I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.
Hopefully no one can tell that I haven't written in over a year... Last year was tough, and my family went through a lot, otherwise you would have gotten this much sooner. Even so I hope those who are still reading this have enjoyed the tale. There is one more chapter left of this book and then we'll be moving on to the next book
I've cross posted on AO3 recently and edited all of the chapters.
Please let me know your thoughts throughout the story, I'd love to hear for you :)
As always, enjoy,
.
Kealii Valley
They followed the winding path through the endless tunnels for what seemed to Rose be an eternity. Thorn walked silently beside her, his impatience to leave the caverns far behind leaking through their mindlink. Her fingers that held the straps of the bag which held the dragon egg trembled, and she found herself pulling at the end of her plait, as his emotions trickled into her own. After a time, she broke off connection to the dragon completely, a shiver ran down her spine as it snapped shut and she flinched. Thorn glanced down at her and flickered his tongue but made no other advances to communicate, and as they continued down the path, she felt the anxiety leave her and she began to open their mindlink once more. This time Thorn kept his emotions contained and she felt nothing of him mixing into her being.
The southern entrance to Farthen Dûr was protected by a labyrinth of caves, which seemed to be more bewildering the further they traveled. It was like learning a long piece of intricate music which changed notes every so often, like the change in tone, and she was certain that there was a pattern to it. There were runes carved into the walls at the end of a cavern that acted as reminder to how the tune was going to go and whenever she thought she began to identify the pattern; every time she thought had caught a repetition it varied slightly. Feeling defeated, Rose began to watch the way their dwarven escort ran his stubby fingers over the runes and his eyes would shift to the tunnel they were to take, and asked about the pattern.
"Aye, Argetlam," said the dwarf, glancing up at her as they walked. She could not see his expression behind his thick dark beard. "I'm surprised you noticed, most humans do not. The runes act as reminders that the pattern changes but you have to know what the next pattern is. There's a pattern to that pattern. If you make a mistake and take one wrong you'd be lost forever."
Rose nodded, and studied the rune when he came to a brief stop. "I take it that you've spent quite some learning how to walk these paths."
"Nay a hundred and fifty years," he said, seemingly taking a turn at a random whim. "I've been wondering these caves before your great grandfather was a child and yet it is but a short time." There was a long pause which only the sounds of water dripping from the cavern walls and footfalls and children's voices could be heard and then Rose asked his name. "I'm named Dhufir, Argetlam."
"We are well met. I'm called Rose," she said. "I'm grateful that we don't do not have to find our own way through here. Will you be staying with us during our journey to the valley?"
"Nay," Dhufir said bluntly, scratching his beard. "I'll return to Tronjheim and fight for what is ours. You'll be going to the Valley of Four Columns, those who seek it will find protection there."
"May your sword be strong and not fail you, Dhufir."
"Nor yours, Argetlam."
After that, Rose returned to Thorn's side and Thorn spoke of the open sky and the hunt that he was determined to have once he was able. She listened until there was no more to be said and then they fell into a quiet comradery. The dragon's detection of having being underground did not fade but he seemed to have overcome the worse of it. He still hated the long trek through the caves.
The group stopped at a place which forked into five openings, which was wide enough to fit most of the women and children if they sat close to one another. Here they paused and ate their midday meal, most whispering when they had to speak so not to be overheard. After the break, they moved on, gathering up their packs and children and slowly continued down the one of the caverns. It was slow work and after hours of walked the ground began to slope and soft golden light dappled the stone walls. A rich smell from perfumes from flowers, rotting vegetation, and crisp fresh air blew into the cavern suddenly. Dhufir froze there and grumbled his farewells, saying that he wouldn't take them any further, and disappeared into the shadows.
A child squealed from somewhere behind Rose, and pushed through the crowd until he stood at the entrance. A woman called after him, and the boy turned, a wide mischievous grin on his face and running out into the forest beyond. A young soldier boy cursed under his breath and took off after the child.
"No one else leave the group!" Vers' voice boomed over the crowd. "You're to stick together when we leave the sheltering of the dwarves and remain on the path! There are creatures in these parts none of you want to meet!"
