I do not own The Inheritance Cycle.
This is a short story. I'll mention again that if you do not like them; don't read them but know that you will be missing out on a few things.
Enjoy,


Trials of the Pass

The night had a chill to it that made Ailis dearly miss the warmth of the western coast. She huddled herself closer against the rockface of the granite overhang, pulling her blanket closer to her, the wool scratching at her skin. The smell of roasting meat and cooking wood and smoke filled the pocket of a cave. Ailis took another deep breath, enjoying the smell, relishing in the moment of peace.

She could hear Tornac as he stirred the stew and poured it into bowls, the clinking of the wooden spoon against the rim of the pot, the scraping of his boots as he turned on his toes. "Have I ever told you of the heavenly dancers?" said Tornac, referring to a tragic tale of two lovers and the legend of how they sung out to those in jeopardy.

"Yes," she heard Rose say, almost too softly to be heard. "A good number of times."

"I believe this night to one of them. I can hear it," he said, "like a strange music from the stars."

"There is no sound," Rose said, her voice louder than before, worriedly. "There is no music from the stars."

Sighing, she tiredly closed her eyes. It was getting very late, and they were to rise early that next morning. Ailis didn't looked forward to the long day they were about to spend in the pass of the Spine, the pass was bound to take them all day to get through and Ailis wanted to be there now.

"If there is," said Ailis, "then I have yet to hear it, Tornac, and I can't say that I'm not glad I have not."

"Because you cannot hear them does not mean they are not there," he said, handing out the bowls of stew. Ailis took one and balanced it in her lap.

"It is only a tale, Tornac. You shouldn't take it with such sincerity," said Rose seating herself to her former position, on the other side of the fire, a bowl held gingerly in her hands.

"There is a truth in tales," said Tornac, a hint of mischief in his voice. "Small truths nevertheless earnest ones. For that reason, some people fear fables and others yearn for them." Ailis snapped her eyes open and glared uselessly at him, knowing all too well where he was going with this conversation. "The truth is a lockless door, one can try to latch it shut but it will always open, somehow."

Tornac looked at Ailis, a warning in his eyes, and she stilled as a wave of an irritated resentment washed over her. Ailis wanted to snap at him, tell him that she was going to tell her, but instead she looked down, biting her tongue and setting her bowl aside as it nearly tipped over. Everyone was silent for a moment and the sounds of the night took volume, claiming that silence.

"This will be the last of the rain for a time. At least I hope so," said Ailis at least, deciding that it was best to change the discussion before she lose control of herself. "It would be nice to strike good weather for the next few days."

"Yes, it would." Tornac stirred as if he had just been awoken.

"Nicer still," said Ailis, wiggling her naked feet as they became warm from the furnace of a fire, "to go through the pass without anything bad happening."

Ailis glanced at Rose, who was watching Thorn as he tapped his tail against the ground, in a very bored fashion. It would be very nice indeed to have no more trouble for a time, and hopefully there would be, until Ailis told her. Ailis shifted and looked away, the guilt was eating away at her mind, and quite suddenly she felt as if she couldn't get enough air. She shook herself, surely Rose could handle what Ailis had to tell her, surely she was strong enough to.

An owl's sharp hooting startled Ailis out of her thoughts, and she picked back up her bowl and drank from it. It was a bland stew, almost tasteless, and Ailis could not have cared less for it but she finished it anyhow. Having finished the tasteless stew, Ailis leaned her weight completely back onto her hands, a sharp edged stone dug into the skin of her palm and she quickly shifted. The fire crackled and sputtered, throwing glowing sparks and shadows across the hallow. Thorn began to hum from the entrance way, his bulk blocking the scene outside, and Ailis relaxed as she listened to the vibrating sound.

Rose stood up very slowly as if someone was pulling her down, and yawned tiredly. "Which shift am I taking?"

"Second," said Tornac, "would be best. After your shift, or if you find you can no long remain awake, you're to wake me up."

