I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.
Edited 1/30/22 - all chapters are getting a overhaul. Things might not match until this process is complete
Enjoy,
Pursuit
They raced around a hairpin bend in the round, the air whistling loudly in their ears, stones falling noisily into the emptiness below dislodged from skidding hooves. Rose looked over her shoulder and glimpsed Shadowless chasing madly after them completely out of control, and behind the frightened horse, were two soldiers in pursuit, their voices raised in shouts. They had a good lead, but she realized that Arvid and Starshine as well as Shadowless- for as long as the horse would follow them- were already tired after a day's hard riding, would be able to outpace fresh horses. Then she concentrated on not falling off Starshine, her body shuddered in violent uncontrollable tremors.
"Halt!" the men were shouting, their voices rough and hard. "Under the Order of the Laws of the Crown you are commanded to halt!"
Don't stop, whatever you do, said Ailis into Rose's mind. Do not stop.
Rose leaned forward in the saddle, the wind of their speed lashing her hair into her mouth. How long was it to the other side of the pass? It couldn't be too far. She began to worry that they had taken a wrong turn; but they had passed no forks in the road- there were no wrong turns here. Beneath her, she could feel Starshine tiring.
At last it seemed that ahead, the mountain path widened and faded and the flat land around the jagged highlands changed into a thawing clay pathway. Ailis turned sharply off the trail and into the shelter of trees, plunging through the banking snow now beginning to melt, and puddles of creeping slush, and began turning Arvid sharply, constantly changing directions. Rose rode in her wake, concentrating on following her movements. A branch almost swept her from Starshine's back, giving her a stringing lash across her cheek, and she swept down lower, her head brushing against the horse's neck. The noise of the horses crashing through the forest meant that Rose could hear nothing of their pursuers, but she thought that they surely could not be far behind. She had now completely lost sense of direction.
They came across a steadily flowing stream and Ailis rode down its sharp banks and urged Arvid into the water. Starshine snorted in protect and followed him, Shadowless not far behind. Now they slowed down, trotting slowly downstream, the shallow water frothing around the horse's fetlocks. The rushing of the water covered any noise they made. They had gone some distance before Ailis took Arvid up the opposite bank. Here there was a close-knit grove of ancient, thick-branched oaks, growing so close together their branches intertwined. They dismounted, and led the horses into the grove.
Over everything was a peaceful silence, save for the tiny noise of the woodland that rose up before them; the whispering of leaves, the scurrying of a small animal. Rose slowly sunk down to the ground, her legs felt weak as if they could no longer hold her, and became aware of the smell of the damp earth, rich with rotting leaves. Tears, she didn't know were there, burned her skin as they slid down her cheeks, and she wiped at them.
She looked up at the horses, wanting something to look at other than the ground or trees or sky, and watched them with growing numbness. They had cooled down in their trot in the stream, and were no longer winded; but their coats were still streaked white with sweat and their cheeks freckled with foam. The air held a chill to it but there was no breeze, and it was not cold enough to freeze the water on the horses' coats, she and Ailis would have to wipe them dry. Shadowless had a small gash were he had been hit with an arrow, but was otherwise unharmed, Tornac's saddlebags hung limply from his back.
Her lip wobbled and her eyes burned with new tears. She sniffled and wiped again at her eyes. She felt empty; the place where grief and anger should have been, they were not, only emptiness. She bit at her lip to still its quivering.
"I think we have thrown them off our trail," said Ailis stroking Arvid's neck. "For the moment. But I have no idea where we are."
Rose said nothing, Ailis' words seemed blurred almost nonsense but slowly she understood them, and nodded. Ailis bent down next to her, until she was sitting on the ground, and Rose nearly toppled over in fright as Ailis put her hand on hers. "Come here." The woman hesitantly pulled her to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her, holding her as if she were a fragile, small child, her fingers threading through Rose's hair.
There was something squeezing her chest, shortening her breath, and her eyes stung as more tears came. These she didn't bother to wipe away. It felt as if, in that moment, her soul had been swept away; emotion strangling it wholly, until eventually it had collapsed, leaving behind nothing but the essence of swirling misery.