Heeding his words, no one left and after a short time of waiting the soldier returned with the child, and they again began to make their way to the mouth of the cave. Thorn rumbled deeply within his chest, startling the child as he passed the dragon's bulk, and passed through the entrance of the cave without a pause, his tongue flickering in the air. It is bright and I cannot see well, warned the dragon. You will want to cover your eyes.
Rose nodded and pulled her hood over her head, casting her face in shadows, as she passed though the entrance. Despite the shading, Rose's vision blurred and swam, and she ducked her head feeling overwhelmed. She felt dizzy, as if she drunk too much wine but slowly that feeling faded and she was able to look around. Ferns grew like great folding fans, their leaves curled downwards heavy with dew. Feather moss and tiny white trumpeted flowers dotted the ground everywhere, like fragmented stars, peaking though the undergrowth and climbing the trees towards the sunlight. Brightly colored birds flittered from branch to branch above, their song was silent as they looked down and then with a quick flap of their wings, disappeared into the sky.
She did not have much time to enjoy the sights, she felt as if were drinking after a long thirst, and soon turned down the trail. They did not have to walk long from the entrance of the cave to Kealii Valley despite the travel being slowed by the children looking around bewilderedly. Rose found out with that for many of the children this was their time outside of Farthen Dûr. Many of them were touching the decent luminous green vines and a few plucked flowers from their emerald homes, hugging the petals to their chest.
Rose slowed, allowing the women and children to pass her and Thorn, before she followed behind at the back of the group. The dragon pressed his mind against her before jumping into the sky in a small clearing of trees. When Thorn vanished from sight, though never straying far, she began to walk again, watching the children laugh at each new smell or sight. She thought that if she felt as she had been parched while within the caverned city than these children were starved of water and were taking their first sweet draft.
Kealii Valley was surrounded by four great crags of stone, jutting into the sky like giant fingers reaching out from the ground. Wispy limbed pine tress grew at their tops like lopsided green hats, their hands ranking wisps of clouds, down from which a gentle fog floated into a natural ravine. The cliff ledges were specked with pines and hawthorn bushes and wild grass with white turfs. Red-tailed hawks circled to their roosts, and wrens called and squabbled amongst the barren blackberry bushes and beargrass. A bullfrog crooked its pleasure from the moss in the distance and crickets chirped idly, and over everything the song of rushing water chorused through the low valley.
The long valley descended tenderly toward a single patch of mountains, which she could see the clearly before her, seemingly closer due to the clarity of the air. The lowering sun cast long shadows ahead, drawing the silhouettes of the low weatherworn tents, many made from the leather of goats and sheep, which were scattered like stars between trampled wheatgrass and yellow violets. At the edge of the valley, a natural low ledge overlooking the small encampment on top of which sat a dragon, whose scales shone in the sunlight like wet rubies, his head stretched toward the sun.
From where Rose stood, she watched the figures of women, many of which had babies on their hips and small children running between their skirts, and the soldier-boys who were too young to fight were gathered below, their voices bubbling in the open air. Fires blazed in roughly dug pits, iron pans and small pots sat at the edge, the smell of cooked meat and flat bread which could be cooked in a pan turned in the wind sweeping through the valley and over the gulley. And she thought the sight to be serene, from above she was separate from their burdens.
Rose sighed, and checked over the snare she had laid out. Finding the snare acceptable, she wondered over to a patch of wild ginger and began to harvest it, grateful for the lessons she had learned during her travels. Somewhere within the caves she had decided that she would set the traps and forage for her meals. During in her time within Farthen Dûr, she had grown weary of the tasteless paste, bland bread, and unseasoned meats that were commonly served, and though there were occasionally well-prepared meals those where few and far between. Even during her travel to the mountain, she was convinced that she often ate better, if one did not include the meat pasties so often that she grew jaded of them.