Rose nodded, though she looked mildly annoyed. "Have a good night, then," said she shuffling to the back of the overhang. Ailis watched her silently as she unpacked her bedroll and crawled onto it, drawing her blankets over her form. Rose remained awake for a short time, looking at the roofing of stone, then turned away and closed her eyes.

Ailis waited a while, and then she sharpened her mind and sent it out over the land. At once she felt the chill of the night, although she had her legs spend out before the fire. It was as if she had stepped outside, yet she saw only the opposite wall. She felt the tiny lights of wildlife, and she listened for anything or anyone that could mean danger. She heard nothing, and so she tapped her conscious against Rose's, in boredom, finding the shadows of sleep. Contented, Ailis crossed her ankles and yawned.

"Is she asleep?" said Tornac, poking the fire with a long, crooked stick.

She started and looked at him cautiously. "She is. Is there a reason you decided to spurt out such nonsense? Or are you merely trying to irate me?"

"I'm an old man, Ailis," he said. "Spurting out nonsense is something I do, but I wasn't simply talking nonsense."

"I have yet to see it written in the Laws that you must say such things," grumbled Ailis. "And you should not, its upsetting."

He looked over the fire at her, his eyes shooting daggers. "Upsetting for you, or for Rose?" he said. "I know I took an oath to say nothing to her on the matter but it is well past time that you do. I can stand by knowing what I know, no longer."

"What matter?"

"You know very well what I am speaking of," he said sharply. "This is something that you can no longer hide from her, matters are become far too complex for your secrets."

Ailis flinched away as if he had slapped her. "Tornac-"

"I mean what I say. You are to tell her," he said, as if he were talking to small child. "Soon. No more excuses." He stood up and then excused himself for sleep.

Ailis made a face at him, as he lay down, and looked at the entrance of the overhang, Thorn was looking in at her, his large red eye glimmering dangerously. He looked about ready to tear apart the overhang, and Ailis almost laughed at the mental vision the thought gave her. "It is nothing that will put her into peril. My secrets will merely upset her, Thorn. I fear though that once she hears them, she will wish to have nothing more to do with me," she told the dragon. "Don't worry so, Tornac is merely being theatrical."

Thorn blinked at her in answer. He was very verbal, that dragon.

"I'm not being theatrical, Ailis," called out Tornac from the back of the burrow. "Tell the dragon the truth, that you're being a coward."

Ailis' face set into a grim line, as her anger began to rise. She fingered the stone that had offended her hand earlier and flung it forcibly into the fire. "A coward, I am not. And I wish for you not to call me such things."

"I had no doubt you'd say that." He shuffled and turned away from her. "Well, then, have a good night."

She scoffed, and turned away, looking sourly into the darkness of the night.

.

The light of morning, however veiled it was by drapes of dripping white fog, came all too soon. Ailis looked out into the fog. Had the haze not been so opaque she would see the dew dribbled hills, their greens dulled to greys, and in distance the fragmented mountains of the Spine ancient stacks of blue stone, but she did not. She blinked, swatting at the veiling mist, and squinted her eyes in attempt to see ahead of her, she saw only whiteness. This fog would slow them down, make the climb through the pass dodgy but there was no time for delay, they simply had to go through and fast.

As Ailis saw it, she had to get there, before he did something stupid. His face rose up in her mind's eye then, and a wave of longing pulled her under its depths, she fought for a moment against the rush but she was not able to break free. Her eyes prickled and she felt as if she were about to be ill, and suddenly she was unable to breath enough air.

"How long do you believe it will take us to travel through the pass?" said Rose sneaking up from behind her.

Ailis startled just slightly, cursing herself for not having her wits about her. "Not as long as it did before." She rubbed her eyes, clandestinely wiping away the tears.

"I would hope so," she said looking out into the murkiness, forlornly. "I don't wish to stay to Ludène again. The inn was nice enough, but the innkeeper's son was rather peculiar."

Ailis laughed, her mood lightened. "He wasn't peculiar, so much as he fancied you."