For a time Rose stayed there, allowing Ailis to hold her, to comfort her until the feeling passed, and then with a shattered breath she pulled away, wiping at her face. She stood up and in slow movements moved to the edge of the trees. Her body shuddered with violent, uncontrollable tremors, as she stared out blinkingly, her eyes now dry. Though her heart still pounded in her chest, and she couldn't seem to breathe in enough air. "I'm going to get some wood for a fire," she said softly, and then staggered out of the marquee-like copse.
Rose didn't know how long she wandered around the woodlands, or how she found her way back, but eventually, after the sun vanished from the sky and the shadows lengthened and darkened, she began to regain her ability to think and feel as the numbness slowly ebbed though it never completely went away. She didn't know how long she sat on the forest floor before she something startled her and she stood up then made her way back the camp, collecting odd bits of wood.
When she did return, Ailis sat by an already made fire, poking at it absently, and behind her was Thorn relaxing in the flame's glow. Rose looked at the dragon and started, she had forgotten about him completely, and sent out her mind to him. To her relief, he instantly replied.
Did your walk serve you well? Thorn asked.
Rose looked at him and shook her head. I don't want talk at this moment, she said. I only wish to ask whether or not you have been hurt.
I have not. Thorn opened his eye and began to sweep his tail across the ground, crushing what little snow lay on ground, turning it brown as it mixed with dirt.
As she walked into the edges of the ember light, she cut off her mindtouch with Thorn, and Ailis looked up. She considered Rose for a moment and then, took a bowl and poured a stew of barley and lean meat into it, she stood up and pressed the bowl into Rose's hands, exchanging it for the meager handful of wood. "Eat," she said fussily. "I don't care if you're not hungry, you must eat regardless."
Rose looked at the bowl in distaste, before seating herself, the smell made her stomach churn. She took a hesitant sip, barely tasting it. She could feel the cold growing, the soup hardly warmed her.
Ailis sat down and was silent for a time, allowing Rose to eat, her eyes darkening. "Rose, we need to talk about what happened in the pass," she said, watching as Rose shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing. "It's the only way you'll be able to come to terms with what has happened."
Rose looked at her guardedly. "Not now, Ailis."
"You're sure?"
There was something stuck in her throat and with an effort she swallowed it down. "I'm entirely certain."
Ailis sucked in her lips, and dipped her head. "Tell me when you wish to know," she said, and then patted Rose's knee and bounced to her feet. "I'll take first watch."
Rose doubted she would ever want to know what had happened. She set down the stew, no longer able to eat it, and stood as well. "Have a good night, Ailis," she said.
"Try to get some sleep, dear."
An owl began its night call, and Rose started, looking around. She went to her bags, and unrolled her bedroll before crawling into it. For a long time she stared at the fire, watching the golden-red flames flicker and rise and fall and quiver. It didn't seem possible that Tornac had died, and traveled to the beyonds of the Void. As she lay there, the memory kept creeping back on her, first image and then another. She didn't search for it, something within her pulled back the terrible realization of what had happened. But randomly, inexorably, images floated into her mind, until finally she covered her head with her hands, pressing the heels of her palms against her eyes, casting the images from her mind.
She lay awake for a long time, listening to the night, shifting restlessly on the hard ground. The stars glittered between the bare branches in the darkness above. Rose stared at the bright path of the Atodrad, the rider of the stars, which arched in the middle of the sky. She had never seen it shine so brightly. It was said that the dead walked that road on their way to the Void, that the Void was not much of a void of nothingness but a gateway into the afterlife. She wondered if Tornac lingered there, watching her as he made his way to those gates, and the thought brought her no comfort. He simply had to be long gone- past the Gates of the Void.
A fresh tear rolled down her face, and she sighed heavily, wiping at it, grabbing at her blanket almost as if she drowning. Somewhere behind her, Thorn shifted and moved and she felt him lay close to her, his tail resting close to her head. And she looked up at him, but his eyes were already closed and he hummed softly, as he forged sleep. For once she didn't move away from him, as his tail moved closer her, she didn't fear that he would begin his thumping in the night. She simply watched him or the fire or Ailis or the stars until her eyes burned and she could no longer remain awake.
