Hello everyone,
The post is a little late, I went out of town and forgot my laptop charger so of course I had to wait till I got back to post. Anyway, there is an authors note at the bottom!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"Roran, you cannot be serious."
"You're not just the leader of a ragtag group of magicians anymore. You need to be leading the men, making the decisions." Jormundur told me for what felt like the hundredth time this morning.
I rolled my eyes as I looked at the map in front of me, filled with pieces representing different parts of my army.
"We've been over this, I told you exactly what to do and when to do it. You'll have one of my magicians to contact me during the battle if something happens." I rolled my eyes before continuing. "Plus I will literally be at the head of the soldiers leading the battle."
"That is precisely the point. You'll be in the most danger there!" He replied. "Lead from the top of your horse, behind your army." His voice was raising, anger showing.
I stood up from my desk in my tent, annoyed by his constant nagging. "I will lead by example, nothing else. How can I ask my men to go into battle for me if I'm not willing to risk my own life hmm? Tell me Ajihad didn't have to listen to this." I responded.
"Ajihad died because of it! That's the point." He nearly screamed.
"My decision is final, Jormundur. I appreciate your willingness to push this issue, I really do, it shows you care. But that's enough." I didn't raise my voice to match his but the effect was the same. "You'll just have to make sure to cover my ass from the command seat, yea?"
He nodded to me then, and walked out of the tent, to get ready or to calm down, I didn't know.
Now is as good a time as any to get ready, I suppose.
My body walked to where I kept my armor on it's stand. The dents from Farthen dur no longer marred the surface. The eagle I etched into it still sat proudly on the cuirass, except it was inlaid with gold, and much better drawn than before.
The vambraces had changed from tribal designs to golden wings, and the greaves had golden talons etched where the toes would be.
As I finished getting ready, I heard someone enter the tent and turned to face them.
"Why the eagle?" Arya asked taking in the sight of my armor, her eyes tracing the patterns in them.
I smiled, already knowing the answer. "When it rains, most birds fly to shelter, and wait out the storm. Do you know what the eagle does?" I asked.
She shook her head with a smile on her face, knowing that I was trying to be wise.
"The eagle goes up through the clouds, to fly over the storm." I told her.
She nodded, appreciating the explanation, and understanding the metaphor behind it.
"What not a dragon then? Do they not do the same?" Arya teased back at me.
"Don't ruin my fun!" I whined.
Her laughter echoed in the tent. "And they are bigger, more intelligent, and can easily eat eagles."
I laughed with her before I replied.
"I thought about it honestly, but Eragon is the dragon rider. I am only a human, eagle is much more representative of me. The people can relate better to it."
Her smile faded then, lost in thought. We stood there for a while before she spoke again. "I am worried for you."
I didn't know how to respond to that, she has always been fairly open since I met her in Du Weldenvarden, but she's never explicitly say that she cared for me or worried for me. It took me off guard. In the books, she was grieving for the loss of her lover, and I have been worried that she would take the same route now that Faolin abandoned her.
I doubt she's taken time to really think about it. I thought mulling the situation over in my head.
"Why?" I asked in return.
"Power changes people, I saw it happen to my mother. My father shielded us from the harsh reality of ruling, and when he was gone ...she didn't handle it well, hasn't handled it well." She answered shying her eyes away from mine.
I tried to console her with a more lighthearted answer. "You'll just have to keep me in check then, won't you?"
"I think I'll just put Shadowcat on you." She joked.
"You'd tattle to my mother?!"
I stood alone, on a hill between the two armies, the varden at my back and the imperials at my front. I held Fram, my warhammer, in one hand and my newly forged winged helmet in the other.
The Varden stood, in formation in the middle of my army, flanked by Orrin's Surdan army on the left and the Urgals on the right. If I really wanted to try, I could reach out and would find the Dwarven army marching our direction about ten miles away. They would be here just in time to clean house, if their runners were to be believed.
Here they come. I thought as I saw two men on horses approach from the front of the imperial army.
It felt like an eternity watching them approach, when in reality it took less than five minutes for them to gallop up to me.
They rode directly up to me, hoping I would flinch as their horses approached, they never got the chance.
My mind reached out to their steeds and a simple command in the ancient language slowed them to a stop before me. I reached out to pet them before looking up to the men who commanded them.
Their hands jerked on the reins and their feet dug into the warhorses to get them to move, but their actions were in vain.
"They won't move until we are done here." I spoke to them as I tamed their steeds.
Both of the men looked shocked for a moment before composing themselves. "Do you speak for the rebellious curs behind you?"