"That hardly describes the half of it." She looked as if she were choking. "Call for me when you're ready to leave, I'm going to see to Thorn."

Ailis watched then as Rose disappeared into the blanketing fog, towards a shape that Ailis believed to be Thorn. After a moment the blurry shape ascended into the sky, disappearing from sight completely, leaving the girl to stand alone in the white.

.

They passed Ludène late in the afternoon. Since no one wished to stop in the fortressed town, they passed around it all together, following a deer trail not far from the city. The high walls did not hide the sounds of the trading town, the chatting of men and women, and barking of dogs, and lows of cattle alike could be heard. At the gaps in the walls, the agape gates, the bright tunics of soldiers stood out vividly amongst the browns, and greys, and dull reds of commoners, their voices rising above the hassling crowd. Ailis looked over the crowd with discontent, there were so many of the armed men, masses of them as if they were readying themselves against attack. She uneasily hastened their pace, wishing then that they had not traveled this pass, there were others, that she should have perhaps considered.

.

Ailis reached out her mind, touching the lights of life, every so often, and it was only when they were well out of the reaches of Ludène that she felt no human life other than those of Rose and Tornac. Tiny creatures, like forest mice and squirrels and hares scattered across the ground, hidden by the fading density of foliage, while birds whistled rowdily from branching crowns of trees unseen, she felt but that was it.

She was pushing the pace harder than before, her sense of urgency increasing as the day waned. As evening came forth, the land changed, tipping dangerously down and they had to slow, picking their way carefully along the ever narrowing goat path the Empire called a road. Bristly stems and leafy budding bushes and woody thorns and creeping ivies and wide trunked trees tumbled up and down the tors of dirt and stone. From high above, they could often see Thorn, weaving his way across the rising grey sky, snaking around the peaks of the mountains.

Often times, one of them would lose their footing and stumble slightly, before regaining their former balance. This happened more often to Rose, who was far too busy admiring the grand sights of the rising mounds, something Ailis wished she could without feeling as if her head would roll off her shoulders. Ailis' heart nearly jumped from her throat each time Rose stumbled, and was watch as the girl scrambled to gain control of her footing, gripping effectively onto Eowyn's saddle. Ailis noticed that as the day wore on, Tornac too began to lose his balance more often, Ailis feared this was more out of his weariness- he was, as he said the night before, an old man. But then her neck would prickle with anger and she pointedly ignored his fatigue, pushing them forward.

Eventually the woodland thinned, its shining green and silver leaves dulling as they neared the end of the trail, and the road broadened, allowing them to, at last, mount the horses. They rode for a time, Ailis soon lost herself to daydreams; thinking again of what at stake, and the giddiness that left her breathless at the mere thought of seeing her beloved again. She thought of the silkiness of his hair and the gold light that reflected off of his eyes in fire light, the hypnotizing sound of his voice, and how he painted pictures with his hands. She thought of her child, and the wariness that seemed to set itself into her bones, the ways that she might be able to tell Rose what she needed to know. She thought also of her deceased husband, as she often did now, and the wrongs he did her and of the rights, of the wild smile that had lit up his face whenever she entered his rooms, the one she had mistaken for love. But her thoughts of the man were darkened by his mendaciousness and violence; she hated him, her soul burned with a blackness each time she thought of him, but in a way she loved him still, perhaps not out of love itself but because of the child they had shared. Slowly, Ailis' thoughts swirled around her head, like the buzzing of a fly, until she could take them no longer.

She reached out her mind, to distract her, and many lights erupted into her mind. Ailis yanked on Lanorgrim's reigns, in panic, until he stopped- Eowyn nearly running into his rump. The mare squealed in protect, and Ailis looked around wildly, stumbling over her thoughts as they rampaged her mind, churning it into a confusing jumble of nothing. For the life of her, she could not remember how to cast a shield around them, and when she did it was too late.

For when the attack came, it came without warning.

