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 Iron Tower
Rose felt as if she were roasting in her damp clothing. It was well after midday, and the sun glared down in a raging pulse burning her face with its touch. She tried to hide her face by leaning so low on Thorn's saddle that she was almost laying on it. After watching the dealings in the city below, her mind felt numb and slow. She was no longer taking in what she saw.
Thorn too seemed to be growing restless, he would occasionally dip down and rise up in a spiral without a single warning, though this too seemed to have grown dull. Now he flew around in a rather lazy circle.
For the majority of that day they had dutifully hovered over Gil'ead, watching the people below urgently move about until Rose felt like she was watch a board game that she didn't understand the rules to. Occasionally she and Thorn would comment on what they saw, trying to fill the void of uninterested silence that was stretched out between them.
From above they could see that the city was shaped like a wheel; every road and path connected to another which eventually led to the massive black tower at the center. It was the same tower which Rose had once thought to be similar to a sundial, yet as she watched it shifted more and more in her mind until she thought it be the beating heart of Gil'ead; all the activity of the city seemed to be based around it. The chaotic traffic coursed to it in droves, crossing under its shadow, and then away to the small veins of streets or, disappearing into the massive building itself. Then, suddenly, it would seem as if the city would pulse and not a soul would be about, and it was at those times that the tower seemed to fall completely silent before it pulsed again with human life.
As she watched she often found herself wondering what it was meant to be, that massive black tower, and what purpose it could possibly have. She found herself thinking of ways to find out as she was half certain that the tower was meant for something of importance, whether its importance lay to just to the city itself, or the King's army, or perhaps to both. She was certain that it would not be half as tall if it were not.
From time to time, she would also watch the other buildings, these small and long with thatched roofing and smokeless chimneys, trying to see some sort of pattern where there was none. As time went by all that she observed was that there was far too many people in Gil'ead to form any real connection of how the city worked, and she began to become uninterested.
Rose watched another cluster of soldiers enter the tower. She didn't know how many had entered it by now but it was certainly more than the number that exited. Hardly anyone who had entered that tower left.
She wonder if it was any cooler inside the building and if that was why no one ever left. All she knew was that it was far too warm, and without any real breeze to cool off. It's far too hot, she said, and I believe we have seen enough to leave.
Thorn turned suddenly, as if he had been waiting to hear those words, jolting her from his back. She cursed and scrambled, searching for a leather strap to grab onto before she lost balance and fell into the sky. She found one, luckily, and grasped it with a huff before she began to pull herself up.
Thorn snaked his head around and blinked lazily at her. Sorry, he said.
Rose bit her tongue, and pulled herself up using a spine on the base of his long neck. She straightened herself and looked down at the ground, before letting out a breathy laugh. Its fine, she said, tautly clinging onto the spine. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. If you plan to do something like that ever again please do try to warn me.
Thorn grumbled from deep within his chest but said nothing as he continued to fly.
She met his silence with a sigh and looked around without any real feeling. From above the tops of trees rolled by like hills, though they would occasionally break to show the small hollows of small sunrays running through glades. The sky was the purest of blues, and seemed completely endless. Birds twittered about, flying from the treetops and into the heavens in small shadowy flocks. Rose watched them circle around each other before diving down towards on the valleys, barely hearing their endless chatter.
She straightened, looking away from the birds, as they crossed a catch in Isenstar Lake. North of them the lake glistened like a blot of pure blue silk, stretching on boundlessly until it reached the skyline in the very far distance.
Her grip tightened as she watched the shining water. We are going rather far. Where did you make plans to meet Saphira? she asked.
Thorn hummed, his bulk vibrating beneath her. He had chosen to meet with Saphira as far from Gil'ead as he could convince her to go. To him the valley they agreed on was not far enough but to Saphira it was too far. She argued her point and desires passionately, as did Thorn, but in the end it was a compromise of sorts between the two dragons. They have had to compromise on many things over the past weeks, quickly becoming a team their Riders were hesitant to become. Though neither of them were quite certain when this had happened, nor how it happened, simply that it had.
Thorn looked back at Rose, feeling her eyes on him as she awaited his answer. Not far, he told her, turning away.