I raised an eyebrow at his insult. "I do. Do you speak for the children you pulled out of their homes behind you?" I jabbed back.
His face reddened when he answered. "Watch your tongue, boy."
"You call me boy again, and I will pull you from that sattle and rip your head off with my bare hands." I said aggressively as I walked around to his side to get closer to him.
I spoke again before he could answer. "I can already see that we will not come to terms, so before you go, I want you to know that you will not live past this battle. I will make sure of it. Go and tell your army to get ready because we will fight and you will lose."
I turned around and started walking towards the Varden. As I reached about one hundred yards away, I released the horses from my control. I didn't look back but my extended mind told me that they were headed back the way they came.
It took me a few minutes to reach the head of my army and when I did, I spoke a quick spell to amplify my voice so that the army could hear me.
"We fight!" I yelled.
The centurions banged once on their shields and the rest of the soldiers followed.
"They were scared of us, I could smell it on them!"
Another bang.
"They are children forced from their homes to fight the big bad wolf on the edge of their borders. They are scared!"
Another bang and cheers.
This time my speech was interrupted by the sound of the imperial army shouting and running our direction. I turned my back towards my army and saw their approach. It would take them two minutes to reach us so I had time to finish.
"Hold the shield wall, trust in your brothers in arms beside you, and fight like hell!"
Now. I told Saphira from her place above the clouds.
When she breached through the clouds, a deafening roar could be heard for miles around. My army answered and I spoke one more time before cutting off the spell.
"March!"
My army obeyed.
I turned sideways as the first soldier passed me and slipped in between the ranks.
Fire rained from the maw of Saphira onto the charging imperials as she made runs on the army. Arrows reached up to touch her but were deflected by wards or metal.
Soon enough, I joined with my group that I would use as a magician hunting party once they were located. Arya, Vanir, Glenwing, Shadowcat in her human form, and Carn caught up to me in their respective armors. The rest of Du Gata Vrangr were spread out with the army and would alert us when they found and were fighting other magicians.
Brom sat on a horse beside Jormundur, giving his input and reaching out to the minds of our spellcasters. He would relay where we were needed to Vanir, and then we would hunt.
Eragon and the twelve spellcasters would do the same thing on the other half of the battlefield. We would be doing a lot of running and a lot of fast fighting.
I heard a loud bang and looked towards the front of the army. The cries of horses reached my ears, and soon after the sound of metal on wood, then the sound of a massacre.
Their cavalry made contact. I thought recognizing what was happening and waited to see how my men would react, would the run? Or would they hold?
I didn't have to wait long to find out because I only saw a few riders get through and they were systematically cut down by the soldiers following the shield wall.
We held! I told myself with joy as I realized the discipline of my army.
"Push!" I heard in front of me and the grunt of thousands of men sounded out. The army marched forward and I saw thousands of thrusting motions.
Blood flew everywhere.
It was hard to see but I could tell that we were not losing a lot of men. As we continued to walk forward behind the marching lines of the soldiers, we came across the first line of bodies. There were a few Varden soldiers but the ground was littered with young men wearing the standard of Galbatorix.
I felt sadness for the loss of life, but quickly squashed it knowing that it was necessary.
Found one. I heard in my mind from Vanir.
He took off and I gripped Fram before following and joining minds with the others. We raced along the back of the lines to find the magician. It didn't take us long to find the one hurling spells towards our soldiers and creating gaps in the shield wall that was quickly covered by our soldiers.
"Path!" I shouted at our men and they obeyed side stepping and thrusting their javelins at the men in front of them.
I increased my speed and took the lead as I raced through the gap, bobbing and weaving the slow clumsy swings of the imperial soldiers and ignoring them as I passed.
The magician clutched his head as he was attacked by our collective minds and didn't even see me coming until his head exploded on the end of my warhammer. My mind reached out and grasped his energy before it faded into the abyss and I channelled it into my necklace as I turned my attention to the soldiers closing in on me.
I felt the unease of Carn and
I side stepped two swings and killed the attackers with two swings of my warhammer. The other imperial soldiers that focused their attention on me found themselves cut down by my approaching army or by my party of elite spellcasters.
I stood still as I was engulfed by my marching soldiers once again. I looked around and I could see almost a perfect straight line of Varden soldiers march against an uncoordinated mass of bodies. Saphira made another pass and bathed them in dragonfire for what had to be the tenth time.
A horn sounded out and I finally saw the famed cavalry of Orrin start moving on the Surdan side of the battlefield.