When she awoke, the sky was highlighted with the pinks and oranges of early morning. She sat up, realizing that Ailis hadn't woken her for her shift, and looked around. Her eyes wandered over the packs and the snorting horses, their breath churning white, Thorn, the deadened fire, a pair of discarded boots, and Ailis who lay asleep. For a moment she looked for Tornac, and then, with a shattered gasp, she stood up knowing that she would not see him.
A torrid surge of agony physically rocked her, and she forced it aside. At the moment she didn't want to examine her feelings or her thoughts. Instead she sat herself beside Thorn and watched as the sun rose into the sky, as the bright colors faded to a burnished blue, and the creatures of the woodland woken. A robin above flittered from branch to branch.
Ailis woke not long after Rose had, her eyes red and puffy, and they continued their way through the woodland. In the peace that surrounded them, the incident the day before seemed like a strange dream. Sometimes Rose forgot about it all together, turning around with a comment on her lips and upon seeing Shadowless alone, without his rider, she'd fall silent, the loss of Tornac anew, and would stare out into the forest.
Dewlings hung from each twig, sparkling in the shafts of sunlight that fell between the tangled limbs of branches above a small deer track. Looking to each side, Rose saw the trees were here more thickly grown, wrapping the woods in darting shadows. Sometimes in the distance she saw a vagrant patch of sun where a great oak had crashed to the ground and lay twined leafless ivies and mistletoe, or where grey out crops of granite rose suddenly out of the forest floor. The ground was thick with patches of bracken, pushing out of the wreckage of winter it mild green fonds. Similar to the forested pass through the Spine, very little wildlife was seen, only the twittering of birds above were heard. Once in a while little creatures like weasels with glossy freckled brown coats, and occasional foxes and hares and birds were seen, nearly invisible to the eye.
That night they stayed in another corpse of trees, and spent the night watching in shifts, but they heard nothing sinister. The following evening they camped under a huge oak near the track, again keeping watch, again hearing nothing threatening. They lite no fire now, for Ailis would do nothing to arouse attention in the forest, and Rose slept uneasily, feeling unprotected. She was beginning to feel the forest's stillness unnerving, and her mood darkened.
The days passed in silence, each following their own thoughts. Rose thought she sensed a new distance in Thorn, a retreat from the intimacy that had grown, and after a time this grieved her. Instead she watched the forest, picking at a loose thread in the saddle, or thinking. Her mind kept returning to Tornac's death, this always brought on fresh tears, and how he had fallen from an unwarned shot. His death was unlawful, and had she been at her former standing those men would be trialed for their crimes and hung. It troubled her, though, that they had to flee from the scene so, leaving what was left of Tornac behind. His life would never be honored nor would he be laid to rest in the ways he should. It often seemed impossible to her that he had gone to the Void, and she'd think that somehow there was a chance he had survived though she knew he had not. She would shake herself then and look ahead, deeply disturbed by Tornac's death.
On their third day in the forest Rose watched in unconcealed displeasure as Ailis drew a line in the snow. She wanted to curse the woman for delaying their travel that day, but Ailis was adamant that there was something that needed to be done first.
When Ailis had awoken she was in a fury of words and actions, rushing this way and that, sorting through bag after bag before coming suddenly to a stop. Ailis then turned around and looked at Rose in the face before huffing a sigh and drawing out the red oak bow, received from Padern, and throwing it roughly onto the ground in front of Rose. She insisted that Rose picked it up. It was much heavier than she anticipated.
"Should we not put as much distance between us those men as possible?" Rose asked tapping her fingers against her arms, looking at the woman between narrowed eyes. "Should they find us-"
"They won't," interrupted Ailis, pulling out a long arrow. She held out the shaft to Rose. "Here."
"Honestly, Ailis," she protested. "Weren't you in a state of urgency yesterday?"
"I am in a state of urgency. That's why you must learn this." She poked Rose in the side with feathered tip. "Take it."
Rose looked at it, her stomach flipping in unhappy rumbles, and took the shaft from her. "I shan't be able to hit a thing."
