The Grey Wizard and the Dragon Rider
Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold
Gandalf and Angela managed to squeeze past Saphira, who was adamant not to move. When they got past, they saw Eragon and Elrond, their faces grim and sorrowful; Elrond was deep in thought, and Eragon seemed to converse with Saphira. His eyes flickered towards Gandalf and Angela, but he said nothing.
Gandalf turned to Elrond. "I suppose Arya is talking with the leaders of the Varden, or with the king?"
Elrond blinked, once, then turned to Gandalf, blinking as one returned from a deep sleep. "Yes. She went some time ago and should not be long now."
Gandalf nodded and pulled up a chair. He asked Saphira if she could put a fire to the hearth. She moved her long neck towards the fireplace, and with a snort let loose a blue flame from her nostrils. Gandalf thanked her and sat by the fire wondering if there were any other aspects he had overlooked. He could think of none.
Arya arrived a little later, unease etched into her face. At last, Gandalf could tell the others his plan, such as it was. He stood up to face the others.
"I imagine Elrond has already told you his guess," he said, "That I intend to go after the Twins. I am, and I will go tomorrow, at dawn. I will go with Angela and Solembum. Angela has offered to be my guide, which I am grateful for.
"I intend to go above ground, to the western mountains," he continued. "We will go to Orthíad through the dwarven trading route; if we are very lucky, we will find the Twins there. More likely, we will pass through the mountains."
Arya frowned. "They keep their trading routes as secret as their language," she said. "How did you—"
"Oh, I found it lying around in a vault," said Angela innocently. Arya simply nodded.
"Anyway," continued Gandalf, "We shall take the road to the Tüdosten lake." He pulled out a map and rolled it out on a table. "There are several small habitations – towns, villages, hamlets, farms – where the Twins could hide. Around the lake, they are close together. I think we could investigate them within two or three days. After that, they begin to spread out a great deal, and between the lake and Urû'baen they are at least a day apart. Our best chance is to find them around the lake. if we cannot, then we may have to split up. If Angela agrees, that is."
Angela closed her eyes and seemed to consider it. "Depends," she said. "If we're quick, then maybe."
Arya spoke up again. "The Elders intend to choose the leader of the Varden tomorrow and make the announcement the day after. Will you not stay and give your advice?"
"Hm? My advice? My advice is Nasuada," said Gandalf. "She is strong-willed and wise enough and has the love of the people already. But I cannot stay."
"The council was insistent," said Arya, a strange note in her voice. "They may try to stop you from leaving."
"Oh?" said Gandalf. "And abandon their leader so quickly? Leave him to the mercy of the king, who would extract all his knowledge? No, I think not. And if reason fails, and they want to stop me, they are well within their rights to try."
Gandalf rolled the map and returned it to Angela. Arya was evidently testing him, but why he could not guess. Or would not, rather, for he was uninterested in the matter, beyond a fleeting thought: 'She is strategic, or near enough. She is young, still; only just in adulthood for an elf – one in Middle-Earth, at least. Perhaps it is different here as well. But I have no time for tests.'
"Now," he said aloud, "I intend to go to Ellesméra, whether I succeed or fail. I suspect that the elves guard their boarders closely, and an old man like myself shan't breach them with much ease. I will need a password, Arya, or a symbol of good faith."
Arya thought for a moment, then said, "May I be permitted to enter your mind, and show you a location?" Gandalf frowned, but nodded, and closed his eyes. A second later, a curious consciousness pressed against his; he lowered his defence's, but not so much that Arya could wander freely, and it entered. He saw a wall of trees on his left, mostly pine, but also dogwood and oak, and a few others. On his right was a lake.
Then the images moved, and Gandalf seemed to go forward, faster and faster till all was nearly a blur. At last he stopped. On his right was a vast desert, and on his left the forest. The image rotated, till Gandalf faced northwest, and saw three mountains several kilometres away. Then the world rotated, and Gandalf faced north, and saw four trees that seemed to grow together.
Arya's voice reverberated. "Go- go from here as straight as possible. There will be many illusions and dangers. If we reach Ellesméra before you, I will send someone to find you. If you reach the land of Kirtan, say this: Kausta, Alfakyn. Wiol eka fricai abr du Dröttningu. If you are stopped before that, say: Eka aí abr du Alfakyn fricai."
"And what do they mean?" asked Gandalf.
"'Come, Elf-kind," said Arya. "For I am a friend of the princess. Or, more accurately, daughter of the queen. And the latter is: I am a friend of the elf-kind."
