I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.
Edited 1/30/22
Please let me know your thoughts throughout the story, I'd love to hear for you :)
Enjoy,
The Malingerer Merchant
It was nearly midday before they set out to return to the valley. When they got there Thorn glided above the crowns of the trees for time, checking to see if anything moved, despite the fact that Saphira had dived past them moments before and was already below scouting out the area. Rose was not going to argue, however, she felt bad enough as it was for threating to leave Thorn behind while she and Saphira looked about, and Thorn behavior towards her did not help any- he had barely even looked at her after she had said those words and remained uncharacteristically silent. Nothing moved below them, except for the woodland creatures that scampered about and after watching those for a time Thorn swooped down to the ground. He cast an uneasy glance about the trees and growled at their trucks for good measure, before squatting down and letting Rose slide from his back.
The small paddock was a different sight compared to what was seen earlier that morning. The briar patch Eragon had catch aflame was now burnt to smoldering ash, sharp pieces of something were sticking out. It appeared as if the fire had spread to nearby bushes and tall grasses, though now these too were nothing but smokeless char. The unpleasant smell of burned meat hung in the air, so thick in some areas that Rose could almost taste it. She coughed, and covered her mouth and nose with her hand.
Around her she could now hear the faint burbling of Ramr River which was something she hadn't heard earlier that morning. She listened to the sound for a moment, and then turned to the path leading towards Gil'ead and peered down it. Thankfully she did not see the crumbled body of the screaming something Saphira had drop in her rage, all she could see were broken branches and dismayed looking foliage.
Saphira, herself, was now standing atop the strange boulder overlooking the valley where the paths met up. Rose looked at the stone for quite some time, not truly seeing it but just staring, before looking up at Saphira. She wondered for a moment if it had been foolish not to have tried to stop the dragon from flying ahead of them- but then again what could Rose do to stop her? She must have gotten here with enough time to already seen all she wished to, and was now looking as if she rather bored, her head snaking down from the rock.
Turning away from the dragon, she looked at Thorn with unease but he was walking about slowly, nudging the ground every so often with his claws, not paying her the slightest bit of attention. Seeing as he still putout from her earlier words, she turned away only to turn back to him as he let out a menacing growl.
Remembering her sword this time, she pulled it out and walked with it held firmly in her hands as something rustled from within, cracking a branch and dislodging leaves. From between the branches near the bottom of the bush Rose could see a large mud covered boot. It moved, and a croaking voice from within the bush said, "Put that damned oversized knife down, missy, before you poke somebody's eye out."
Rose nearly fell to the ground with fright. Lowering her hand from her chest, she turned to where the voice came from and tremblingly raised the point of her sword at the bush. Her blood pulsed in her ears quickly becoming all she could hear. She took a deep breath and she tried to calm herself.
"Come on out, Dormnad," said Rose unsteadily after a short moment, as Saphira hopped down from the stone and advanced slowly as if she were stalking prey. "I only wish to talk."
"If you only wanna talk, why you them dragons all eh flanking yeh?" the voice in the bush said. "Call 'em off and put that damn thing down, and then we'll talk like civilized humans, yeah?"
Rose looked from Thorn to Saphira in silence and then slowly drew back her sword, letting it rest at her side. If the worst came then the dragons could simply take care if Dormnad on their own terms, and she decided that she would certainly let them. "My sword is down," she told the bush.
"I an't blind," said the voice in the bush drily but it stayed completely still. "I can see what you're doing."
After a moment, Rose began to look around, raising her sword again but there was no need. Dormnad stepped out from behind the bush looking as grizzly as the day before though she noticed that he now lacked the overpowering bitter smell of ale. He held no weapon.
"Forgive my asking but what are you doing out here?" she asked, fingering the hilt of her sword as she lowered it again. For a time she eyed him warily, thinking that perhaps the Empire had sent him out here. They had yet to meet anyone else, and when she was so certain that there had to be more people than just this man. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was. Frowning, she blinked up at him. "We were supposed to meet hours ago, but instead a group of soldier met us. I was certain you wouldn't show."
Dormnad gave her a critical look and shook his head. "You don't have to play th-that thing you women do," he said. "Messin' with words and the likes. It weren't me. I didn't tell the Empire. How they found out is a mystery and fer your sake it better not stay that way."