She frowned and looked over the water, wishing that Thorn would give her a straight answer for a change. She knew he wouldn't, though, he rarely ever did. Bowing her head, the sun had begun to leave her feel as she were burning again, she studied her hands as she waited for Thorn to come to the valley.
It was quite some time until Rose looked up again, and when she did she could the misty blue peaks of the Marna Mountains in the far distance, hardly a shadow above tree crowns. It was then that Thorn made a sudden very sharp turn, before gliding down into a small valley.
He landed with a dull thud in a small, empty paddock which was surrounded by thick trucked trees and tangled bushes. Around them were the signs of a hastily abandoned campsite; a woven bag was lying next to a stack of wood, and a cloth tent was careless pitched near the base of a tree.
Rose studied the tent and then slowly untied the clumsily done leg-straps on the saddle, a small frown formed on her face. She had been avoiding the thought of Dormnad, having regretted ever mentioning him in the first place. Looking around she did not see neither him nor Saphira, and wondered where they were. Just as she thought this she heard a low growl.
Turning in the direction of the noise, she saw Saphira's head snaking out from around a tree. She made the soft sound again, greeting the both of them, and Thorn returned the noise.
Rose shifted, and slid down from Thorn's back. When her feet touched the ground, she felt something brush against her mind, it was a gentle and fiery thing and she knew at once it was from Saphira. Opening her mind to the dragon, she turned her way.
Did you see anything interesting? Saphira asked.
"There was not much to see," Rose said aloud. "More soldiers were sent out to scout the land about, and as far as I could tell; the giant tower seemed to be at the center of everything. Almost half of the city was inside it when we left."
Saphira blew a long tendril of smoke from her nostrils. If Eragon is anywhere, she said looking pointedly at Thorn, it would be there.
Thorn grumbled lowly in agreement and began to sweep his tail across the ground. He shook himself, the bags on his saddle jiggled noisily. Did you find the two-legged without much trouble?
I did, said Saphira. He is here. Somewhere.
He has agreed to help us?
Saphira turned her head jarringly around, to peer into the woodland behind her. Yes.
Rose looked between the two dragons, her eyebrows knitted close together. "Dormnad?" she asked, clenching and unclenching her hands. "You convinced Dormnad to assist us?"
Saphira turned to her, her chest puffing out. I did, she said in a honeyed voice.
She waited for Saphira to say more, but the dragon volunteered nothing. Biting nervously at her lip, she turned to Thorn and began to untie the clumsy knots. Letting the heavy, leather saddle slid from his back, she moved to Saphira to untie the bags from her back as well. By the time she was done the dragons had moved on to a private conversation and were relaxing in the sunlight, though their expressions were firm. Rose pulled off the saddles and set down next to the other one, before moving away to leave the dragons to their own devises.
When she turned around, she was met with a pair of cold flinty eyes regarding at her. Rose let out a sharp breath and met that gaze, hers widening as Dormnad's narrowed dangerously.
"Good evening," she said pleasantly. "I did not expect for you to come."
Dormnad huffed indigently, his armed crossed over his chest. "It weren't a choice," he said hoarsely. "That dragon of yours threatened to bite my head off if I didn't."
"Oh," she said, leaning back on her heels. She bit nervously at her lip. "It's nice to know that Saphira was being civil. I was worried she might do something that was out of line."
Dormnad gave her narrow look. She smiled at him as lightly as she could, shifting her weight forward.
"What're you wanting from me, missy?" he asked after a time with yet another huff.
"I want nothing from you," she said, looking at Saphira with her eyes. The massive blue dragon snorted at her. "I- pardon- we need your assistance."
Dormnad rolled his eyes. "Of course you do," he huffed. "Everybody needs old Dormnad's help but are they ever will to help him?" He shook his head. "No, missy, they an't. All I am is something people like you use to help solve their problems. That's why you had your beast come after me, an't it? To force me into agreeing to come and help yeh get that boy back?"
Rose shook her head, and sat down across from him. As she began to dig out a hallow pit with a thick ended stick, she quickly thought of a way to answer him. "No," she said eventually. "I had thought that if the Empire had gotten a hold of you they might get information about the Varden's location."
"You've sided with the Varden, then? Even without knowing a thing about them."