After setting up her small camp, she had wondered over the hills surrounding the valley, were she had spent her time amongst the wildlife; at first gathering herbs and other edibles before picking glacier lilies, bluebells, blue flax, red milkweed which peeked through the tussocks. Later, she would place the flowers between pages of a tome, immortalizing their loveliness as she had done as a child every spring.
As the evening grew old, she found some younger girls trailing behind her, admiring the flora around them, some picking the flowers and holding the stems close as if seeing them for the first time. A young child giggled gleefully as she breathed in the sweet scent, and a rabbit startled. Rose watched the white tail bobbing up and down as it raced for its burrow, as the creature vanished, she turned her back on the crags.
She climbed the hill where Thorn lay, the dragon snaked his head toward her, his scales gleaming in the warm sunlight. The dragon had settled himself in the brightest corner of the valley on a small ledge, and since had refused to move as he soaked in the sun and heat. Through the mindlink they shared, Rose soon felt herself warmed and shed her cloak and jerkin while she had explored the hillsides.
Rose had set up a small encampment for herself around him, and now sat on her bedroll, placing her satchel in front of her. There's plenty to gather around the valley, she told the dragon. Do you think that the snares are set far enough away from those children playing? I'd rather not find that they scare what wildlife there is away.
Thorn hummed cheerily. I do not know, he admitted. I don't understand enough about how you two-legged ones hunt. His tongue flicked out of his mouth, like a snake. They've been staying away from where you've set them as far as I know.
Rose watched the group of children play tag in the distance, her hand holding back her hair which had long ago fallen out of its plait. The clothe strip had broken in the journey to the valley, and now likely lay in the dirt path far behind them, trampled and unrecognizable. A pang of regret stirred within her; she hadn't thought to bring another.
She slipped her hair into the hood of her cloak and began to unpack the satchel. A small pile blackberries, wild onions, curled dock, chicory, ramps and mushroom lay before her, much of it she had gathered on the trip to the valley and more throughout the day as the women and children were preoccupied. It would be enough food that the meat pastries and wrinkled turnips she had brought could be avoided, and she felt that was a victory. The longer the time she didn't have to eat the pasties, the better, in her option.
Rose leaned against Thorn's mass as a group of older children gathered around a firepit and soon a chantey about a sailor and his beloved began to drifted over the hills. The children from beyond the valley returned and joined as the song came to a close and another began. This one was a tale of a clumsy sea creature who wanted to live in the sea no more, and told of its quest to find sea witch who would grant its wish. Many of the people joined in, as their worries vanished, and soon a few younger children began to dance around the fire.
Thorn hummed beneath her. They seem to be enjoying this, he stated. Will you join them?
It's a good distraction for them but no, I shall remain here, Rose stated. She felt all as once separate from the group, as she often did in gatherings. There was no true place for her among them, perhaps there could have once but that time was long past. She watched a flock of birds fly higher as the children began to giggle over a humorous verse of the song. I've never heard these songs. I wonder how many regions have come together to the Varden over time. It seems impossible to be able to tell who is a decadent from the coast or one of the inland. All their tales and songs seemed to have intermixed.
Thorn rested his head on ground in answer, and his tail began to thump to the beat of the song as he relaxed beneath her. After pulling a small ironed pot and her knife from her bags, she worked with the foliage she had gathered to prepare a small meal. Rose allowed herself to become consumed by the music and the well-known routine of preparing food, and found that time passed by quickly.
Night fell over the valley in velvet waves, and a thick mist had come from over the mountains and settled on the ground, throwing the last of the light of the settling sun over the encampment. The pale-yellow flowers danced in the chilling breeze; petals glistened in a fading light of the sun as if they were made of copper. Rose looked up from her meal with a frown, the singing had come to a close and the children began to settle either to eat or sleep. From somewhere within the shadows, she saw a man limp towards her.
"Argetlam," rumbled the man, who Rose now recognized to be Vers, "I need to know; have you seen Nasuada? My men finished their headcount this evening but she is missing and no one had seen her since leaving Tronjheim."
Rose felt herself frown. "No, I haven't," she said getting to her feet. "We met briefly a few days previous however I haven't seen her since. Do you believe that she was separated during our journey here?"
