Chapter 13 (Rewritten)

The Alagaësian sky was colored in cyan blue that day, void of any cloud. Cool air greeted Alex when he walked out of the Inn, equipped head to toe with his weapons and his bag on the back, a large brown cloak covering everything from any suspicious eyes, with only the handle of his broadsword visible. He inhaled deeply, a serene smile on his lips and exhaled slowly. He didn't know why but today was going to be good day. The young man mounted Snowfire and slowly began to trot out of Furnost, the inhabitants living their life as if nothing as if nothing was wrong, but some of them kept taking cautious glances at him.

When he was a few meters away from the exit, a group of thirty soldiers, in complete armor and armed with blades, arrived and stood on his path, preventing him from leaving the town. The swordsman immediately stopped the horse and sighed.

"And me who thought it would be a day without having to use violence. Don't move Snow, I take care of it." Alex patted his mount and jumped off him before walking in direction of the group.

"Stop right there, criminal scum! We've been ordered to arrest you for your breakout of Gil'ead. Put your weapons to the ground and take a few steps back."

One of the soldiers paled when he saw the lone blade on Alex's back, recognizing this specific trait from the description the higher-ups gave them, and rushed to the one who talked.

"Captain, it is him! The swordsman! The one who fought both of the Ra'zac, one team of twenty soldiers in Dras-Leona's church and decimated more of them stationed at Gil'ead. Almost all the walls of the fortress were painted with fresh blood when he left the place, there were almost a hundred men who died in his escape. This is not a human!"

Alex unsheathed his combat knife and went into his fighting position.

"I can beat all of you with just this. Do you really want to try your chance?"

None of them moved a single finger, they were just looking at him and casting nervous glances between themselves. Alex exhaled, trying his best to not show nervousness and hoping they wouldn't found out he was bluffing a little… a lot. He was good but not THAT good against a group as big as this one. There were a few murmurs among the group, some of them were hesitating in fighting him. Unfortunately for them, their leader was determined to come back to his superiors with the fighter alive or at least, his head.

"Charge!"

He was the only one who rushed at the young man. The latter smirked and waited the moment his opponent was on him to move. He caught the soldier's wrist, bent it in an unusual position, forcing him to drop his grip on his sword. Then, Alex kicked his legs, put a hand on his chest to help him land on his back before planting his knife in his foe's throat. All of this in ten seconds flat.

When the boy with almond hair stood up, he pointed his bloodied knife randomly at one of the guards. "You, you're next."

He didn't need to do or say more to disperse them, making the company fall back in haste.

"Children these days don't need a lot to be frightened. I thought they would be a bigger threat than this." He shook his head and walked back to Snowfire, sheathing his small blade on the right part of his torso. "At least, I don't waste my time and energy in a useless fight."

He then walked out of the town. The two men guarding the entrance observed him with fear, worried for their lives. Alex stopped his mount not far from them, looking far ahead and sighed loudly.

"Contrary to what you may think, I'm not a ruthless monster who kill any soldier of the Empire on sight. Just… for your sake and mine, don't stand in my way."

It was on these words he left Furnost and began to gallop to the East, riding with the Tüdosten Lake on his right. Even without pausing, it took him a good part of the day to reach the next part of his journey: The Hadarac Desert. The solid ground wasn't so hard anymore, replaced with sand, the temperature was getting warmer as time passed by, making the ambient air dry. From his position to the horizon and everywhere around him, there was nothing but dunes. It made him feel even more alone… and isolated from everything. He stopped a few minutes to let Snowfire relax a little and give him some water.

After this, he continued for some time, even when the sun had left, using a compass, which strangely was working just like on Earth, and the stars to guide himself. However, the young man began to feel lightheaded and his eyes were slowly closing themselves, forcing him to stop for the night and sleep until dawn.

When he groggily woke up the next morning, Alex's head was pounding, as if he had drank too much alcohol just before going to bed. He knew it was because of the drastic change of air and atmospheric pressure. It would only be a matter of time before his body would adapt to those new conditions.

"We're at the beginning of the third day and if they don't reach the Varden tomorrow, at sunset… It's better if I focus on reaching them before it happens. Let's go!"

After riding for some time, the Beors finally appeared and very slowly grew in size as he approached them. Unfortunately, he still had a long way to go before reaching the point of rendezvous' with the others. The heat of the desert was slowly but surely draining his strength but not exhausting him enough to slow his pace. And this is not what was worrying him. The large group of Urgals he saw earlier that day was. To make things worse, they're marching in the same direction as him but they were ahead of the young man.