With that she retreated, and when Gandalf opened his eyes he saw that in Arya's eyes there was a glimmer of wonder. Clearly, he had left some small opening, but that wasn't important.
"Thank you," he said. "Now, I think I must speak with Nasuada."
Without another word, Gandalf squeezed past Saphira.
He found Nasuada sitting in her chambers, a large, open space, with an exquisite bed and desk, both made from dark wood, and embedded with jewels. She was stoic, remarkably so, but Gandalf saw the conflict in her mind; anger, a desire to blame someone, to lash out at something or someone close at hand.
Yet she restrained herself and welcomed him.
"I am thankful that you should let me in at this hour," said Gandalf. "I will not trouble you long, for I have but a few things I wish to speak of."
"It is no trouble," said Nasuada. "Would you care for some nettle tea? It is an elvish tea, which was gifted to me a few months prior to Arya's disappearance."
Gandalf considered for a moment. He had nought else to do tonight, nothing pressing, at least, and it may yet be wise to offer Nasuada what counsel he could. "I cannot stay too long," he said. "But I think I can spare some time for tea."
Nasuada then put a kettle on a flame, and asked, "What is your errand, lord Gandalf."
"I have come to give counsel, and to ask where the stables that our steeds were taken to are," said Gandalf in answer. "We came with two horses, Snowfire and Tornac. The former belonged to Eragon, and he will have need of the beast in the journey to come, I believe; the latter belonged to Murtagh, and since he is not here, I will journey with Angela to find him, and return Tornac to him."
Nasuada looked up sharply. "Then that is your aim, then? To find Murtagh and my father? You and Angela against the Twins?"
"It is," said Gandalf. "I intend to go after them, and rescue your father and Murtagh, if I can. Angela shall be my guide and teacher, for a little while."
Nasuada turned and said nothing. But her shoulders trembled, and she took deep breaths. At last, she said, "I thank you, Gandalf. The stables are on the ground level, on the outer western border."
Gandalf bowed. "Now, for my other errand: to give counsel," he said. "I believe you will be the next leader of the Varden. Therefore, I give you this advice: send messengers to king Orrin of Surda and tell him to prepare for war – it is all but upon you both."
She frowned but nodded. "I had worried that it would be so. But that is not all you have to say, is it?"
"It is not. Your father and I spoke for a time, down in the cave whither the three tunnels led," said Gandalf. "There I learnt something, before the Varden and the dwarves came, and there I prepared something. Your father listened to my counsel and agreed to give it thought, and now I must beg that you do the same. It was this: an alliance with the Urgals."
Nasuada spun around, confusion and fear in her eyes. "An alliance with—no! How could you even suggest such a thing? We have just barely won a battle against them, and now you want to ally us with them?"
Gandalf frowned, though he expected this. It was not the best time to give someone advice like this. But then, he seldom gave advice at the best moment. "Yes, I do, because I know more at the moment than you do. The Urgals were not wholly willing servants of the king. They went to him willingly and struck a deal, for they were desperate for new lands. But that deal was broken, and when they sent messengers to Galbatorix to argue their case, he slew them and sent his shade Durza to control their minds. They are angry, Nasuada, and will do whatever it takes to have their revenge."
"I don't care!" she cried. "They have slaughtered our people, burnt villages and towns! I won't have an alliance with them."
"Then you will fall, and the Varden shall fail, and your hope descend into ruin," said Gandalf gravely. "You are not thinking of what you are saying. But I do not blame you, not entirely. I will not make you do this, Nasuada. I foresee that you will come to the same conclusion that I have: the Varden are outnumbered and outmatched. And remember: your father gave it thought."
With that, Gandalf left Nasuada to her thoughts. He had not expected her to be wholly accepting of the idea, but it was there now, and things were moving apace. He could do no more now than to hope.
The wizard went now to the stable and commanded the stable hand to prepare two horses for tomorrow, as soon as the dawn, and he'd get a gold coin if he did the job, but he'd lose his hair and teeth if he didn't! He went then to the kitchen and ordered two weeks' rations prepared for a long journey, much to the annoyance of the dwarf, who was clearly ready to retire to bed.
And then, he went to bed himself.
He had only a few hours of sleep, but in the wizard's life that was sometimes more than he was afforded. A few hours of rest and relaxation were a great blessing to a man who was forever wandering from one problem to the next. But even in sleep, the wizard did not always rest.
Now he awoke to the sound of tapping on his door. It was Angela, clad in a dark green and black hood. At her feet prowled Solembum, a loincloth draped over him.
