently been added to her figure.
"Yes Eragon, this is the last time I saw my mother before you returned with me to Ellesmera."
Her emotions were mixed and Eragon sensed regret for how she acted towards her mother
"Arya you both were doing what you thought was right. She did not want to lose you like she lost your father. She came to understand your choice, in time"
Arya only responded
"I am aware but I still wish I had acted differently" regret still tinged her emotions
The scene changed again and again as Eragon watched the worst parts of Arya's life unfold in front of him. He was forced to watch many of her tortures at the hands of Durza, their separation as Eragon was forced to leave Alagaesia, Kayla stabbing Eragon, the assassination attempt on her life. Over and over scenes played. Many Arya had told him, a few she hadn't. Every time it changed Eragon did his best to comfort and shield her from the pain. He was able to with limited success. Eragon continued to search for a way to dispel the poison but he never had any success. Several times Eragon could sense Arya was uncomfortable with him seeing a certain memory but when Eragon tried to withdraw from her consciousness she deepened her connection with him. She never said anything of it, but he could feel her fear of being left alone to her torture once again. Eragon got better and better at protecting Arya from the physical pain of each memory the longer they were trapped but he could do nothing for the emotional pain.
The memory shifted and they were once again in a small cell in Gil'ead. His fears were confirmed as the door swung open and Durza entered
Durza strode forward, completely ignoring where Eragon stood as he had every time before
"Well my elf friend, how are you today?"
Arya spat in his face.
Durza simply smiled and wiped the saliva and blood from his face
"Now now Elf, no need to be rude, I have something special planned for you today"
Suddenly Arya's mental voice shouted
"Eragon?" There was desperation and fear in her words
"I am still here Arya" He said as comforting and controlled as he could as he watched Durza draw a small knife
This seemed to have the opposite effect on her than anticipated. Eragon felt her fear, anger and… shame?
"Eragon, what he is about to do-" She broke off as she seemed on the verge of breakdown "I never wanted you to-"
Eragon watched in horror as the shade cut, not into Arya, but her clothing.
He understood now what he was about to do and force himself to turn away, but it did nothing to stop the screams and sounds from entering his ears nor Arya's emotions washing over him as he started his assault. Arya's shame and disgust overwhelmed him. A flurry of terrible emotions shot from her as she was forced to relive this terrible moment of her life.
Eragon knew Arya was incredibly mentally disciplined but even she had a breaking point and the poison had clearly found it. The mix of days of terrible memories and emotions amplified by the fact that Eragon was forced to witness something she never wanted him to see caused her resolve to crumble.
Eragon had never felt so helpless. There was nothing he could do to stop the memory and the rush of her emotions and his own helplessness was too overwhelming, so he began to pull away from her consciousness. He felt her fear once again but this time she let him go.
The memory disappeared as he once again was within her mind watching the poison spool around her consciousness
Eragon felt incredibly guilty leaving her at that moment but everything just felt so incredibly wrong. Eragon's desperation to save her peaked and he began probing the poison directly without regard for his own safety. The poison ignored him and continued its assault. Every time Eragon tried to capture a part of it with his mind it slipped out like water through his hands.
Eragon suddenly noticed Arya's consciousness begin to weaken and flicker. Her walls grew less powerful as her resolve began to break.
In desperation Eragon forced his entire consciousness around her's and erected his own walls around her. Immediately the assault ended, and the poison was pushed back by his barriers. Now if the poison wanted to attack Arya it would have to break into Eragon's mind first.
Eragon felt the poison immediately begin to assault his mind and he was pulled into a memory.
Arya's consciousness strengthened and Eragon felt her thoughts again as he was pulled in.
Eragon recognized where he was instantly. He stood in the bottom of Tronjheim and Durza, once again, stood in front of him. His body moved without his permission as he struck at Durza who blocked easily. Eragon knew what was about to happen and tried to prepare for the pain that would inevitably follow this duel.
Arya's voice in his head spoke. She still sounded incredibly hurt and shattered but there was a measure of anger and desperation in her voice as well
"Eragon, this is not my memory! What did you do!"
Eragon quickly explained how he had ended her torment by forcing the poison to attack him instead. He tried to focus as his body accumulated cuts from Durza's blade
Arya was horrified and livid
"Eragon you must leave me! I will not allow you to torture yourself just to protect me."