Rose did not look up as she dug in the stick with a little more force than necessary, it broke with a rebounding snap! "The Varden are terrorists. They steal and spy and hurt and kill to get what they want. I do not agree with their tactics," she said tightly, her jaw clenched, "nor have I sided with them."
Dormnad scooted back using his hands. "The beasty made me agree to help you," he said, over a threating growl from the dragons behind her. "Sensitive creatures, an't they? Aye, they are. Nasty too. Well, I an't fancying being eaten so I'm needing to know what you want."
She frowned, not truly knowing what she could want from Dormnad. She hadn't asked for him to be brought here for questioning nor had she thought of bringing him to help them by any means, but it was because she had been worried about what he might know. It seemed however that Saphira had taken it onto herself to insure that Dormnad would be some use to them.
"Information," Rose decided after a moment. "I need to know where in Gil'ead they keep the prisoners, and the measures of its protections. Anything that you know about the matter."
Dormnad's eyes slowly drifted to the dragons and then back at her. "Yer talkin' about the Iron Tower," he said creakily. "You've seen it, it's hard as dickens to miss. Yeh, well, that's where the Empire puts everyone they want out of their way. Around these parts, a' least."
How would you get in? Saphira asked suddenly, causing Dormnad to startle.
"You can get in easily enough," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'd be more worried about getting out."
How?
"However you want. Going through the front entry would be easiest, then there are forgotten passages and such. But I an't goin' near that place," Dormnad said hastily, his face rapidly paling to the color of snow, "not with that Shade about."
Rose took a sudden deep breath, as if someone had stuck her an iron poker, and stood up, nearly knocking over the wood she had set up for the fire. Her blood was roaring in her ears, and her hands were shaking. She tried to hide them behind her back as she backed away from Dormnad.
"There is a Shade, are you certain?"
"Aye," he said. "I've seen him. Coming out of the Iron Tower in broad daylight, he was. He had hair the color of bloody rubies and glowin' eyes, I wouldn't of known what he was if it weren't fer that."
She turned her head and looked anxiously at Thorn. What should we do? she asked the dragon.
Thorn was silent for a moment and then with a swish of his tail, he said, That depends on what a Shade is.
A squirrel chattered somewhere in the distance. Rose frowned at the sound, and looked at her hands. I have only heard of them, she said. Shades are the worst sort of monsters! I don't- she bit her lip and shuttered. She didn't want to finish that sentence- If there is a Shade in Gil'ead, Thorn, I'm not certain about what we should do.
We leave to find Eragon now! Saphira said, snapping her teeth together. The longer he is near this Shade creature the more danger he is in!
Thorn snarled, his lip curling and quite suddenly his mindlink to Rose slammed shut and she fell back as if it were a physical blow, a pain slowly booming at her temple. Turning away from the snarling dragons, she looked down at Dormnad.
"You didn't seem to bother mentioning it yesterday," she said thickly. "Shades are not a matter to take lightly, nor are Urgals. I'm willing to bet you knew about those brutes too. Before they attacked us and took my brother."
"I thought you'd find out soon enough."
Rose narrowed her eyes at him and took a strangled breath. "You thought I would find out? What in the gods' names made you think that I would able to live through these meetings? The Urgals perhaps, but a Shade? The chances of getting Eragon out of there were low enough without that monstrosity but with it there is no chance at all!"
Dormnad held out his palms up in surrender. The skin around his wrists were crackled and filled with grime. He had a small burn ringing around his thumb.
"I said I wasn't bettin' on you, didn't I?"
Thorn moved closer to her, his breathing hollow and his jaw snapping.
"Why not warn me?" she said lowly, gripping the stick, the broken end bit into her palm. "Warning me would have been much more helpful than insulting me!"
"Didn't want to scare you away," he said, placing a reedy weed into his mouth. He began to chew on it, wincing with each bite. "If you want to save that brother of yours, it'd be best not to go in fearing what was to come. Fear an't ever gonna do yeh good, trust me on that. It'll only hinder you. Thought it was for the best."
Rose closed her eyes and sighed.
"An't likin' the truth much is yeh?" Dormnad gave her a twisting half smile, his hands folded over his chest. The weed curved up, nearly touching his nose. "Damned if you do and damned if you don't. You an't much of a choice, and them soldiers are probably counting on that."