Vers twisted his mouth into a scowl and nodded. "There's a chance of that and she's out there somewhere in the forest. I've sent some scouts to look for her. Don't be surprised if you hear them around this area throughout the night." The old captain sighed, and looked toward the hills. "I dislike having to ask but if we don't find her by morning, would you and your dragon take a look? If we find her by then, I'll let you know."
Rose set her food aside and looked at Thorn who was studying her, for a short time they had a conversation which held no words but an uneasiness passed between them. Thorn grumbled deep from within his chest and said, We will leave when the sun returns to the land and see if we cannot spot the two-legged. It will be good to fly with you again.
I don't look forward to the nest my hair is sure to become, she told him and then said, "We will join the search in the morning if she's not found by then yet I pray she will be."
"Thank you, Argetlam. I will tell my scouts," Vers said and then bide her a good night and took his leave.
As he disappeared into the dim, Thorn loudly thumped his tail and somewhere within the encampment a babe let out a piercing cry. Rose shook herself, pulling away from the mindlink slightly as the babe's mother hurriedly hushed it, and soon a tune of a lullaby chimed through the air. Rose could not make out the words, she knew the words as if they were written on the back of her eyelids. Feeling the dragon's curiously, she sang the song softly so that only Thorn could hear;
Lay down that brow of sorrow
Thy dreams come woven in song.
Visions so fair and luminous,
my darling one, my darling one,
to dance with in lands of the everbloom.
Rest in silver waters,
Risen from the shadows of moonbeam,
my sweet one, my sweet one
and hold tight the starshine of forevermore.
The light of summer lingering,
rests sweetly on eternal eventide
my little one, my little one
This flower of light
commands my hidden heart
Now forever be yours
The dragon hummed contently and cocked his head, focusing a single claret eye on her. He blinked slowly, and regarded the song through their mindlink for a time but remained quiet. You are troubled, he stated.
I do not wish to return to Varden leader without at least searching the woods. He was very insistent that we look out for his daughter, it was not a light thing to ask. I will not lie, Thorn, If we cannot find her, I worry about what may happen, Rose said and settled in deeper to the dragon's bulk. She was silent for a time, her mind lost in thought. There was something troubling her but whenever she thought she had pinned the thought down is slipped away like a fish in the current.
We will face whatever happens when that time comes.
Rose rubbed her face with the palms of her hands. That doesn't not help at this moment.
Thorn sent her a solid emotion, she couldn't completely understand, and then closed his eyes, their mindlink dwindled to a mere string hanging loosely between them, and she pulled off her boots and lay on the bedroll. That night, Rose slept uneasily her mind troubled and her dreams came in strange flashes of color. She awoke before dawn, her belly coiling anxiously, and despite her tiredness, she could not fall back asleep.
After a time, she gave up on returning to sleep and mindtouched Thorn who grumbled his acknowledgment, and, after grabbing a leather side-bag which she secured to herself carefully, she stood up. The morning air nipped at her exposed skin, and she shivered, drawing her cloak closer to her as she walked into the encampment. Most of the camp's occupants were still jealously guarding the last moments of sleep and warmth, while a few were beginning to stir and prepare the morning meal or to get water, wooden buckets or metal pots swinging in their hands.
Rose blinkingly watched as the first light of day streaked across the sky, and then slowly began walking the sculpted path to the bottom of the ravine to where the water bubbled lazily along the banks. A thick layer of mist had settled over the pebbled ground overnight, and she could see very little of the landscape of the women father down the shoreline, their voices echoing. When she found the water, it was only because she stepped into it thoroughly soaking the toe of her boots, and knelt down to wash her face. The water was surprisingly warm, and she held her hands to her face for a time dreading the cool air.
I wish we could stay somewhere where it is warm, she told Thorn as he began to awaken. It seems as if the moment we've left the capital we've been plagued the cold.
The dragon sent her a trendily of good-natured humor through their mindlink. The cold does not bother me, he told. I prefer the heat but if it is cold, I am not affected.
