BRISINGR
Silence.
Elva crouched as she moved. Droplets of sewer water dribbled on a pale forehead, illuminated by a sphere of flame that hung above her palm.
Ahead of her, the shifter snaked. Elva followed Solembum closely as they marched through Feinster's bowels.
Beside her a river of sewage ran freely. Brown water loudly sloshed through underground aqueducts, filling Elva's nose with a horrid scent that made her gag.
They were here to open the city.
Feinster's barrier protected it from trebuchet hurled stones. Even spellcraft seemed ineffective. So they had to find another way. Angela spent a night and a day studying the barrier herself- until she discovered the equation of magic that created it.
While she was unable to destroy the barrier, she was able to mask individuals in a facsimile of Feinster's cloak- allowing them to slip by invisible walls, and slink down into the fortress unseen.
Elva frowned, remembering Angela's warning as Solembum came to a stop.
You will only have four hours.
The Xoshan Elf turned to her, eyes gleaming.
"Above." He said, pointing upwards. Elva followed his finger until she saw a circular plate inscribed with runic seals.
"I hope Angela knows what she's doing." Solembum whispered as Elva took his place underneath the seal. Elva slapped her palm against the cursed stone, and felt mana run through her magical circuits.
The seal lifted of its own accord.
Elva gingerly pried it open.
Solembum moved to leave the sewers.
"Wait," Elva said, grabbing the Wood Elf's shoulder. The young Witch opened her free hand. Within it a chained eye conjured, rattling silently as a red pupil darted about within a ghastly socket.
The eye rose above them. Elva saw through the eye- she found a quiet city cloaked in darkness. Cobbled were empty, devoid of even homeless vagrants or marching guards. She saw no torches lit within homes, no sign of movement or even life.
"Well.. what do you see?" Solembum's cheek pressed against Elva's.
"Nothing. It looks like the city's population vanished overnight." Elva answered.
"That sounds good..but also bad. Possibly terrifying." The Elf's lips pursed into a tight smile.
"My sort of city." He finished. Elva dispelled her magic, pulling the stone plate between her and Solembum's city fully away. Cool night air instantly caressed her skin as she lifted herself into the vacant street.
Massive buildings seemed to curl towards her. They bore jagged spires fletched with sharp teeth, pointing into the sky above. Even in the darkness she could make out the bodies that hung across the entire fortress.
As the wind blew her ears could hear them as they rattled. She shuddered at the thought of such dark craft.
She had been told by some of her fellow Impori that Feinster typically used the bodies of prisoners to power its defenses, but as Elva looked at the silhouettes closer, she wasn't so sure.
She saw corpses of multiple sizes- some seemed to be adults. But child-sized bodies hung too, some even smaller than a toddler.
Had they.. used their own citizens?
Solembum rustled behind her. He was fully shifted now, black ears flat against the fur of his head.
Angela was able to deduce that the wall was supported by a central link, found within the district they had snuck into. The seal that Angela placed on Elva's hand would be able to lead them to the link-
And destroy it.
They clung to the shadows as they moved, staying away from open streets. Feinster's sprawling expanse spread out before them, a once great city now deafened in crypt-like silence.
As they moved Elva's hand vibrated with an even deeper fervor. She closed it into a fist, placing it against a nearby wall until it calmed.
"We're getting close." She said. Her purple eyes followed the road ahead, guarded on both sides by magnificent forests of architecture. They continued onwards, until finally-
They saw it.
The link was a massive stone, suspended in the air by blackened chains. It hovered over a hastily drawn pentagram, dried blood splattered across the star-like symbol. Elva noticed that the chains around the link spread across the entire fortress, bodies dangling from them as far as the eye could see.
Elva walked ahead, Solembum closely following.
Once they destroyed the link Orrin's army would rush the walls- but that thought disarmed her. Something was wrong.
They wouldn't fortify the city to this degree if they were going to abandon it. It wasn't only that- Elva sensed nothing. Surely she would've felt the touch of a watchful mage or even Avela himself- but her mana, honed by Angela's watchful eye, detected nothing.
Still, she found herself before the Link. Placing her sealed hand against cold stone, Elva pushed magic into the unguarded artifact, spells of destruction that would rupture it from the inside.
The link instantly cracked, chains shaking as it swung to and fro. It felt to the ground with a ear-splitting crash as Elva and Solembum ran backwards.
Corpses that hung across Feinster sagged, slackened by the destruction of the link. Elva could feel the magic pressure of Feinster's defenses lessen, and then evaporate completely.
"Is it done?" Solembum asked.
Elva nodded, uncertainty painting her heart. She raised her arm, releasing a burst of light that would beckon Orrin's army to come forth.
The city offered no response, no call to arms nor any mounted defense.
They were truly all alone.
But now all they could do was wait for the others.
ISLANZADI didn't rush to Gillendel.