She felt as the ground beneath her had cracked open and she was falling down very quickly, and yet there was something grasping ahold of her chest, squeezing it very tightly, and that this was only thing keeping her from hitting whatever land was below. Pushing the panic aside, she looked at the patch of blue sky.
"It hardly matters what I do, then," she said, her hands falling to her sides. "Not really. Not if it is a trap."
"Nay," he said spitting out the weed. "I'll give yeh one last chance. You can come to the Varden, they'll protect you or you can stay and fight a losing battle."
Rose shook her head. "Saphira will not come without Eragon," she said, "and I cannot go without the either of them."
"I see," he said, leaning forward as if to stand up, and then very suddenly he went white and fell back onto his elbows. He let out a gasp and franticly sat up. "Do them dragons breathe fire?"
"Do you truly wish to know?" asked Rose, raising an eyebrow.
Dormnad looked between the two dragons and then at her. "No," he said firmly, shaking his head. "No, not really."
Rose smiled slightly, and closing her eyes, she leaned against Thorn's bulk. He grumbled beneath her as his mindtouch to her slowly reformed, though he said nothing. His mind was calmer than before, and she thought that whatever disagreement he had had with Saphira had been settled.
Dormnad stood up slowly, not taking his eyes off of Saphira, and sighed deeply. He run his hands down his face and then through his tangled beard as his lips began to curl. "If you want to save your brother I'd do it before it's too late," he said. "Heard something at the pub the other night- them soldiers are the worst gossips I've ever heard- about a dangerous prisoner bein' moved to Urû'baen sometime soon. That was days ago, and though it weren't about your brother they might use that shipment for him instead."
Saphira snorted out a deep grumbling snarl and dug her claws deep into the ground. Rose looked back at her and was saw that she looked ready to take flight; she was completely hunched down to the ground.
When, Saphira asked icily, would be the best time to save him?
Dormnad's face paled further from beneath his mass of yellow beard. "Night," he said stepping further away. "There an't as many guards in the Tower at night." He turned away and quickly scuffled over to where the tent was set up, disappearing into it.
Saphira stopped kneading her claws and snaked her head around to Rose and Thorn, her pale blue eyes glinting dangerously. Then we leave tonight.
Rose felt Thorn stiffen beneath her but he remained silent. His distress flowed through her like a heavy black wave, leaving her staggering under its weight. Calm down, Thorn, she said quietly and then turned to look at Saphira. Tonight is rather soon, don't you think? We shan't have much time to prepare.
Saphira bared her sharp dagger-like teeth. Tonight is not soon enough! We should gone hours ago!
Rose looked down at her hands. It still shan't give us much time to prepare but very well, she said. We do however need a plan, I will not simply storm into Gil'ead without an idea of what I am going to do.
An idea is not enough, Thorn grumbled. We all must know what we are going to do and when. If this Shade-thing catches wind of you-
You'll tear it shreds? Rose raised an eyebrow at him. Do not bother trying. We do not know the strength that thing possesses. For all we know you could be the one torn apart- Thorn slammed his tail against the ground near her feet. She yelped and scrambled away from him. No need to be difficult about it, she said sharply, narrowing her eyes at him. We must assume the worst since we know very little of this Shade.
Thorn huffed, his warm breath flowed over her and she tried to wave it away. It smelled bad, like a rotting thing. Get some rest, he said looking over her shoulder.
How can I rest when we have no plan? she asked with a cough.
Thorn snorted, juddering his head about. Do you truly believe that Saphira does not have half a dozen of plans, already? I wish to argue through some of the details with her before you hear them, he told her. For now, it would be best if you tried to get some sleep.
Rose shook her head. Alright. I'll humor you this time, she said heavily. It will be useless, I won't be able to relax now. Not waiting for Thorn to reply she lay back against his belly and closed her eyes, her face prickled and burned in the cooling air. She had a feeling that the skin on her face was red and glossy from the hours she had spent in the direct sunlight.
For quite some time she tried to get some rest though she found that she could not relax. Her body sang with tension, and would not let her sleep, and the dragons' occasional growls did not help matters in the least. After a while she stopped trying and sat up, drawing closer to the wood stacked up for a fire. No one had bothered to light it, and she thought it was likely that it would remain that way.