There was a whirling sound, that sent a shiver down her spine, rocking her enough that she remembered the words at last but could not say them, and then a breeze blew across the path scattering leaves and redirecting the arrow. Ailis turned in unhidden dismay as the arrow, meant as a warning shot, tore through his flesh causing Tornac to shudder violent from the impact. The arrow passed through his chest and back, just below his collarbone, a killing blow. A scream racked the air as Shadowless reared back in nervousness, his hooves kicking the air. From above, another archer, hidden amongst the columns of stone, released a blot in equal panic as those below him, and this one hit Shadowless flank. The horse screamed and buckled and for a moment Tornac clung desperately to the saddle-horn before he fell to the ground.

Ailis felt her chest consist, and she quickly reached out her mind to him. A high scream tore through the air, and Ailis was ripped out of her work, she fumbled to reach out to him, and at the same time create a shield in case any more archers decided to loosen their arrows. The moment her mind touched Tornac, she knew would not be able to heal him as she hoped, it would far too much time. . There was no choice, it was that or leave the man to suffer at the hands of the Empire before death took him, and Ailis knew Rose would not leave unless Tornac was died or healed, the former would end up with them being taken by the King's men. His pain became hers as she drew on his life source, his death felt like hers. Tornac's death was quick, much quicker than it would be otherwise, and his life's energy was casted into a strong shield that surrounded them in safety.

During the moments of him passing into the Void and him being shot, Rose had dismounted from her horse was standing still, torn between running to him and bolting for her life, shifting her weight form foot-to-foot. Ailis touched Rose's mind. Rose you have to move this instant, she said, suppressing a shudder. Rose didn't move, frozen still in the tragedy, and Ailis struck her with her mind, jolting her out of the state. Now! In the end, Rose shook her head and ran as arrows rain down from the sky, bouncing harmlessly off the shield Ailis had created, into her horse.

At once, Ailis urged Lanorgrim forth, reaching her mind to Shadowless and with a struggle she calmed the panic horse. She didn't know why she did this, out of guilt perhaps, because she hadn't healed Tornac, she was unsure and at the moment she didn't wish to think of it. Shadowless, coxed into following them and not to run off in fright, trailed behind Eowyn as they rounded the corner at a neck breaking speed.

It was not long, however, before Ailis felt the captain's mind choose to chase after them, a shot had killed by an unlawful nature and he was determined to set things to their rights. Ailis lashed out at him in her fury, and urged Lanorgrim to go fast still. The captain, stunned but otherwise unfazed, and another of his men mounted their horses in pursuit.

"Halt!" the captain said, his voice coarse with harshness. "Under the Order of the Laws of the Crown you are commanded to halt!"

Ailis turned and looked behind her. Rose had dared to glance behind her as well, and was glancing at the captain with a look of intense disbelief. She reached her mind to Rose and touched it lightly, not wanted to know what the girl was feeling. Don't stop, she commanded turning away as Lanorgrim scuffled around a very sharp bend, whatever you do. Do not stop. The shield slipped and Ailis hadn't the energy to create a new one, she could only hope that the men would shoot at them no more.

The road seemed then to continue eternally, each turn rounding into another, leafless tree after leafless tree was passed, and the spiking peaks of the mountain had never seemed more like a fortress. Lanorgrim sped ever more from her touch, his powerful muscles stretching beneath her, his dark mane whipping through the air, tired though he was his head never dipped in tiredness.

Finally the road deepened and widened and the flatlands that surrounded the mountains came into view. The men pursuing them never distanced, Ailis noticed with dismay, the gap between them remaining the same. Within moments a forest came into view, and she was struck by a sudden idea. Ailis turned Lanorgrim sharply towards it, his hooves slipping, and made a silent prayer that Rose would keep up, it would do them no good to loss each other now.