Rose shivered, and wiped her hands on her cloak. You will enjoy the summertime, then, she concluded. I know that I certainly will. Hopefully we shan't be trapped inside Farthen Dûr and its eternal dusk during that time.
For a time, the dragon was silent, and she filled her pot and began to make her way up steep path towards the encampment. Loose stones and dirt threatened to trip her, and few times she slipped, more than once water spilled from the pot and soaked the front of her tunic. As she neared the top, he said, I do not wish to return to a place where the day-circle does not shine either. I have missed the wind and sky.
If nothing else we have been sheltered from that accursed rain that seems to have followed us everywhere, she said as she reached the top. A small group of young women passed her, their eyes beady from sleep, and each of them were carrying a pot or bucket. The smallest girl glanced at her, her dark eyes widening, and whispered hurriedly to the group. They turned their heads, and Rose looked away as they broke into soft murmurs.
Rose closed her eyes for a brief moment but kept moving, feeling their eyes on her as she headed toward her small settlement. She passed through the encampment and noted that more women were beginning to rise for the day but saw little else. When she returned to the top of Thorn's hill, she put the pot down and concentrated on making a fire.
We'll let the water boil while we're away, she told the dragon, once the fire was sable. She set the pot nearby to warm and after sorting through her bags, she stepped behind Thorn to change out of her damp tunic. I do not believe that we will be gone terribly long, and I wish to set a few snares in the woodland while we are there. I don't fancy the idea of eating meat pasties and berries. Despite it being rabbit, the thought of fresh meat is welcome.
Thorn sent her a tendril of agreement and she climbed on his back before he jumped into the air, his wings coming down with a loud thundering clap! They flew together in silence, their minds and bodies falling into an easy rhythm, as Thorn flew low, skirting the tops of trees. Rose looked through the tracery of leaves for any movement but saw only skittering creatures that hugged the branches.
The sun was eager to rise that morning, quick to dash away the billows of fog and misty clouds above. The air, however, was the only thing the sun could not seem to touch, it remained chilled and damp. A film of water droplets stuck to both the dragon and his Rider, soaking her cloak and exposed skin thoroughly.
When they believed that they had traveled far enough, Thorn found a small dell and landed. From here it was a short walk to the entrance of the cave, the dragon told her, and she slipped from his back, her boots sinking into the thick moss. Her toes felt cold instantly though the inside of the boots remained completely dry. Rose whispered a quiet thank you to the cobbler who had crafted the sheephide boots. They were shorter than the boots she had been given in Urû'baen, long enough to reach a short way past her ankles, and were not, she had been told, made for long travel though they were likely to last a long time and do well in any skirmish. Regardless, Rose kept her long boots inside her bags, prepared to use them despite their wear. She had concluded that she had been premature to switch out her boots in Haven Cove and now choose to switch out what footwear she wore every couple of days.
Rose ran her fingers through her hair, freeing it of it tangles, as she and Thorn walked towards the path that they had taken the day before. As they walked down the deer trail, the long fingers of ferns brushed against her legs, catching on her leggings and tunic, and before long she walked behind Thorn, letting him crush a patch of bristled buffalo bur and bullnettle on the pathway. When they arrived at the entrance of the cave, they found nothing but solid stone, and baffled she ran her hands along it's jagged surface.
The short two-leggeds must have a way to enchant the entrance as they had near the fall of water, Thorn said.
Rose nodded and looked down the trail searching for any tracks but saw nothing fresh besides a stray rabbit. It is called a waterfall, Thorn, she replied not unkindly. The labyrinth beyond is enough to guard against any trespassers. It is well enough that we weren't planning on going inside.
Thorn grumbled and began his way down a stretch of trail towards the encampment. What creatures of this wild did the old two-legged talk about yesterday?
I hadn't asked, and it is my hope that we shall not find out, she admitted, following him, and studying the ground they walked and the small trails. They walked in silence, stopping once, as Rose stepped off the path to set up a snare and to look at a small patch of mushrooms which she turned away from, not confident that they what she thought they might be. I do not see any footprints besides our own. If Nasuada had indeed gotten lost she did not come this way. I haven't seen any other trail and I know that I saw no one wonder off yesterday.