"Arya you were about to kill yourself!" Eragon argued, angry and hurt
"And you should have let me! Death is preferable to this!" She said her mental voice cracking slightly
"There is a way to save you! I just need time to figure it out!"
Eragon never heard her response as agony shot through him. Once again Durza swung his sword across his back. It was a mind consuming pain, all Eragon could do was scream and wait for the agony to end.
When the memory finally shifted again,Eragon was forced to experience every single time his back had spasmed throughout his time with the injury. Each time Arya tried to protect him as he had protected her, but she was weak as it was, and she could only do so much.
Eragon's optimism was short lived. With each memory Eragon grew more and more hopeless as he continued to try to find a way to combat the poison but nothing he tried worked. His only solace was that Arya remained unharmed while he was under attack.
Finally, after a particularly terrible memory of their fight with Glabatorix. Arya spoke
"You must go, you are doing nothing but extending my pain."
"No I am protecting you from your pain" Eragon spoke tiredly
"Eragon we both know that watching someone you love is much worse than being hurt yourself. It is the reason you are insisting to take this punishment in the first place. You must go! There are people who need you! Do not throw your life away on my behalf."
"I won't leave you to this hell" Eragon said with conviction
Eragon groaned as he felt the pain of an arrow in his shoulder. Eragon could feel Arya's frustration at her inability to dissuade him but she clearly felt the depths of his stubbornness for she dropped the subject. Instead, Eragon felt her consciousness expand to match his and her walls were laid next to his.
"If I cannot persuade you to leave then I will do everything I can to ensure that we survive this."
Eragon sent waves of affection and gratitude which she returned with earnest as they deepened their connection. Eragon kept nothing from her now, no thought or feeling escaped her and she did the same
The poison attacked Arya's shield and once again memories overtook them.
Eragon looked around. He stood near the top of Mount Arngor. Arya stood next to him as snow flurries billowed around them. A figure stood watching the small city below. Eragon turned to Arya confused
"This isn't my memory"
"No, it's mine, this is the dream I have been having for years"
Eragon remembered her telling him of the dreams but he had disregarded them as nothing to worry about.
"No Drottning….. this is no memory" the figure spoke and instantly Arya took a step back. Eragon felt her shock and fear that they both could move freely.
Eragon stepped forward and in a cold voice spoke
"Who are you?"
The figure turned toward him and Eragon was surprised to find the figure's hood covering his entire face so that Eragon could see nothing of his features.
"No one of consequence to you…. Yet"
Arya moved forward
"Where are we!"
The figure turned toward Arya and Eragon got the sense he was smiling under the hood as he spoke in a cold voice
"Drottning…. I am hurt" He said in a mocking tone "Surely after seeing me so often you would recognize this as one of your dreams?"
Arya shook her head as though trying to wake herself
"We are under attack by dragon's blood! Not sleeping!"
The figure seemed to smile again
"I believe the correct term is you were under attack by dragon's blood. I removed the poison from your minds, so you actually are sleeping at the moment."
The figure laughed softly at their shocked faces
"But…. Why would you help us?" Eragon asked shocked
"I haven't…. in time you will see, Rider
Eragon moved forward
"Explain" Eragon said in a cold voice but the figure just laughed a high cold laugh and said
"Sweet dreams Kingkiller"
The last thing Eragon remembered was a maroon eye before all went black.
Eragon awoke slumped against something hard. He groaned and sat up confused where he was. He felt weak and ill as though he had just gotten over an illness. The sun was beginning to rise as he glanced around. Saphira and Firnen stood protectively several feet from him with their back turned to him. The realization struck him as he heard birds chirp around him
"I am back in the clearing!"
Eragon weakly pulled himself to his knees and looked at Arya who still lay upon the black rock. Her color had returned, and her breathing was more even. As he watched she began to stir and her emerald eyes shot open.
Their eyes met and Eragon knew what the figure said was true
The poison was gone
Sorry this is out late! I have had several exams for school this week and haven't had as much time as I wanted to write. I also spent a lot of time tweaking this chapter more so than others. Let me know what you think!
Let me know if you are confused or have questions! This chapter is complicated so don't be afraid to ask!
I will be updating soon! Hopefully next week will be less hectic and I can return to daily uploads!
Until then stay safe!