Rose's eyebrow knitted together as she looked at him questioningly. "You didn't tell them?"
"I'd be riskin' too much if I did," Dormnad said frankly. He shrugged and glanced at the dragons, his face slowly paling. "I thought there was only one of them things."
Rose shook her head and looked at Thorn for a moment. She was not sure if she trusted this man; how could she when she was certain no one knew about their supposed meeting place besides him?
She bit her lip with unease and looked about. She was still waiting for soldiers to jump out from the canopies of leaves, and though none did she didn't relax. They shouldn't just be standing here, as if they were asking, waiting, for something to attack.
"Where's that boy?" Dormnad asked. "We should get going if we're to get there before next year."
"He's gone," said Rose.
He snapped his head around and looked at her with widened eyes. "What?"
"The soldiers took him." She gave him a hard look. "We came to meet you this morning but instead we were ambushed by soldiers and Urgals. They attacked us and when we tried to escape, Eragon disappeared. The only explanation that we can come up with is that he is being held captive."
Dormnad frowned and looked back at Thorn, who was eyeing the man over Rose's head. "There's a bunch dead Urgals in that there bush-" he pointed to where the burned bush was "-and there's a dead man up that path. Least I think it was a man," he said. "I figured something happened but I didn't know that they got one of you. You're both Riders then, are yeh?"
Rose merely looked at him through narrowed eyes. "The only person who knew we would be here is you," she said.
He jolted slightly and held up his hands as if he were surrendering, looking between her and the dragons. His hands were shaking ever so slightly. "It weren't me!" he said to her fervently. "Imma drunk not a snitch. You're goin' to have the point your finger elsewhere, girly."
Rose mindtouched Thorn hoping for his help, but neither he did or said nothing. He wasn't going to assist her in the least; likely still simmering over their earlier argument. Not looking up at the dragon she said, "There's nothing to prove that it was not you."
"No," he said, "there an't but there an't anything provin' it were me, is there?"
Biting at her lip, she shook her head. There was nothing to prove that he had told the Empire's men of their meeting, nothing to prove that he did not, either, just as he said.
Thorn snorted above her, but continued his silence.
"You were bloody stupid to come back here," Dormnad told her after a moment. "If them soldiers attacked you now… What made you think that they wouldn't still be here?"
Rose shrugged and moved her hair from her face. "Nothing," she said. "I hoped that no one was here, that perhaps they would think we are too smart to return."
"Hopin' an't gonna get you too far." He sighed and tugged at his beard. "There were five of them that way," he said waving his hand toward the path. "I took care of them and then I concealed meself. I was goin' to wait fer a time to see what happened. Maybe more of 'em would come. But I haven't see anymore and don't know how many more of 'em there are, and I an't wantin' to find out."
"You are going back to Gil'ead then?" she asked, as Saphira stepped away to look around, and Thorn simply moved closer to her, his chest now bumping against the back of her head. The dragons seemed to like hearing that there soldiers still about much as she did. Her grip on her sword tightened.
"Nay, little miss," he said, swinging a pack over his shoulders. "Imma leavin'. My cover's probably been blown, and I an't got a reason to stay here now. It'd be best to get home to me family. If you an't comin', well, then, best a luck to yeh."
"You cannot simply leave," Rose said, looking at him in disbelief as he began to walk away.
"Well," said Dormnad over his shoulder, "I am."
Rose walked after him, Thorn trailing just behind her. She could feel his breathe streaming through her hair, making her face feel much warmer than it had before. "You agreed to take us to the Varden," she tried to reason. "You cannot take back you word as if it means nothing. I need your help. Please!"
"To save that boy?" Dormnad asked, turning to her. He began walking backwards down the path, his face shimmering with sweat. "I never agreed to that. I'll take you to them Varden but I'm leaving now. You have a choice: you can with me or you can stay here and try to save him. Don't know why you'd bother, you'll probably just die tryin'."
"I cannot simply leave my brother here," she said lowly, her hands clenching into fists.