Thorn was quiet for a time as returned to his side. Could it be possible that she did not join the other females? he asked.
Rose frowned. It is, she told him. I cannot recall seeing her at all when we left Farthen Dûr however it was nearly impossible to find a particular person with so many about. It has occurred to me that our meeting her the before likely held an unsaid message, and I can only speculate what it might mean. Yet I cannot help but believe that we shan't find her in this forest. She knelt down to pull a twig from her boot. It could also be possible that she does not wish to be found. Either way, we should return to camp and come back to search a different trail.
Thorn hummed deeply within his chest in reply, and soon they found a break in the trees that he could fly through. When they returned to their camp, Rose saw that the women seemed to have fully awoken and the encampment was bustling with activity. Children ran between the tents, sticking under them as if they rode horses, calling another's names or laughing, while others stood near an adult assisting with the morning chores of gathering water to boil, and making a meager breakfast, and some were seating a cloth resting in their lap as they melded the clothing.
Rose carefully slid from Thorn's back, set down the satchel that held the dragon egg, and checked on the pot of water which was bubbling. She dug through her bags and pulled out a small sack filled with dried mint and barley, and added to the water before unsaddling Thorn. The dragon shook himself and settled onto the hillside, watching the people below interestedly, his tail drumming the ground.
I will go hunting when the day circle begins to dim, he announced after a time, and she nodded at him, knowing that it had been quite some time since the dragon had been able to leave the cavern city and find food for himself. I will not go far. There were creatures near where we went today and I wish to track them down.
Enjoy that, she said making a face, and pulled the pot from the water to let the herbs seep. Standing, she went to check the snares and finding that it had caught a single rabbit, and returned. The rabbit was cleaned and she wrapped the meat in slices of wild ginger and onion and placed it onto a flat rock which she pushed closer to the fire.
Rose pulled a book from her pack to read, occasionally she would pause to check on the meat, and the morning light lengthened into a warm afternoon and when the sun began to hit the mountains in the west, Thorn left. The dragon returned long after dark, when Rose was settling into her bedroll, and he lay close to her, his tail thumping lightly as she regarded him and then wordlessly closed her eyes. That night she did not dream at all.
Over the next few days a pattern began to form in the quiet valley. Each morning Rose would rise as the sun peeked over the fog cloaked valley, and unable to sleep with the light, she returned to the river either wash or fetch water which was boiled with herbs to be drank or made into a light soup. Later she would check on the snares and then both she and Thorn would walk the trails of the woodland until afternoon. They saw no creature and heard no person, and Rose's concerns for the Varden leader's daughter grew along with the suspicion that she would not be found.
It seemed the people within the encampment noticed the absence of Nasuada as well, and soon word spread that she was missing. Soon after this, a group of young boys had wondered into the woodlands to search for her and vanished. Despite the search for them, they were not found, and dreary gloom began to settle over Keallii Valley. After this the women were less willing to allow their wards away from their side, and the children began to play less and less, leaving their fireside only to do chores or pass along a message.
On the fourth day, Rose and Thorn returned to the valley late that afternoon to find Vers waiting for her near her encampment. "A massager came from Tronjheim while you were away," he said as she slid from the dragon's back. "The battle is over. Ajihad asked that you return immediately and go to the Healing Halls. When you're packed, Broc will return with you." The old man sighed and handed her a scroll. "Give this to Ajihad when you see him. It tells him about what happened here, and his daughter. I think it's likely that she and those boys are either lost or dead. We did all we could for them, and I'm thankful that you and the dragon helped search."
Rose took the scroll, and tucking it into a bag, she bid Vers farewell. After he left, she loaded everything onto Thorn, trying not to, as she had during her time in the valley, think about the battle against the urgals. What had happened inside the mountain to call her to the Healing Halls? Glancing, at Thorn, who was beating the ground with his tail, she could not dislodge the knot of worry that formed within her stomach.