Thorn inhaled, his belly tensing as he did so, as he snaked his head around to look at her. He blinked lazily, and let out a puff of smoke. Dormnad has agreed to help us, he said after a moment, if we agree never to bother him again after tonight.
Rose's eyes widened. How did you get him to change his mind?
Thorn snorted. I did not give him a choice, he said with a strange glint in his eye. I still hold on to what I said before, if he leaves in the middle of this it will not be good but I do not think he will. Should he try, however, simply tell him that Saphira and I will be waiting for him at the gates.
Rose narrowed her eyes and jumped onto her feet, moving away from Thorn as quickly as she could. Pinning the dragon with a sharp glare, she ran her fingers through her hair. You threatened him, she stated.
Thorn's tongue wiggled outside of his mouth, its edges hitting the dirt. I did, he said simply. We need his help.
Well, she said turning away, I pray that it was a half decent threat, I'm tiring of hearing about how we will not make to see morning. Did you and Saphira finally decide on a plan? I would very much like to hear it.
No. Thorn beat the ground with his tail. But we have an idea.
As it turned out, the plan was Saphira's idea and was so plainly simple that Rose thought at first that it might work. There would be nothing to announce their presence in Gil'ead, actually it would be quite the opposite; Rose and Dormnad would enter Gil'ead before the gates shut and hide near the protective wall surrounding the Iron Tower, and in the darkest part of the night when there was a small shift change they would enter supposedly unnoticed. Meanwhile the dragons would fly high above the tower should they need to strike, and if they did, well Thorn did not say much about that.
It is too simple, Rose said as she tightened the cords of Saphira's saddle. There is far too much that could go wrong.
That is why it will work, said Saphira kneading her claws into the ground. If you prefer we can tear apart the whole city, I am not opposed to that but Thorn, however… She paused for a moment and shook herself slightly, pulling a cord out of Rose's hands. She hissed as the cord burned into her palm and jumped back. Sorry, but that tickled. Thorn has been insisting on making you the least of the soldiers' problems.
Rose frowned, and tested the knot. You two are not telling me the whole plan, she said as she gave the dragons a narrowed look. You may insist on keeping me uninvolved in your plans, Thorn, mind you that those are plans I am involved in, and I cannot go in there not knowing what to expect from those I'm working with.
It does not involve you, Thorn said snapping his teeth at dangling strap near the joint of his wing.
Rose moved to him and tied the extra length of strap onto the saddle. Anything that involves you will involve me, she said stepping back.
Thorn snorted and turned his head away.
It is for the best, Saphira said. He shall not be far, close enough to come flying to aid us if needed.
Rose frowned deeper, and looked at Saphira. The lean blue dragon was a better flier, the competitions she and Thorn had proved this again and again, and the roots of worry dug theirselves deep into Rose's mind. If the soldiers got ahold of Thorn or attacked him, he would not get away as quickly as Saphira.
I will not be in any danger, Thorn said. I would be more concerned about you than me.
She didn't even wish to think about that, every time she did her stomach began to flutter nervously about. Nothing that they were about to do was safe. The whole plan so completely foolish that she was certain it would not work; she was either going to die in there or be taken captive.
Rose patted Thorn's snout as she passed him to pick up the bags. He raised his head and stared after her with wide wine-colored eyes, studying her every movement as if she had grown an extra head.
"Keep frownin' that way and your face will get stuck."
Rose gasped and turned to Dormnad, her hands covering her mouth. She had forgotten about him being there.
He stood with a rolled up bag tied with ropes around it which he held out to her. His face was the color of snow and peaky, his skin gleamed with sweat. He appeared rather ill. "Thought you might want to be the one to put this on the beastie," he said looking at the ground between them.
Taking the bag, Rose said a quick thank you and added it to pile on Saphira's back. We will need to find a valley of some sort before we go into Gil'ead. I do not want either of you to be hampered down by the saddles, she told the dragons. We should make plans to meet there as well, if we lose contact of each other while we are in Gil'ead.