Another answered it's call at the other end and the urgals made their presence known on the other side of the army as Jormundur used them as his own version of cavalry/shock troops.
They raced along the sides of the fighting, cutting down the edges of the imperial army, they reached about three hundred yards before turning and cutting a path towards the middle of the battlefield, leaving carnage in their wake.
Whistles blew and the army suddenly picked up their pace as the first line of soldiers fell behind to the back of the lines to rest while the others jogged forward and absolutely ran through the imperial soldiers.
Most realized that they were pinched and turned around to run, falling into chaos.
"Break!" I heard and they took off running to catch up to them and cut them down before they could reach the urgals and Orrin's cavalry.
"It's a massacre." Arya whispered beside me as arrows fell from the side and were diverted by our spellcasters.
I didn't say anything but I could feel their eyes on me.
"We found another. They're causing havoc with the urgals." Vanir said.
We took off once again, occasionally swinging and finishing off a downed soldier, to end their misery. We soon eclipsed the Varden's own running soldiers because of our sheer speed.
That's when I truly realized what was happening. Children were being killed by slashes to the back, or arrows from their own archers. The worst part is that as I ran, I killed more than probably anyone, collecting the energy for my necklace.
I turned off my emotions as best I could and the others followed, dealing death as we ran.
It felt like an eternity, but in reality we caught up fairly quickly with the urgals and Orrin. Vanir cut towards a certain direction, weaving between urgal and humans. It was the most graceful thing I had ever seen. His blade flashed as he passed, too fast for most to catch, let alone avoid.
The rest of us were no different, every swing of my warhammer dealt death. Arya, Carn, and Shadowcat raced beside me as we moved. We kept this up pace up for a while, racing from magician to magician as the soldiers marched forward. More and more energy filled my necklace.
Finally we got word of the Twins gracing the battlefield with their presence and we took off once again. We didn't get very far before fire rained down around us and I felt my wards hold as I ran through the fire, not looking behind me to know that the others were fine.
The Twins stood behind a row of soldiers with their hands up and I felt my rage spark.
I disconnected with the minds of others because I didn't need their minds clouding mine for what I was about to do. I reached out to the energy in my necklace and my hand rose. I didn't reach out my mind to challenge them to a mental duel, instead I opted for brute force. I began whispering the spell I had developed for sieging castles to destroy their walls without using too much energy.
A white light swirled from my palm and shot out of my hand traveling towards the Twins. Flame exploded on contact and spread out upon impact. Body parts and dirt flew around the battlefield. I felt the drain from the energy in my necklace, it didn't take everything I had but it sure put a dent in it.
The two armies seemed to pause as they took in the sight of the destructive spell and my outstretched hand.
A roar sounded out from the heavens that I knew did not belong to Saphira as a red dragon descended on the battlefield and bathed a section of my army in dragonfire.
Saphira roared out a challenge in response and flew towards the direction of the new dragon. They met in a flurry of teeth and claws as they fought in the air.
It's too early for him to show up. I thought remembering that the rider only arrived when Hrothgar changed the tide of battle in the books.
He must have seen how badly they are losing. My mind supplied the only logical answer as I took in the scene of the two fighting.
I joined minds with the others in my party. Continue without me! I told them as I looked to the sky.
I got an affirmative and was about to take off again when a red light flew from the smoke of my destructive spell and smacked my wards, taking another chunk of energy from my necklace.
I started running again towards the direction the spell came from. Another red light flew my way and I quickly dodged as it hit the ground behind me. I breached the smoke with a roar and swung at the first face I saw. Surprisingly my hammer bounced off of what felt like wards, or maybe it was a desperate use of magic to save his life.
I swung once more and this time my warhammer hit one of the twins in the sternum. A crack signified his chest caving in on itself.
He fell to the ground next to his already dead brother, choking on his own blood. I rose Fram once more and put him out of his misery.
The other must have died from the spell. I thought to myself, taking in the sight of the downed foes.
I looked up from the bodies and focused on the battlefield. The Varden continued to march forward, slaying the imperial army mercilessly as they went. I saw Vanir, and Arya cutting through the enemy ranks heading towards another magician. The other three did the same but heading towards a separate magician.
The black mass of bodies from before had diminished greatly, I would say by at least half the original number, which was supposed to be around one hundred thousand if the books were to be believed.
The dwarves had joined the fray sometime in my fight with the twins also and Hrothgar stood proud as he led his race against Galbatorix's army. Volund swung with strength and purpose as he fought.