"It doesn't matter as long as you know how," she said with an indifferent shrug. Ailis then took a different arrow and gave a brief demonstration, her arrow finding the center of the target, which had been carved into a wide trucked tree, straightaway. She motioned for Rose to try.
Nervously, Rose picked back up the bow, where she dropped it, and stood in front of the oak, her toes touching the line Ailis had drawn. Her hands shook as she placed herself as Ailis had shown her to, and drew the string back, testing it.
"Rose," Ailis' voice cut through the air, "your form needs work. Stand tall. Pull your arm back. Come now, you can pull harder than that."
She strained to draw the bow back until it slipped slightly from her fingers, forcing her to let it go with a grunt. The arrow did not sail so much as it whimpered in the air before scuffling across the ground and lodging itself into a mess of thorny roots and muddy snow. Rose looked at it in exasperation, and behind her she could hear Thorn's throaty laugh.
"Ailis," she said. "Can we not just go? This is pointless."
The woman smiled at her. "Humor me, and aim higher."
"I'd rather not," she mumbled.
She heard Ailis sigh. "Come now, Rose," she said. "I'm trying to teach you something important, the least you can do is work with me."
Rose rested the bow on her shoulder, and pulled the string slightly as she would to restring a viol. "What is that you are trying to teach me?"
"Focus," said Ailis moving to stand by Rose. "You focus on too many things at once. What I'm trying to teach you is the ability of focusing on one thing with both body and mind." She scratched her hand. "Best receive the arrow, now."
Gritting her teeth, she did as she told. "I had thought," said Rose shaking the arrow clean of snow, "that focusing on many things at once is important."
"In sword play, yes," she said impatiently. "But I am not talking about swordcraft. I'll be frank with you, Rose, you're a Rider and more than that you're a woman living in a world of men. You have a power most do not, and this will scare them. Men have been taught that women are supposed to be meek things who listen to the very word of men as if it were law but you can't be that. You have to be strong, stronger than you were in UrĂ»'baen because men will see you as something shameful, a traitor. You have to gain a single-mindedness to make these men understand that they cannot control you. You must defy these rules you were taught and make your own destiny."
Rose started and narrowed her eyes. "A woman who seeks great power and wealth has to pay a great price," she said, carelessly tossing the bow to the ground. "I'm not quite sure I'm willing to pay that price."
"Then you will become what your mother was," said Ailis.
"My mother was a fool," Rose said darkly. "She was given a wheel of fortune that threw her so high, too high, and then she was thrown down. I'm not fool enough to think I can walk among men in belief that I know more than them. I've seen what happens to those who do, and I do not wish for the same to happen to me."
For a moment, Ailis was silent, looking as if she had been wounded and then she took a shaky breath. "Your mother was only a fool," she said gently, "because no one had taught her how not to be. I'm trying to teach how not to make the same mistakes as her, please allow me to do so."
Rose took a calming breath and nodded, her sudden anger fading though not quite leaving, staying just under the surface of her skin. In hesitant movements she picked up the bow, and ran her fingers over its smooth surface. She struggled to get her arrow into position, neither she nor the arrow wanted to cooperate.
"Keep your elbow to your side," said Ailis, startling Rose enough that she released the arrow. It wobbled and stuck itself straight into the ground, quivering. Ailis sighed. "Don't be so nervous. No one will surprise us here. We're completely safe."
"You hardly know where here is," Rose grumbled under her breath, too softly for Ailis to hear, and went to fetch to arrow. She pulled it roughly out of the ground and returned to the line, drawing back the arrow.
Ailis put her hands over Rose's to steady her uneasy hold. "That's better," she said. "When you strike do so without hesitation. See the target, the objective, and nothing else." Rose looked at the tree until it was blurry, and Ailis released her hold. "Listen to nothing but yourself, your breathing, the beating of your heart. See the center until there is no center, and then release the arrow."
She released the arrow. It flew with a sharp, whipping sound, striking the very bottom of the tree. It quivered, its feathered tip swaying, and then stilled.
"Better," said Ailis with a sigh. "Much better. I think we should continue our traveling now. Keep the arrow, you may need it."
Rose gave her a quizzical look and shrugged, reclaiming the arrow. She tugged at the suborn thing for a moment until it gave and hesitantly slid away from the tree. "I hardly know how to use it," she said, turning to Ailis.