Neither Thorn nor Saphira said anything but they seemed to agree as Rose checked over the knots and bags. Finally she clambered onto Thorn's back and helped Dormnad up behind her. Saphira was carrying all of the bags, so that Dormnad would not ride alone, and Rose figured that in the end the blue dragon got the better end of that deal.
Dormnad gulped loudly as Thorn took off into the sky, and though Rose did know what he holding onto she was certain he was gripping it tightly. Saphira rose up above them, her transparent blue wings seemed purple in the dimming light.
At any other time, had they been traveling normally, this time of the evening would be spent looking for a place to make camp for the night, and if they already had found a campsite they would be looking for wood for a fire. Rose closed her eyes and for a moment pictured the scene of crescent of pines, so old that the sticky, sweet sap flowed down the rough bark like melted butter. Birds would twitter and squirrels would scamper up the younger trees, their cheek filled with nuts and other goodies. A gold fire flicked warmly in the shadows of these trees. No person would stray off the road to check on what made the fire, there would no person about to do so, and no one near the fire would be talking, just sitting there looking over the hills as they let their tense muscles stretch freely for the first time that day. A horse would knicker and no one would think anything of it, they had heard it so often that they truly did not comprehend the sound anymore. It was a normal, tranquil noise.
Rose opened her eyes and saw Gil'ead grow closer, that massive tower broke the image in her mind's eye. The city was a black smudge in the rolling land of green around them. Small, churning trails of black soot floated into the sky from chimney tops darkening the pale blue. She could hear no sound except for the thunderous beating of wings and the high pitched whistle of wind.
Closing her eyes again she tried to picture the scene in her head again but could not, instead she saw nothing but bright gleams of light. Rose looked up and around her, looking for the different shades of blue in the sky, searching for anything that meant she would not have to think about what that night would hold.
She could not forget because far too soon the dragons landed in a valley far enough from Gil'ead that their belongings would be safe. She unloaded the dragons as quickly as she could, feeling Dormnad's glaring eyes on her, and tried to even out the load for later but she did not know what the future would hold. Eventually she gave up and pulled out her bow and small quiver of arrows from the bags, and as an afterthought she took out Zar'roc as well, and then took off the saddles and threw them onto the ground.
Without the saddles, the dragons were free to move about without worry of being snagged or any discomfort. This also meant that Rose would have to ride to Gil'ead bareback, which would be, she thought hopefully, the only hard choice she would have to make that night.
They left the meeting place not long after they got to it, and flew as close to Gil'ead as they dared, landing not far from the path inside of a clearing. Rose was grateful of the long, dark shadows that hid Thorn as she and Dormnad crawled down from his back.
Thorn nudged her shoulder with his snout as she looked toward the road, her braid moving through her fingers. We will be fine, he said.
And if we are not?
We shall worry about that when it comes, he said. That Shade creature is no threat to a dragon and his Rider.
Rose turned and raised her eyebrow at him. I am no warrior, Thorn, she said simply. The sort of Rider you are speaking of is one. I'm rather run from the face of danger than into it. That Shade is a threat, and you know it.
Thorn was silent for a very short moment, her words not surprising him in the least. He bobbed his head. Then pretend that you are a threat as well.
Rose nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes, and looked up at his head. She began to ring her fingers around her damp hands. I will see you soon, she said, and then turned and followed Dormnad down a deer trail to the road. Thorn took flight and hovered somewhere high above them, she could feel him in her mindlink.
Dormnad was muttering angrily under his breath when Rose caught up to him. He looked up at her, his eyes narrowed dangerously, and slowly folded his arms over his chest as his gaze darkening. Turning away he began to walk down the road. His shoulders were tense.
Pursing her lips, Rose followed him. They did not say anything, and so the crunching sound of their footfalls became the only thing heard. The silence around their own footsteps was so intense it seemed to have its own quality. Rose began to feel a chill dread; fear began creeping through her scalp, down her back, raising all the hairs on her arms. She rubbed them anxiously, and watched the widening of the road crept closer, shadowy groups of soldiers could be seen in the far distance.
As they neared the gates they began to pass more soldiers, none of them paid Rose or Dormnad any mind, and acted as if they were not there. It seemed likely that they were all too tired from the day spent laboring in the sun, or just did not wish bother with them now that the sun was setting and supper was within sight.