The urgals with Orrin and his cavalry tore through the enemy ranks sowing chaos wherever they moved.
We will win. I thought taking in the sight of the battlefield. They'll break soon.
A roar broke me from my thoughts and I looked up to the sky to see Saphira and the red dragon circle each other in the sky. They both descended to land and I took off in the direction of them.
I didn't meet very much resistance as I went. Only a few soldiers stepped up to lend their energy to my tired body and necklace. Other made way for me, recognizing my armor and knowing my legend.
I could see them dueling and I circled around to approach from behind Saphira.
I reached out to her mind and let her know of my presence. Her mind was locked down tight so I started 'knocking' on it to let her know I was friendly and not the rider in front of her. She eventually let me in.
I am approaching behind you. I told her so that she wouldn't kill me when I interrupted their duel.
She didn't say anything but I could feel my presence give her hope. I finally got close enough to see the rider outmanoeuvre Eragon and hit him in the side of the head with an armored fist.
I ran under Saphira's wing as she lifted up and I was met with the sight of Murtagh standing over Eragon holding Zar'roc, just like in the books.
He's already taken it then. I thought as I continued running towards him with purpose.
He obviously didn't expect me because he barely blocked the kick that held my running momentum and sent him tumbling towards his dragon.
"Hello Murtagh." I spoke once I got my footing again. I reached down and helped Eragon get up.
"Hello Roran, you're just as strong as ever." He snarled as he stood up and twirled Zar'roc in his hand.
"And you're just as angry as ever." I replied with pity in my eyes.
I reached up and peeled the winged helmet off of my head, doing him the courtesy of letting him see my face. And giving myself time to breath without smelling the blood on it.
"You don't know me!" He spat out as he paced on the dirt and stared at em.
"Of course I do! How strong is his hold on you?!" I asked raising my voice at him, trying to get through to him.
"Permanent." Murtagh answered. "He knows our true name." He said pointing to himself and the red dragon. "Meet Thorn, my better half."
I nodded to the young dragon. "I am Roran." I spoke in a soft, friendly tone. Thorn repeated the action.
"That doesn't make it permanent." I told Murtagh, trying to educate him on the matter. "True names can change."
He stopped pacing then and raised Zar'roc and pointed it at me. "You're lying."
"True names can change." I said switching over to the ancient language to show him the proof of the statement.
He lowered the sword then. "If that's true…" He muttered to himself and looked back towards Thorn.
He turned back towards me. "I don't want to fight you Roran."
I smiled at him but was interrupted before I could answer.
"It's too late for that." Eragon yelled from behind me.
I held a hand up, silencing him.
"I don't want to fight you either. Your army has lost, retreat and we can delay our fight. And you can look into what I told you." I said giving him a way out.
I can't fight him, I don't want to. I thought as I took in the sight of my friend that I failed in Farthen Dur. He looked so strong, so confident, but so defeated, like he lost the will to fight even though he is more powerful than he has ever been.
Murtagh stared at me and Eragon shuffled behind me at my words.
"You're lucky Galbatorix didn't give me stricter instruction. We'll see each other again soon, brother, cousin." Murtagh said as he hopped up on Thorn's sattle.
I kept my hand outstretched towards Eragon as Murtagh flew off.
A horn sounded from the battlefield and I looked towards it to see that the imperial army had broken rank and were retreating as fast as they could. My own army did not pursue, instead the urgals and Orrin's cavalry chased after them to run them down and thin their ranks even further. I wanted to tell them to stop, but I did not, instead I watched them run down the children of the empire and execute them, aware of the necessary evil.
"Why would you let him go?" Eragon asked with an upset tone of voice. "We could have defeated him together!"
"And then what? He is under oath, enforced by his true name. There is no telling what would happen if he got captured, Galbatorix could act through him inside our army. And I refuse to kill him, it's not an option. No, it's best he leaves." I responded to him passionately.
Eragon huffed at that and let out a scream as he paced around. Saphira was oddly quiet, looking off in the direction that they flew.
"What now?" Eragon asked.
"Now we gather up the wounded, and take care of them. We bury the dead, and then we move." I answered.
"Move?" Eragon questioned.
"Aye, we must press our advantage."
A/N: Another battle! More things that have changed! This marks the end of Eldest!
Hrothgar lives, speeding up the timeline a little, wonder how this will change things! Did we like the battle? What about the performance of the army? The twins? The tactics?
It wasn't as descriptive as I would like but I wanted to tell it from Roran's perspective ya know?
Let's talk in the reviews!