Ailis smiled humoredly at her. "Yes, but now you an idea of how to use it, and that's better than not having one at all." She began to fasten her saddlebags shut. "If you needed to use the bow you could, and perhaps you will get lucky and hit your target. I hope you won't need that luck, though," she said sounding suddenly very tired. "We'll work on it."
Rose looked at the carving in the tree, and then with a sigh she turned away from it and packed her own bags. Tornac's old bags lay on the ground next to her. Neither of them knew what to do them; they didn't wish to go through them, or to throw any of his possessions out, and so they left them be, packing them onto Shadowless and then traveling with them. Rose knew that eventually she would have to sort through them, to relieve Shadowless of some of their weight but at that moment this thought was too painful. She bit her lip, filling a stinging in her eyes and wiped at them. She was so very sick of crying, she had filled her tithe of tears and she felt as if she had no more to give but still they came. There didn't seem to be an end.
Silently, she and Ailis packed up camp and saddled the horses. They continued forward, listening to the birdsong and at times Ailis' prattlings which always ended on a serious note, Thorn flew high above them keeping watch, as they weaved through the woodland because for now that was all they could do.
The following day they continued through the woodland, and at last Rose though she detected a subtle thinning of the trees and wondered if they neared its edges. Ailis thought this also. "Another day's ride, and I think, we'll be would these woods and at the northeast border of Leona Lake, a two weeks ride from Dras-Leona," she said. "We'll stay to the roads, and continue south and hopefully we shall have no more trouble."
Rose said nothing and they rode on in companionable silence.
They made camp in another dingle that night, but this time there was an overhang and they made a fire. The fine weather held, and the night was even a little warm. After dawn the next day they continued, and around lunchtime Rose saw a light through the trees, and they reached the end of the track.
The forest ended quite suddenly, and Rose found blinking that they were looking over a land of rolling hills shaded in the distance by small buildings, humped blue in the eastern horizon. The landscape they rode through was lonely and bare, swept by strong winds blowing down from the distant mountains. They stuck to the path that led them through the woodland, and the going was slow because they had to pick their way, fear to lose the path altogether, and often the horses sank into mud past their fetlocks. Clouds of mosquitoes or gnats pestered them, and their discomfort increased as the sun got hotter. They pressed on for several hours, not stopping for dinner, and at last to Rose's relief, were past the bogs and back on solid ground.
When dusk began to fall they were still far from habitation, and they stopped by a stream for a very late meal, and let the horse graze and drank, soon Thorn joined them. There was no sound expect the sigh of the wind through the grass and the melancholy cries of plovers, and that night they talked little and quietly. Rose drew closer to fire.
"It feels desolate here," she said.
"Yes," said Ailis, "it does. We'll be among people again soon. I doubt we'll have any more trouble, but even so it'd be best if you took out that boy's cap and kept your hood up, if we meet with anyone, say nothing."
"I'm your mute son now, am I?" said Rose, amused. "Escorting you about? I must ask, what had happened to dear old da?"
"He has traveled to the Void," said Ailis, blinking in a tragic fashion. "Fell down the well. He was quite ungainly, that poor man. Bless his soul."
Rose smile weakly and shook her head at Ailis.
That night Rose slept restlessly, and it seemed in her dreams she heard sounds of hoofbeats far off in the night, searching for her, and all around were sinister shapes of men cloaked in red and gold. She woke, shivering, and looked straight up into the star-strewn heavens, where the waxing moon rode high in a vessel of clouds. Thorn lay nearby, humming lightly, and soon she slept again and dreamed no more.
A/N: This would mark the end of the first arc of this tale. Had I been wiser when I first posted I would have posted a separate story for the second half but I was not. Now we venture into into the water of Eragon however what has happened in this part of the story will impact it and make it something a little new. I hope that you've all enjoyed the tale thus far.
For those who are wondering; Eragon, Brom, and Saphira are on their way to Dras-Leona.
After this chapter you will find a cluster of side stories. Most play into the story later but some do not. To skip them and go to the next part skip to 47. Chapter 27