Rose pulled at the boy's cap, wishing that Eragon hadn't bent the flaps quite so badly, and kept her gaze firmly on the ground. She looked up only when they reached the gates, and that was for a brief period, but it was long enough to glimpse the sour faces of the men in front of her.
"State your names and business," one of the guards said in a bored tone. His foot was tapping against the ground.
Dormnad noisily ground his teeth together. "I'm here doin' business with Grevist," he said hoarsely as the soldier's foot tapping came to a sudden end. "My name's Dormnad and this is my nephew Elseth. He's here learnin' the trade." He pointed to Rose with his thumb.
"Are you wanting us to send someone to tell him you are here?"
"No. It's too late to bother him tonight," Dormnad said. "I'll meet with him in the morning."
The guard let out a long sigh, and his foot restarted its earlier rhythm. "Go on through, then."
Dormnad walked through the gates slowly, keeping to Rose's side. She looked up at him and bit her lip. "Was it wise to tell him your name?" she asked quietly.
"They wouldn't let me through if I hadn't," he told her lowly. "If I had lied and they decide to check it through with Grevist we would have all kinds of other problems. Now, kept your mouth shut and your head down, I an't fancyin' the idea of someone seein' your face."
Rose frowned and looked down dully. She wondered if he meant that as an insult or not.
They turned onto a wider street and then stumbled out onto one of the broad thoroughfares that radiated from the Iron Tower. Unlike the backstreets, this road boiled with people. Rose moved closer to Dormnad, holding tightly onto her own arms. Everywhere were ranks of soldiers holding flaming torches that threw grotesque shadows, some were on horseback with slumped shoulders and grey expressions, while others talked in loud voices. Rose could not make out what they were saying over the explosion of noise, but she caught small drifts of conversation.
The more she heard and saw the deeper her frown became, until she took to biting nervously at her lip. She could not see how any of them would make it with this plan; there were far too many people trained to fight here.
They kept to the shadows, keeping away from the dark tangles of alleyways around them, until they reached the iron gate surrounding the Iron Tower. Dormnad waved for Rose to follow after him as he crept along the wall to a stout wooden door, which he picked open with thin metal pick. It opened with a click, and when he tried to open it but it would not budge. He backed up and rammed into the door with his shoulder, it creaked slowly open with a sound very much like a yelping dog and came to a sudden stop as if something was blocking it.
Dormnad entered without a second thought but Rose looked over her shoulder searchingly. Seeing no one, she followed after him into a dark crowded room. "They used to use this for storage," Dormnad explained in a whisper. "It leads to a tunnel that goes into the Tower. No one comes through here now but stick close, anyway, and make not a sound."
Rose did stick close, her hand often brushing his back or her feet stepped onto his heels as he tried to feel his way through the dark. The blackness was so complete she could not see her hand if she held it in front of her face. She took a deep breath, trying to calm the hammering of her heart.
Finally Dormnad came to a stop in front of a wall, and pulled a door open. He stuck his head into the light and looked around before pulling his head back in.
"We're in," he breathed, pulling her through the small doorway. He shut the door behind them. "I've done my part, you can tell your dragon that."
They were in a narrow, dark hallway made of roughly cut, pale stone, the floor of which had been walked on so often it was smooth from use. The passageway split off into two opposite directions not far from where Rose stood, and on its wall was a torch.
Rose pressed her hand against the wall, pressing her palm against the cutting stone. "The whole inside of the made of stone, yes?" she asked.
Dormnad nodded. "Only the outside is made of iron. That was done during the Dragon War," he said. "Heard that the noblemen feared the tower might catch fire but back then this place wasn't a prison. It was an important place."
"Oh," she breathed, drawing out her sword as they neared the end of the passage. "Which way shall we go?"
Dormnad looked down each of the hallways and shrugged. "Don't know," he said. "You pick."
Rose bit her lip looked down each of the passageway, and seeing that they both led to more turn offs she chose one at random. She could feel Zar'roc's scabbard cut into her shoulder blades as she hugged along the walls. She had brought the sword for Eragon to use when she found him, and now she was starting to regret the burden of its weight. It was a cursed thing.
