A/N: Thank you so much for your support guys. Basically a friday chapter for y'all! Will post two chapters this month since this one was kinda short.
BRISINGR.
HELL.
Sound was deafening faster than Roran's heartbeat. The aftershocks of the blast nipped at the flesh of his neck as he was pushed forward.
Roran's eardrums violently vibrated, eyes aching while smoke and licks of black flame sped past blood spattered cheekbones.
We're in hell.
The feeling that bellowed at him in the night. The darkness that awaited them-
It was here.
What happened?
They had been trying to run back into the main districts of Gillendel- they weren't even sure if Arya and the remnants of her army were still alive.
Honestly, that wasn't the point.
All of them, including Roran, had one thing on their mind:
Survival.
"Roran!"
Roran's ears flexed, Elonubum's voice breaking over the crashing of marble buildings. The ground shook, particles of stone descended upon them like rain.
Simultaneously, the singsong melody of the Sealed seemed even stronger than before- it gradually eased into Roran's mind with a soft yet boastful tenor.
The ritualists were close. They numbered at least fifteen hundred- perhaps more. It would take them an hour to get here.
Maybe less.
Roran wiped smog away from his eyes. He was weaponless- his hammer had clipped away in the explosion. To his right, Roran could slightly see the silhouette of Elonubum backed against a half-destroyed market wall.
The Xoshan elf held a curved greatsword slightly downward, point of the blade cutting into upturned cobbled road specked with lingering flames.
As the smoke gradually cleared, her wide eyes looked at Roran with an emotion that was beyond fear.
Hell.
The ethereal song of the Sealed grew louder. Above, black clouds rolled from the south, drifting downwards towards Gillendel's few remaining towers.
Roran nodded at her slowly.
Elonubum furrowed her brows, an expression that was instantly followed by fear.
Roran's own heart stilled.
He heard it before it came.
It slithered across ruined stone with a sickening slop. Moaning wails followed closely behind, an eerie and deeply human sound.
Roran could see its swaying shape shamble through smoke, wild eyes lolling with a deadly gleam.
A hand extended from the fog..
Movement!
A wide palm slapped onto the ground, crawling ahead on spider-like fingers before leaping into the air.
It missled ahead with an erratic, whip-like accuracy, curling for Roran's neck with sharp talons-
Roran bellowed, stepping backwards as he spun on his boots.
He ducked, grabbing the pale, corded arm as it squirmed to chase him in the air.
He closed his eyes.
Roran pulsed his emotion into pale skin that writhed in irritation. His power broke down fine strands of mana, causing a portion of the arm to sever.
The hand curled away as if a dying spider while Roran continued running.
A quiet laugh.
"What's odd is that I cannot sense you. I'm barely able to see you.
But..I felt that.
Yes, that was something deliberate. Something...otherworldly."
Roran stopped at the sound of a somewhat kindly voice. There was a darkness to it however, a cold and intellectual humor that graced warm words in such throes the speaker may as well have been screaming.
The female voice continued, carried by sobs as the beast tumbled closer.
"To have come this far and encounter you here..."
She laughed comfortably.
"it's nearly discouraging."
Shifting smoke parted across Roran's eyes.
More arms-
He twisted long legs on the ruined Elven road. Stretching to his full height, Roran curled sideways. The creature's limbs dashed about, throwing themselves onto stone before launching for Roran.
Roran turned, grasping one arm as the second narrowly speared past his chest.
The arm he held exploded in a fury of black blood, painting Roran's hair.
The Warrior screamed.
"Elonubum!" He cried.
As Roran turned, Elonubum watched impassively while an arm clawed directly for her chest.
Roran pushed his feet forward on the ground..
Heat.
Roran's right leg faltered. A new arm from the smoke curled across his body, impaling him from a calf muscle weeping dark red blood.
His eyes widened in rage.
Roran felt the blood, his blood, as it covered the monster's arm.
Rend.
The Magic's bane turned Roran's blood into a hissing fire that ate away at pale flesh.
The demon, still partially obscured in fog, wept mournfully in pain. Its cries shook the ground.