She propelled herself through weeping woods, fires started by Sealed rebels devouring once cherished forests. The former Queen of Elves narrowed her eyes as she gripped her sword, bending powerful legs that dug up dirt while slowly guiding her to a sliding stop.
She staggered.
Vision, blurry and unfocused, attempted to see beyond what her normal sight would allow.
She tried to focus her mind on that presence, the corroding magecraft even more vulgar than the Ra'zac led Sealed around Gillendel. No, it was something else entirely.
Islanzadi continued, worry tickling the deep recesses of her heart as she began to pass over familiar trees and rivers.
The burial grounds?
Oromis had been deployed near them, but the battle itself shouldn't have occurred there.
Unless he had been pushed back.
Unless he had been..
Defeated?
Islanzadi forced herself further. Her mind, strengthened by hundreds of years of war, did not deter as the deaths of her kinsmen hit her in massive, rolling waves. The Queen broke from the wood, finally coming across the grand valley of the dead.
Her eyes passed over ruined earth.
Laen flags wavered peacefully from cold hands, loyal hands unflinching, even in death.
Sealed Elf survivors ambled about, unorganized without direction. They had erupted stakes that held Laen bodies, disemboweling their distant cousins and then leaving them to flocks of crows that feasted gratefully.
Islanzadi shook her head, continuing.
What happened here?
This wasn't the work of the Omshurtag.
But she was sure Alauinel had been here. Something told her she was, something beyond a shadow of even the deepest and darkest doubt.
Ahead, Islanzadi spied a clearing that hid below a tall hill. Bodies were scattered about, but one being stood, sword in hand. A fury of magic resonated in crippling waves, almost as if in conflict.
The Queen pounced.
Islanzadi bent her legs, forcing her mana to propel her forwards, sword raised. She narrowed her gaze, honed muscles preparing to bisect the head of her enemy-
Her eyes darted to the ground below her.
Such crude tricks, Islanzadi mused to herself, stopping as a pale head burst from the earth inches away from her face. Long hair trailed behind the head, blacker than an eclipsed sun.
Islanzadi reached out to the head, summoning mana within her hand.
"Treyna Obscürden!" She said. The spell goaded rock to break free from the ground, collecting itself around a pale, barking head. In that same moment she continued forward, her original target still standing with its back turned.
She danced upon her new enemy, curving her blade in a beautiful arc-
Islanzadi's unknown foe bent forwards, dodging the attack as it rolled to the ground. The queen planted her feet firmly against bloodied earth, raising a gleaming sword high in the air, preparing to rend her foe from shoulder to waist.
The enemy suddenly kicked its left foot outwards, meeting Islanzadi squarely in the chest. She gasped, surprised as a wealth of mana pushed her backwards.
This was no ordinary enemy. It wasn't an Elf, that was certain. It bore dark brown hair flecked with streaks of deep red.
A well made face stared back at her, feminine in appearance but also...familiar. It was human, but there was something else too. Unnatural waves of mana that emanated from the being met Islanzadi's nose.
"You..." It began.
Islanzadi crouched, readying her weapon.
"I-...d-..you.." the being smiled.
Islanzadi didn't have time to waste. The queen attacked again-
Islanzadi's eyes widened as she heard stone crack behind her. Islanzadi turned, steeling her fear as the head broke free from her spell, and hurtled towards her. She deftly evaded the blow, raising her sword arm behind as to block the blade of her advancing enemy.
"..t-to.. c-come.." the being spoke in broken syntax, almost as if it was unsure of the words it itself said.
The being disengaged, grabbing the pale head with its free hand as it flew past.
"You're not a Sealed Elf.." Islanzadi said, eyes again looking over the being.
It was definitely human- or at least it wore human flesh. The creature smiled at her again.
"C-con..fu.." it whispered. It dropped its weapon, and raised the palm that formerly held a wicked black blade.
A Rider's mark.
Islanzadi saw him within her mind's eye, saw the boy.
Eragon.
She faltered- and that was all the time her enemy needed.
Another head broke from beneath her, taking advantage of her lapse of senses. She reacted instantly, twirling on her feet while steadying her blade. The face turned to Islanzadi as it rose-
It bore Oromis's visage.
Oromis's mouth opened in a wailing, weeping shout that stunned Islanzadi. She found herself unable to move, dropping her weapon as the entity stalked forward. Oromis's head fell the ground, bloody mouth opening as a tongue slithered between broken teeth.
"J-..en.." the being said as it walked closer. Islanzadi struggled against the curse that froze her. She tried to access her mana, tried to break herself free by way of force- but to no avail.
The tongue slithered up her leg and past her thigh, before easing into her mouth as unseen hands forced it open. She was helpless as the foreign body dug into her own- she felt it as it attached its magic to her nerves, her consciousness and even her own mind.
A voice sounded within her. She could almost feel the voice pulling from her- taking more than just control of her body. It was.. becoming her.
Islanzadi... what humor it is, meeting again over such mundane things.
NEXT CHAPTER: THE FINAL DEFENSE OF GILLENDEL