Ailis leaned down into the saddle, as Lanorgrim plunged into the forest following each of her commands as she turned him randomly about. She heard a squeal, and reached out her mind to Rose to insure that she was not harmed, she was not. Ailis turned them this and that, choosing the direction by mere whim until they came across a stream. She had Lanorgrim turn down the hill and into the stream, thankfully it was not deep, reaching only to the horse's fetlocks. As she thought it would, the stream covered all noise they made. She slowed Lanorgrim to a very slow trot, allowing him to cool down in the icy waters. Ailis glanced behind her at Rose and Shadowless, and then continued for a distance before she saw a grouping of trees with intertwining branches on the opposite back. She pushed for Lanorgrim to climb up the hill, and finding that it was sleek with muck, she dismounted and led him up into the grove, aware of Rose following her every move.

The moment they entered the encirclement of trees, Rose sunk to the ground as if she could no longer stand, she was shaking violently and tear fell unnoticed down her face. Ailis watched for a moment as she looked up at the horses, seeing them but not truly looking at them, then she closed her eyes and turned away. She felt suddenly very ill, and she leaned against Lanorgrim who snorted unhappily.

Somewhere in the woodlands, a squirrel chattered and scurried up a tree. A light breeze picked up, and Ailis listened. She could hear nothing of the soldiers, she noted with little relief. Ailis rubbed Lanorgrim damp neck affectionately. He was such a fateful and proud beast.

"I think we have thrown them off out trail, for the moment," she said musingly, glancing at Rose. "But I have no idea where we are."

She was answered by a whimper, something Rose was no doubtingly trying to hide, and a very slow nod. Ailis closed her eyes, as grief-that was not her own- and guilt-that was- rose into her chest, and tears burned her eyes. She should have tried to heal Tornac. She felt ill again as she bent down and took Rose's hands in hers, they were warm and clammy. "Come here," she said, pulling the girl to her chest, unsure of whether or not she wanted the comfort. Rose did, or she didn't care enough not to, and Ailis held her for a time, it was like holding a child. As she cried in violent shudders, Ailis run her fingers through her hair, loosening the knots and tangles, comforting Rose as well as herself. She kept her thoughts empty as they felt wrung out,, until her mind began to heal and wander.

This was the disaster Tornac had warning her against when they first had first she had been so sure and arrogant of her power, something she thought she had learned long ago not to be. It was like the trials of the last years had never happened, and she again that young conceited girl, full her pride with very little thought towards others, only she had grown from that until she wasn't her anymore.

Tornac's death was her fault. The full bitterness of her self-accusation made her choke on tears, something caught her throat, and she fought back a retch in her stomach. All her resentments and augments with the man seemed so very trivial now.

Suddenly her thoughts went to Rose, who at the moment seemed so broken as she slowly untangled herself from Ailis and stood, looking over the forest, panting. She staggered to the edge of the border of trees, leaning on a thick branch. "I'm going to get some wood for a fire," she said almost too softly for Ailis to hear.

Ailis called after her, but she didn't seem to hear. She was worried about Rose, her running off into the forest alone, she always seemed to run straight into trouble. For once Ailis hoped she wouldn't, neither of them had their wits about them, or their thoughts in order, any more trouble would lead to something worse than disaster.

Ailis wiped at her tears and pushed aside her guilt impatiently, there would be plenty time for that later, for now she had to focus on getting her and Rose to Dras-Leona alive. Standing, she became certain that she would have to tell Rose before they reached the city, or else everything she had worked to build would fall apart. She needed also to speak with Thorn, to ask him not to say anything about what he had heard, the problems was getting the dragon to speak to her.

She was sure that Rose wouldn't return with enough firewood, not tonight, and so did what she always did when upset, she kept herself busy. She tended to the horses, healing the seeping gash on Shadowless, and walked into the woods to collect firewood, she built up a fire, and boiled water from the stream to make a stew, and when Thorn somehow found the encampment, she turned to him words on her lip but unsure of what to say- a problem that seemed to plague her lately.


A/N: The only thing worse than writing Tornac's death is doing it twice. I wrote this before I wrote the actual chapter, and I had to think about it before I posted it (and revise it). Don't freak about not knowing what Ailis and Tornac(mainly Ailis) were going on about, you'll find out in the next chapter or the one after. If you really want to know read between the lines of the 90% of the chapters, you'll find out.