Elonubum-
Cerulean hues lightened Roran's surroundings.
A torrent of fire alighted upon the ground from above. Roran couldn't feel any heat-
But the beast erupted in gasping agony as its arm melted. Roran turned, Saphira's voice filling his head.
Roran!
Her voice echoed in confusion, littered with palpable dread.
Roran wished he hadn't turned around.
Saphira's fire seemed to lightly burn the air, bringing the behemoth's true form to view.
It had a beaklike mouth with crazed eyes, while two massive wings folded upwards from between mottled tumors. Arms wriggled underneath the being's skin, appearing like veins across its limbs.
There was a tired, pained awareness to the being's gaze, and when it looked down at you, there was no feeling that could describe the fear that tickled across your shoulders.
But that was not all.
No, Roran's horror matured further.
At the crest of the beast's head, the upper body of a woman waited. She seemed to be fused with the beast.
Roran could barely make out her features- but she bore long, brown hair that waved behind her naked back.
"Ah, Galbatorix's prize."
The woman crossed her arms as dozens of ruined limbs exploded from a quivering stomach pecked with bleeding growths.
They ignored Roran, brambles of flesh clawing upwards towards Saphira.
Roran swore, raising his hand to the flesh above him.
"Rend!"
The Warrior's voice howled almost arrogantly in the wind.
Invisible spears eviscerated the grasping collection of arms. Blood freely met Roran's face- he ignored it, twisting to the right while Saphira's fire snarled past him.
"I remember now. You fought M-Morzan in the North." The woman started.
The beast's remaining limbs were slurped back into a waiting stomach.
She vanished from the beast's head.
Roran's alarm instantly went off.
The creature suddenly threw itself downwards. Its mouth opened, revealing rows upon rows of human heads fused with black gums. Long teeth sprouted between them, dressed in curling thorns.
The air grew hot.
As light emanated from the demon's maw, all else grew even darker than before.
Lighting spurred forth with reckless abandon. Roran planted his feet, extending both hands to the spear of energy that rushed for him.
His mouth turned, a pained grunt escaping his lips that was followed by a splash of blood.
The lighting rebounded from Roran's palm, exploding into the black clouds above with a roaring echo.
Lingering flicks of electricity hissed at the air. Roran's palms burned. The man fell to one knee as a fresh ocean of smoke rolled past his shoulders.
More laughter.
"I remember being amused during Morzan's report."
Roran could hear the woman's grin as she spoke.
"Is there more? Is this a skill that can be developed- controlled. But what else? Where did it come from?"
Roran coughed up more blood.
The ground trembled once more.
He felt Saphira before she landed. The blue dragon roared in brave defiance, taking up space between Roran and their enemy in the mists.
Roran- run.
Roran shook his head.
Saphira flared her wings, releasing a jet of fire that crawled across the behemoth's skin. The creature howled in agony-
But the damage done seemed to.. not heal, but re-stitch itself again and again with bubbling tumors. Damaged, charred skin sloughed off, meeting stone road with heavy plops.
You must run, Roran. If Eragon and the others-
Roran spoke aloud, barely above a whisper.
"I can take one more. If it gives you an opening. If it gives you a chance to stop this.."
The darkness Roran sensed-
It wasn't this being.
The woman is after it.
Roran's vision faded.
More light.
"BRISINGRÄNTA."
Blue fire volcanoed from the clouds above. Roran's eyes widened as a massive, red figure flashed across an onyx canvas.
Eragon! Saphira's voice lightened to such an extent Roran almost dumbly smiled.
Eragon.
Eragon's magic descended upon the beast. The behemoth wailed in weeping pain, knocking over ruined Elven architecture as it attempted to flee.
The red dragon continued its dive, coming close enough for Roran to vaguely see Eragon astride it, straddled between poking horns. The dragon was larger than Saphira, but seemed to move with an even more elegant grace as it whipped ahead, slightly above the ground.
Roran. Saphira. Elonubum.
We failed.
The sound of Eragon's voice gave Roran a new alertness.
But it lasted only a moment.
Roran fainted.