Hello there! The wait was long, I know, but… well, you'll see :D.

Review Replies:

RunWithScissors: Yes I do. Rain… did you not have an indoor arena? And I am very sorry this is so late XD I think I missed my personal deadline… UGH STUPID CHAPTER. I don't think it helps that my other story is being such an inspirational pain, either!

Jess: No you are not! XD Tornac's my favorite horse from the Cycle.

After eating, they headed toward what had three days previously been a battlefield. Now it was simply a carnage-strewn, blood-soaked open space filled with still bodies that were being carted off and broken, bloodstained weapons littered the ground. On the far side of Farthen Dûr, a huge, greasy pyre burned the bodies of fallen Urgals—no honored burial for them.

As Eragon walked off a little ways to closer observe something he'd noticed on the ground, Tania saw, close to one of the tunnel entrances she and Eragon had helped create, men and dwarves assembling, getting ready for a patrol into the tunnels. Murtagh was gazing in that direction too.

"I should probably go with them," he said, taking a step forward, but Tania stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"You should stay with Eragon," she said. "He's your brother, and has been wanting to talk to you now that we're not running from Galbatorix or fighting a battle. Aside from that, he gets bored easily. I'm not sure if he'll try to help again and… well, you saw today." Tania gave him a wry smile. "Besides, I think you proving your loyalty to the Varden can wait a day at least. They're hardly going to kill you for taking a break."

Murtagh hesitated, glancing between Eragon and the party at the tunnels. Finally, he sighed and gave in. "Alright. But just this one day," he said. Tania grinned.

"In that case," she said, loud enough for Eragon to turn at the sound of her voice, "what're we going to be doing with our day? I certainly don't want to sit around doing nothing."

After talking a while, they decided to go back to doing what they could to help the Varden clean up. Tania suggested they ask Jörmundur, Ajihad's battle commander, what they could help with.

The man had quirked an eyebrow at their request, but said, "You three have done more than most of us. You all deserve a break; you especially, Argetlam. Go on to the library, its use had dwindled in the past few days." With a friendly nod, Jörmundur walked away to view the proceedings of another group of soldiers clearing the battlefield.

Murtagh chuckled. "To the library, then?"

Tania shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Eragon smiled. "I doubt either of you know where it is, so I suppose you'll have to follow me." He led them through Tronjheim's passageways, soon reaching the carved archway of the library. Tania was startled to be reminded of a forest; the rows of graceful colonnades and dark, ribbed ceiling hanging four stories above were like trees and arching branches. Between the pillars, black-marble bookcases stood back to back. Racks of scrolls covered the walls, interspersed with narrow walkways reached by three twisting staircases. Placed at regular intervals were pairs of facing stone benches, each on either side of small tables whose bases flowed seamlessly to the floor.

Tania gazed around herself, suddenly wishing for pine needles under her feet and a sweet, icy mountain wind curling around her. After all that had happened, she was homesick, wishing for the northern forests she wasn't sure she would ever return to.

"Are you alright?" asked Murtagh.

Tania started. "Oh… yes. Yes, I'm fine," she mumbled. "We've been underground too long, though."

Murtagh nodded in understanding. "You miss the trees."

Smiling, Tania nodded. "That, and I've missed traveling. S'funny… I used to hate not being able to stay in one place, but now that I've spent my whole life doing it, and have finally stopped, I miss it."

Suddenly Murtagh frowned. "If you've been traveling your whole life, you never learned how to read, did you? Unless Brom taught you…"

Eragon overheard and shook his head. "He didn't. He taught me, because we needed to track down the Ra'zac in Teirm via trade papers, but Tania stayed with Saphira and had no real necessity for the skill."

Tania laughed as Murtagh shook his head and muttered something under his breath. "Well, then," he said, "we'll just have to teach you, won't we?"

After several hours, Murtagh and Eragon had managed to teach Tania the basics of reading—though, really, it was mostly Murtagh teaching, while Eragon would 'accidentally' get absorbed in a book or scroll repeatedly—and she was steadily working her way through a scroll written by a dwarvish scholar. Seeing her immersion within the story, Murtagh wandered around the library, browsing with great interest through the stories, poems and biographies that lined the shelves.

While he had been in the Varden's version of a cell, the guards had brought him whatever he'd wanted to read from the library. He noticed a few of those titles as he browsed through the shelves on the first floor. Finding nothing of interest there, he ascended to the second level, soon finding a thick, leather-bound book, the title embossed in gold leaf, although it was so faded as to be illegible. It also had a rough picture of a dragon in gold filigree, crouching and snarling, wings spread.

Interested, he opened it. The title was written far more clearly on the inside, reading The History of Dragons—Their Monarchy, Their Culture, Their Legends, as writ by Grimstborith Knavk of Dûrgrimst Ingeitum.

"Eragon?"

"Hmm?" His brother's head appeared from behind a nearby bookshelf. Murtagh lifted the book. "It's about dragons."

A curious look crossed Eragon's face as he stepped out from behind the bookshelf. "How old do you think it is?"

"Very old. The title's illegible on the cover, but it's written again on the inside."

"Before the Fall?"

Murtagh shrugged. "Most likely," he answered. "It's very thick, too. If you're moving on to Ellesméra soon, I doubt you'd finish before you set off."

Eragon frowned. "Stop talking like you're not coming with us. You may be Morzan's son, but you're also my brother, and that's what counts. At any rate, I agree, I know I wouldn't finish that before we left, but I can ask Orik if I could take it with me."

Murtagh snorted. "What makes you assume Ajihad will let me leave Tronjheim, even if I'm with you? What makes you think Tania won't decide to leave us? She's already said that she has no inclination to bind herself to the Varden or anyone else."

"Arya's convinced Tania to come for various reasons, even if she's made no promises to swear total loyalty to any group, and she seems pretty determined to convince Ajihad to let you join us. She already persuaded Arya to allow you to come if Ajihad gives his approval."

Murtagh blinked. "I– she has?"

Eragon nodded. "I'm sure if she wanted, she could talk Galbatorix into calling off the war. She can be very convincing. Besides that, she made many good points—one of which was that if you decided to betray us, it would either be in the middle of our journey, where Saphira and I could easily track you down, or in Ellesméra, where the elves would find you within an hour. Besides, Arya has said that as my brother, you'd be welcomed far more warmly than here."

"…really?"

…I can't write anymore today. I'm sorry.

But please review :)

FF