He didn't know why but his instincts were telling him that something wrong's coming, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He followed them but kept his distance to stay low and not be spotted. Even in the dark they didn't stop to rest at all.

In the late afternoon of the next day, they entered the valley and Alex went in too, a few minutes after them.

Two days. They've been followed by the Kull; the elite of the Urgals for two, long days. Those creatures were better in everything than the ordinary Urgal and were made for one purpose: destroy everything that stood on their path.

Arya's state had worsened. Her breath was ragged and she had a powerful fever. Her skin was now pale and she was trembling. Eragon hoped she would stay alive until they reach the Varden to give her the antidote. Murtagh made it clear he refused to go to them and the farmer tried to reassure him as best as he could but without much success.

As asked of Alex, they didn't wait for him and raced to Lake Kosta-merna. The group wanted to find him at the waterfall, ready to help them to get out of this dangerous situation and repel the monsters following them.

Finally, after a few hours with the sun setting on the West, the two adolescents and one dragon found themselves in front of a valley filled with water, now walking on pebbles. But they were completely alone, with no trace of their almond-eyed friend and it was a dead end. The passage on either side of the water was partially blocked because of the mountain wall. They took the lake's left side, their boots half on solid ground and half in the water. It took them a few minutes but the Urgals rushed out of the forest, splitting in two groups who began to advance on both side of the lake.

The blue dragoness took off, despite her Rider's orders to stay with him, and flew to the other shore. Even with her assault on them, the creatures pressed on. They retaliated by stabbing Saphira with their spears. Eragon followed the elf's instructions to the letter but nothing happened. He repeated it a few times but no answer.

Saphira jumped out of the water and over the duo to protect them from the arrows. Said arrows that were destroying her wings, soiling the ground with her warm blood.

"Eragon, we have to do something or all of those efforts will be for nothing!"

«He's right! »

At the moment Saphira whirled around to kill one of those Kull, a single spear was flying at her, aimed to her heart. Murtagh's and Eragon's eyes widened at this, knowing they couldn't do much to stop the projectile. The farmer opened his mouth, ready to use his magic to break the weapon in pieces. There was a sound, not unlike the thunder, that echoed in the whole valley. It was followed by the spear brutally stopping its course and dropping to the ground. Another detonation and this time, an Urgal fell, blood oozing from the back of his head.

The rider and his dragon immediately recognized this sound and smiled, relieved to know that backup was here.

More thundering sounds followed and more bodies were eating dirt, a hole in the torso. Standing on the shore, his assault rifle pointed to the foes, Alex had finally arrived. With a neutral and professional look, he slowly walked to the Urgals, killing one of them each time he took a step forward. The monsters rushed at him, desperately wanting to kill the troublemaker but they only met death. When his remaining magazine was empty, the swordsman withdrew his broadsword in his left hand and his Glock17 in the other.

Hearing something strange coming from the waterfall, the Rider looked at it and saw the apparition of a tunnel almost entirely filled with archers. A man, with a war-axe in a hand, waved at them to come inside. After a few seconds of hesitation, the two fighters and dragoness entered the tunnel and immediately, the sound of swords clashing almost disappeared. They continued to walk until they reached a large room, full of armed soldiers and one bald man, observing them with a sinister look.

He didn't know why but Eragon didn't liked him at all.

The young man was slaughtering his enemies but not without some difficulties. Kull were far stronger than the normal Urgal but also tougher. Even his blade couldn't cut them easily. Since Gil'ead, it was the most challenging fight he had. And he loved every second of it. The adrenaline pumping his veins, the fear of doing a mistake that could cost him his life, it almost made him feel… alive.

Fortunately, the archers that appeared from the mysterious tunnel were only shooting their arrows at the creatures. Even with their help, it took Alex a good ten minutes to kill all the Urgals. The second it was over, he released his grip on his weapon, leaned forward and put his hands on his haunches to catch his breath.

The masked fighters slowly approached him, their bows in their hands and ready to release their projectiles if there was any hostile gesture from the young man. The latter raised his left index as a sign to wait. "Gimme... a minute, those bastards weren't doing this just for fun. Whew, that was too close. At least, I only have to get a better stamina if I want to match them."

After putting back his blade on his back, Alex walked behind a tree and came back with Snowfire. Then, he followed the group inside the mountain, entering a long corridor filled with lamps, illuminating the path in light blue color. Behind him, the enormous stone door closed, cutting him off from the outside world. Then, they continued walking until he was in the large, empty room, made of white marble where everyone else was waiting for him. When he saw the tall bald man putting menacingly a dagger against Murtagh's throat, he took the handgun from its holster and aimed it at him, the red dot showing exactly in the middle of his head. Immediately, they all took their weapons, ready to jump on the swordsman if he moved a single muscle. The tension grew even bigger, nobody wanting for this to end into a bloodbath but ready for it if things went south.