"That boy's your brother?" he asked, his eyebrows disappearing into his wayward hair. His fingers shook on the straps of his packs. "That musta been one tough childhood, eh?" He grinned at her seemingly unbothered by her continued glaring. "Well then, I wish you all the luck in Alagaësia, girly. If all of the land is depending upon you and your brother to free them, you'll be needin' that luck but I still an't bettin' on the either of you. Don't go lookin' at me like that, I can't help you save him, you're going to have do that on your own. I'm useless when it comes to fightin'."
Saphira snarled but it was quickly cut off by Thorn thumping his tail against the ground. He huffed into Rose's hair, and then stalked away. Rose didn't know where he was going to, she didn't pay attention either.
Rose took a deep breath and said, "I'm certain you are not useless."
"And you're about as convincin' as a rock," he told her with wide eyes. He turned on his heel and strode away with very fast pace. "Last chance, missy."
"I would rather hit you with a rock," she said severely.
Dormnad simply laughed. "I'll remember that," he said with a wave of his hand, and then when he rounded the corner she stopped following him.
When Dormnad was gone from her sight completely, Rose turned away and walked huffily up to Thorn. She didn't wait from him to lower himself but grabbed onto the leg strap of the saddle and forcibly clambered up onto his back. Thorn snorted and swung his massive head around to watch her.
For a feeble moment, she wished that one of the soldiers would should show face but the thought was fleeting. She was not mad at some random man but the one who insulted her before running off to save his own rump.
She cursed him under her breath as she tightened the straps of the saddle around her legs. Let's go before any of those soldiers Dormnad was talking about show up, she said to Thorn. And thank you, Thorn, for helping me back there. I love the unwavering support you always seem to give.
The dragon grumbled from deep within in chest. Do not attack me, he said, I am not your enemy.
Oh! I cannot imagine that you are, she said moodily lowering herself as Thorn lowered himself to take off. Suddenly he shook his bulk slightly, jostling her enough to get her to shriek and scrambled for something to hold onto.
As I said, I am not your enemy.
He leapt into the sky before she had a chance to catch her breath, needless to mention, straighten herself. Cursing the leg ties, she scrambled atop him, trying to pull herself straight using a spike of bone that jolted from the base of his neck. Finally having straightened herself, she looked beyond her, still feeling rather cross she didn't try to talk to Thorn again.
She continued her silence for the rest of the flight, and it was quite some time until he decided that he had found a decent place to land. Rose didn't quite know where they were, she hadn't been paying much mind to what direction they were flying. What she did know was that Thorn had flown her over Isenstar Lake and that they were resting near one of the many runoffs of the Ramr River, and Saphira had followed them. Rose had watched the glistening blue dragon fly behind them, not really seeming interested in much, as her temper cooled. Still she was upset with Thorn's disinterest, his unwillingness to help her earlier.
That evening, Rose didn't bother to set up much of a camp, she collected wood for a fire but didn't make one just letting the pilled wood sit there as she sat by the waterside. As darkness overtook the day, she began to think more into Dormnad's words but there was little to take from them.
She had thought that he would be willing to help her, or at least Eragon, as they were both Riders. It seemed that many people were willing to go to different lengths once they learned that there was hope that the King might fall but Dormnad seemed to want nothing to do with it. He was worse than what she thought him to be. A faintheart, is what Tornac would have called him.
It is better that he left, said Thorn as he walked up to rest behind her. There is no telling what might have happened if you convinced him to help. He probably would have left you when you needed him most.
Rose nodded. Her earlier anger at him had dissolved leaving her feeling oddly empty, still an annoyance toward him flickered at his words. He should have said something or done something to help her. She took a long draft from her waterskin which was now nearly empty, she would have to start that fire soon and boil more of the barley water.
They sat there in silence for a time, Rose stubbornly sat as straight as she could and watched Thorn's tail swish in the water until he splashed cool water onto her with a quick flick. She turned around and looked up at him through dripping hair, her eyes wide and mouth agape. He splashed her again, thoroughly soaking what had been missed earlier.
"Stop it!" She shot up to her feet, firing a narrow look at him as he made to splash her again. "Thorn! I mean it!"
He grumbled from deep within his chest, his red eyes gleaming mischievously. She continued to glare at him, as he rammed his tail into the water again. Now that she was thoroughly soaked, there was not much of a reason for him to take another go at it but he did, soaking her once more. She grabbed her waterskin and walked away from him before he splashed her again.