They walked down the hallways for quite some time, keeping to the right each time a crossway appeared. Sometimes they were forced to walk up a narrow staircase to a higher level of the tower, and sometimes a lower one. Each time they passed an iron clad door, Rose would peer inside by a small window near its lock, often the rooms were empty but there were a few that were not. She set her jaw each time she came across a sleeping figure, sending out her mind to touch theirs, but none of them had the familiar spark of Eragon, and she would turn away.
As Dormnad had said the guard's watch at this time of night was sparse; they passed a solider only once, and he did not stand a chance as Dormnad rushed at him and slammed him noisily to the ground. Caught off guard, the soldier tried to let out a shout but Dormnad was quicker, covering his gloved hand over the man's mouth and shoving his helmet off of his head. The soldier tried to heave Dormnad off of him but Dormnad was too heavy and did not move. In a sudden quick motion, Dormnad raised his hand jabbed him sharply at his temple causing the soldier to go still.
"It's goin' to get harder from here on out," Dormnad told her, cracking his knuckles. "More of them soldiers will be comin' to find out what made that noise. We could try to drag him but I'd rather we didn't."
Rose looked down at the fallen soldier and stepped back, her mouth agape. Slowly she shook her head. "They will be wondering why their fellow is laying lifelessly on the ground," she said warily.
"That they will."
Frowning, she rubbed her hands together and looked about. "May I have your mead?"
Dormnad raised his eyebrows at her, and grumbled something she did not catch, but handed her the flask at his hip. She dapped her cloak in the liquor, then squeezed the mead onto the soldier's lips before tossing the flask onto the ground beside him.
"Mead an't strong enough to do that," Dormnad told her.
She shrugged. "Perhaps they won't think of that."
Dormnad snorted with a shake of his head and stalked away. "You're wasting my mead."
"I have money to buy you more when this is done," she said walking after him.
"Providing we live, you mean."
They walked on for a long time, now being much more careful to hide when they heard footsteps or saw the silhouettes of soldiers in the far distance. Rose found the hallways to be a confusing endless maze. She had lost her sense of direction not long after entering. The passageways looked no different than any of the others, and they wondered about aimlessly.
Rose kept reaching out her mind, hoping that she might be able to feel Eragon. It was difficult, and she wasn't completely certain how safe it was to do so. At first there was nothing; no trace at all of Eragon's glow but then, this time, she caught a tiny flicker she recognized. She peered cautiously around her, and then turned around and walked in a different direction.
Dormnad muttered something aggressively, and followed after her. "What is it now?"
"I think that I know where he is," she said taking a sharp corner in a direction they would have gone otherwise.
"Do you now?"
Rose nodded but said nothing, warily keeping her mind on the spark. They continued down the hallway until they reached a thick door. She touched the mind inside the room gently and then turned to Dormnad, and said, "He is in here."
"You sure?"
Rose nodded as Dormnad took out his slab of metal and began to unlock the door. He stepped aside when the door clicked open. She narrowed her eyes as she peered into the chamber, her heart pounding, but then she saw. To keep herself of crying out, she bit her lip so hard it bled.
It wasn't Eragon at all.
It was a woman.
Rose leaned against the doorway, reaching out her mind for Eragon, but that tiny flicker of him was now gone. It likely hadn't been there to begin with. There was nothing of resemblance to him, not in this woman's mind nor anywhere else.
Eragon was not in the prison.
A/N: Incase you haven't figured it out yet I have a slightly different plan for this story than what is canon. While, I enjoyed the original there are a few things that did bother me, which I will not state here, and somethings I plan to change. Some changes will be major, and others will not be. I do not want to repeat the same story that we have all already read. To add to that, we are currently about a month ahead of Eragon's and Murtagh's original adventure in Gil'ead, just so you know. Aside from that I want to make a quick note about Dormnad. He has spent many year in Gil'ead looking for its' secrets. He is after all a spy for the Varden, and what do spies do? Whatever Thorn said to him to make him change his mind, I will leave to you guys to decide because it will likely remain between the two of them, was more than enough to get Dormnad to get a move on. Dormnad was originally just going to help Rose without much fuse, but as I wrote him he grew into his own person, and refused to play the part I wished him to. He helps Rose, in the end, yes, but he does so unwillingly. This may have its own drawbacks.