"I suggest you to release him this instant." The voice was cold, powerful and imposed respect at the same time. Saphira, Eragon and Murtagh were shocked to hear their friend talk with a tone like that.

"I will not until all of you are screened for deception. You have to answer a lot of question, especially after bringing Arya, the egg-courier."

Even if he wanted to use his last option later for another occasion, the situation was forcing Alex to spill the truth, well, half of it.

"Firstly, you saw how I took care of the Kull, I just need to press this trigger on my little device and you end the same way as them. Secondly, as an Ambassador, you can't do such things to me. And those three are under my wing, Brom the Rider said so himself before leaving this world so they benefit the same privileges as me."

"An Ambassador from where? The Surda?"

The adult smirked. "Look at my clothes, observe those strange weapons. Did you see how I killed the Urgals? Have you observed the small fire leaving the long, black thing I had in my hands? I can do the same with this one. Each time there's a detonation, one of those creatures fell to the ground, dying or already dead. Doesn't make you think I may be coming from over the sea, or maybe some other place even farther?"

Alex's little speech put the bald man in a difficult position. His duty was to protect the entrance of this place by searching in the mind of those who dared to come and at the same time, there was so much truth and questions in the young man's words.

"Fine, BUT I still have to go in the Rider's mind, to see if he's not one of Galbatorix's spies. And to understand why hundreds of Urgals are at our doors."

"In that case, I allow it. You may proceed." He slowly lowered his right arm and put his weapon back in its place, relaxing a little but still on guard.

"We have a woun-"

"Silence!"

"She's going to die!" exclaimed the Rider, furious. "Arya's been poisoned with the Skilna Bragh when she was imprisoned. Only the Tunivor's nectar can save her."

His interlocutor stayed motionless, his face impassible. Only his lips were twitching from time to time. "Transport her to the healers. Tell them what she need. Protect her while the ceremony is in progress."

The soldiers nodded and took her, Eragon followed with his eyes. He would have liked to accompany the elf…

"We've lost enough time. Prepare yourself to be probed!"

Grumbling, the mage put a hand on Eragon's forehead and began to search the inside of his mind, looking through his memories for anything suspicious. He had his eyes closed, his brows furrowed in concentration and let out a small grunt of pain from time to time, Saphira's strength joining his to protect everything that seemed important to him. All his body was rigid, his jaw clenched tightly as his skin radiated fever and sweat pearled down the side of his neck. The others waited for what seemed like an eternity when he suddenly released the young boy. His legs grew weak and he almost collapsed to the side but was caught by the swordsman who smiled at him. The dwarf also helped him to gently sit on the ground, glaring the entire time at the mage.

He cursed in a strange language before continuing. "You went too far. It's clear he wasn't strong enough for something like this!"

"The Rider will live, don't worry about it." The bald man turned to Murtagh. "You're next."

"HEY!"

Alex took his combat knife and put it under the mage's neck, a few millimeters away from his throat. All of this just before raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "I thought we had a deal."

"I've changed my mind; from what I seen in Eragon's mind I think he's suspicious enough to be screened."

The dwarf cursed again, before jumping between the two. "That's enough, you promised him you wouldn't search his mind."

"How dare you question my orders Orik. You were the one who badly wanted to open the gates for them and now this. Do you want to put us all at risk? This Ambassador with his strange 'weapons' is a big danger enough. Ajihad will not like it at all and don't think you're not going to be punished for this. Do you think your king will protect you this time?"

"You would have let them die! If I had waited any longer, the Urgals would have killed them."

"Their friend seemed competent enough to get rid of them."

The swordsman used this moment to intervene. "No. They were too numerous and strong, even for me. If they were normal Urgals yes, but not those ones."

The bald man looked at Orik, no emotion present in his eyes. Then, he looked at the ceiling, as if he was mulling over something. Certainly the pros and cons of letting those strangers inside Farthen Dûr. Then, after a few minutes, he lowered his head, signaling to the fighters to leave the room. He turned to the little group of friends. "You're going to stay here for the night and give us your weapons. We'll bring you food. If your friend try to leave, he'll be killed."

Cooperating, the three boys gave everything they had on them, the swordsman relenting when he separated himself from his firearms but not before discharging them from their ammo and putting the security on.

Now, only the four travelers were remaining. They closed the door and put the lock on from the outside.

"And now… we wait." said Alex, talking to himself before sitting against a wall and letting out a tired sigh.