"You're not funny, Thorn," she called out to him as she struggled to untie the bindings of her tunic. The cords were too slick and she quickly gave up, instead turning her focus to the fire. Perhaps if she could dry the cloth out a bit, it would be easier to undo.
While stacking the wood, she felt Thorn lean over her, water dripping onto her head, watching her movements very closely. After quite some time, her anger began to return and she snapped at him to move away which thankfully he did though he choose to lay on the ground not far from her and he didn't take his eyes off of her. You are never going to get that fire going if you keep dripping water on it, he told her when a flame sputtered out.
Oh, she said icily, well I would very much like you to give it a try.
He blew smoke into her face and turned away to look at the riverside. She found that was easier to work without the watching eyes and soon she had a small, very feeble flame in a mass of stringy kindling that she was somehow able to coax into catching.
Watching the flames lick the wood as it rose up, she leaned back and tried again at untying the knot in her tunic, but it had been tied far too tightly and she was forced to cut the string with her knife. After peeling the tunic off, she changed into drier clothing and sat down to unbraid her hair. Her boots were filled with water and she left them to dry by the fire.
Now that the darkness was complete, the glow from the fire was the only thing that penetrated it; there were no stars that night and no glow from any city or town or farmhouse. Rose realized that she was out there totally and completely away from human life, and felt herself go cold.
She looked at Thorn and Saphira, both were resting not from the fire, barely within the reach of its light. Both looked rather rigid and annoyed. Saphira had spent most of that evening flying around above them, and only returned after the sun had set. Rose hadn't noticed her until now.
Rose swallowed away the lump in her throat and mindtouched Thorn. It would be best for her to apologize before she said something she would later regret. I am sorry, Thorn, she said after a moment, for insulting you before.
Thorn looked up and blinked before looking away again. We'll get Eragon back, he said. Somehow, we will come up with a plan. Whether or not it will work is a different matter.
Talking to Saphira again, are you?
No, Thorn said thumping his tail lightly against the ground. She refuses to speak to me.
Rose took in this information and nodded. What shall we do then?
I've been thinking about that and I think we should scout the area in the morning, he told her. Neither Saphira nor I can get into the city without raising alarm, and I will not let you go now that they are looking. He met her gaze with one eye and blinked slowly, calmly. Saphira cannot leave Eragon and she will do whatever she can to get him back, even if it means going in herself. I don't think it is wise to let her do this.
For a time Rose thought over his words and slowly began to frown. There may be a point where I have to go into Gil'ead, Thorn, she said. We still do not know who told on us, and I do not think it is wise to allow that person to walk about with that information. I still think Dormnad-
Thorn shook himself noisily and settled closer to the dirt. Forget about Dormnad. He did not tell, he said. I could smell the fear off of him and that only begun after he got a good look at Saphira and me. We scared him away, it wasn't guilt, it was fear of what we might do. He looked slightly humored with his tail thumping and his eyes glistening. He continued, We'll worry about the rest when the time comes.
Who was it, then?
I don't know, Thorn said a little snappishly. Don't let it bother you this much, that will only lead us into trouble. Leave it alone and worry about it after we know we are on more balanced grounding.
Rose closed her eyes and let out a loud breathe. If you say so, she said, running her fingers through her hair, trying to untangle the knots. I still think we should try to find out but I'll do it your way.
They fell quiet for a time, listening to Saphira's breathing and the chirping tune of frogs, and then Thorn snorted loudly and the song stopped. Rose looked up at him, setting her freshly untangled hair over her shoulder. The scales on his head glistened in fragments as he lifted it and looked at her gravely. Rose, he said in a placid voice.
Yes?
As a warning, if you ever threaten to leave me behind again, he told her seriously, I'll drop you into a lake.
She looked at him and, blinking, she said, I cannot swim.
I know.
Biting her lip, she turned away and picked up a pot. I'll try to remember that next time, she said as she moved through the tall grass to fill the pot with water to boil. After setting the pot as close to the fire as she dared, she sat against Thorn's bulk and watched the flames, occasionally tossing in a fall pinecone and watching it pop and sputter about, or putting on more wood. They didn't talk but listened to the resuming choirs of night critters click and hum, until at sometime very late into the night when she fell asleep.