"Dawns nearly arrived," said Angela. "Not that anyone would've noticed in this glorified hill. Come on, time to go."
Gandalf nodded, retrieved his hat, staff, and sword, and made sure he had some pipe-weed and a pipe. Then he and Angela made their way down the silent streets, keeping to the shadows out of habit.
Soon, they arrived at the kitchen and found two weeks' worth of rations awaiting them in bags of excellent leather that was foreign to him. Gathering them, they headed to the stables, with a nervous stable boy waiting for them. Gandalf thanked him and sent him on his way with three gold coins.
Angela led the way, with Solembum sitting uncomfortably behind her. But once they passed the gates of Tronjheim, the werecat shifted before Gandalf's eyes into the appearance of a young boy.
Angela led them down the straight path to the western gate. There were no guards at Tronjheim, but at the gate there were two large recesses in the wall, and they had in them several guards. At the bottom stood two on each side of the gate, a man and a dwarf for each side.
"Halt!" said one of the men. "What is your business, and where are you going?"
"Our business is our own," answered Angela, throwing back her hood. "And where we are going is simply out. But if it pleases you so much, you may know that we're going to find the Twins, and maybe even save your master, Ajihad."
The guards stirred uneasily. Duty and love were plainly at odds in them. In the end, love won out, and a dwarf called out to the guardhouse, "Os knular rast!" Let them pass!
The great doors opened silently, and Gandalf followed Angela out and into the tunnel. Red lanterns hung on either side, casting the three in an eery gloom. The werecat's golden eyes seemed to intertwine with the red glow.
A little while later, the red lanterns halted, and they came to the rushing waterfall. It had long since ceased to roar and crash, but Gandalf suspected that the valley was still rather flooded.
"A pity," he murmured. "There were many beautiful and old trees there."
"Not to worry," said Angela. "There's plenty to round. Now, up this way."
She led him to the side of the pool and up a flight of hidden stairs, and past a hidden door, which led to the outside world, a couple dozen metres away from the waterfall. The water had receded enough that their horses could walk and not swim, but they would have to stay close to the edge of the water, and that could prove perilous; they would have to walk on the steep mountainside, which, along with being rocky, was now quite slippery and unstable.
Gandalf was about to suggest that they get off their horse and lead them on foot when Solembum sprang off and went ahead.
"We'll follow Solembum," said Angela. "He'll look ahead, and when he thinks we should get off, we get off. Otherwise, we should be fine."
In that manner they went along the southern mountains, and every now and again Solembum indicated that they should dismount. They went slowly, but steadily, and by sunset had reached a point where the water was low enough for them to move further down, and where the mountains parted ways, and the wide lake was before them – Beartooth lake will never be the same again, a fact which Angela had laughed about for some time; Gandalf didn't quite get the joke.
During their walk, Gandalf queried about spies.
"Does the king have many creatures in his employment?" he asked.
"That depends on what you mean by 'creature,'" said Angela. "If you mean abominations like the Ra'zac, yes. If you mean just birds or beasts, no. He doesn't really seem to consider those creatures important. And besides, that would be too much work for him or his magical cronies. I don't know how it is in your world, but magic in this little corner of the universe is somewhat scarce, at least among humans, and dwarves to an extent; magicians were more prominent during the time of the Dragon Riders. This means that most humans that get a whiff of magic are as arrogant as they come. They're not going to waste their time talking to birds and animals."
That was good, as far as Gandalf was concerned. They'd be able to cover more ground without having to worry about every sparrow and crow that flew overhead. And if he or Elrond could teach the speech of some creatures to some of the Varden, they'd have an insurmountable advantage!
'Well, perhaps not insurmountable,' amended Gandalf silently. But it would indeed be an advantage, and that was always desired in war. And it was an advantage without risk, without accompanying sorrows, as was too oft the case in war.
They travelled till midday. Angela taught Gandalf a little about the servants of the king - those that she knew of, anyway - that he should be most worried about. When midday arrived they stopped for a brief lunch, letting the horses drink their fill. The water was cool and fresh, for it came from the mountains; there were many chunks of ice and snow, some small, some as large as houses, bobbing lazily. Afterwards, they continued until the waning moon was high in the air, the strange stars filled the sky, and they were nearly out of the great valley.
"I will take the first watch," said Gandalf. But Solembum, still in the guise of a young boy, shook his head.
"No," he drawled, still used, it seemed to the mouth of a cat. "I will. Tomorrow will offer little need for me, and I will rest then."
Gandalf accepted the offer and laid down in the moist grass. No spell of warmth did he cast, fearing that someone might espy them from afar, despite the encouragement of Angela. Cold and miserable was his sleep, but it came, nonetheless.
Gandalf awoke to the song of birds, singing, or boasting rather, mostly about themselves. Despite the cold, he was quite refreshed, and eager to continue the hunt.
Angela was less inclined to get up, and he had to jab her in the sides before she arose, grumbling and with a look that would curdle new milk.
"You agreed to come with me," reminded Gandalf as they ate breakfast, warming themselves before a small fire, which Angela had insisted upon; he may have been a bit too cheerful, he would later confess, if any heard the tale. "If you can't brave a bit of cold, or an early rise, you shouldn't have come."
Angela shot him a look that would have struck him dead then and there if it could.
Once their breakfast was finished, they extinguished the fire and threw all evidence into the lake. Then they were off once more.
The mountain water was diminishing steadily, and by the time Gandalf, Angela, and Solembum nearly reached the edge of the western mountain wall it was almost dry again. Now it was nearly dusk again, and Gandalf and Angela agreed to stop – Solembum had no opinion, having fallen asleep quite comfortably, leaning against Angela.
The witch pulled out their map, and they studied it carefully; the road was about half a mile north-westward, and there were lodgings not too far from the entrance. Cleverly hidden, no doubt, and with dwarvish opening spells, which Gandalf had made only a cursory study of. Well, they'd worry about that when they got there.
They set off after their horses had a last drink of the mountain water and came to the entrance of the road. The stars were glinting, but the moon was still hidden behind the mountains when they reached the house.
"Now, let me see," said Angela. She dismounted her horse and looked at the door. It was carved into the mountain, and not as expertly hidden as they expected. The dwarves plainly did not expect anyone to find the road at all. There were dwarven runes, which Angela read in the common tongue as:
"Who is he that is battered, but never bowed? Who takes wave upon wave of blades and hammers against his crown, and yet is never moved? Who, though the heat of the sun beats on his brow, never breaks sweat?"
A delightful riddle. Gandalf's first thought was a mountain, but that seemed too obvious. Angela frowned, and turned away, then turned back to say something, but stopped. She sighed. "Dammit! Stupid dwarven riddles." Angela sighed dramatically, pulling a hand over her face.
"A riddle indeed!" chuckled Gandalf. "And what was your first guess?"
"What's it to you?" muttered Angela.
"I only want to know so that I don't make the same mistake," said Gandalf, crossly. "There's no point in going over the same wrong answer twice. You thought it was a mountain, didn't you?"
Angela squinted at him suspiciously. "How did you…"
"It was my first guess as well," said Gandalf. "You're right, too obvious. But knowing dwarves, perhaps the answer is an anvil?"
A flash of light split down the middle, and the doors opened outwardly, silent as a cat. The trio crossed the threshold into the dimly lit room, and Gandalf raised his staff, a faint light emitting from the crystal on top.
"Hello!" he called, his voice echoing off the walls. "Is anyone here?" No answer came. "Odd. Lodgings of such importance ought to have housekeepers."
"Yes, that is strange," agreed Angela. "Perhaps they're just asleep?"
"Perhaps."
They moved further along the wide, many-doored corridor, finding themselves eventually in a large living room. A kitchen was adjacent to it, and there was a small garden outside. To their left was a flight of stairs, expertly carved. There was a hearth and three long couches, long enough for Gandalf and Angela and Solembum to lie on comfortably.
"Well, if our hosts are asleep, we may as well sleep too," said Gandalf in a low voice. "Although we should still take turns keeping watch. Friendship with the Varden or not, intruders are intruders, and they may not take too kindly to uninvited guests."
"So glad you volunteered," said Angela, lying down on a couch and drawing a blanket over her. Solembum curled up at one end of another couch.
Gandalf frowned. "I am old man," he protested. "I need my rest. You can take the first watch."
"I'm old as well," remarked Angela crossly. "I also need to sleep! You- you're used to not sleeping much, you can take the first watch."
Gandalf was about to retort when there was a creak of wood from the stairs. "If either of value your heads," said a thick, quiet voice, "Then you'll shut up, and turn around slowly with your hands raised."
Gandalf slowly turned to face the stairs, raising his hands slowly above his head. Four dwarves stood there, each with bows fitted with arrows, dressed in nightgowns. Each dwarf had their arrows pointing toward the three travellers.
Thank you all for waiting so patiently. I hope this chapter was interesting enough. There's really not much, I admit. But at least the story's progressing.
As always, reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome. They are wanted, in fact.