Chapter Nineteen

Blood for a Shade

Galbatorix and Skade slept in the open air that night. Nasuada still didn't trust them enough to let them enter her hideout, so Galbatorix rigged up a hammock among some trees and he and Skade slept in each other's arms, watched over by Skirnir.

The following morning, Skade woke up to find Galbatorix already awake. He was sitting on a log with a needle and some thread he'd got from somewhere, meticulously sewing up the tears in his robe.

Skade sat up carefully and yawned. 'How long have you been awake?'

'A few hours. Since a little before dawn. Did you sleep well?'

'Better than you, apparently,' said Skade. She shivered. 'I had bad dreams. I kept dreaming that I was holding your hand, and then you were pulled away from me into a huge pit in the ground.'

Galbatorix smiled at her. 'Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.'

'Do you promise?' said Skade. She looked at him, her golden eyes serious. 'If I lost you again, it would kill me.'

'I won't leave your side again for a moment,' said Galbatorix. 'I promise. But I can't promise I'll stay alive. I can only promise I'll try and be careful.'

'You won't die,' Skade said fiercely. 'Because I won't let you.'

'Don't forget who we're going to fight,' said Galbatorix. 'Not just one Shade, but two. And Vervada as well.'

'They don't frighten me,' said Skade.

Galbatorix grinned. 'They're about to face Galbatorix and Skade fighting side-by-side. I almost feel sorry for them.'

A while later, Nasuada came to join them. Murtagh and Thorn were with her, and so was Carnoc.

For the next few hours, the little group of allies talked. Nasuada gave an account of the doings of Rangda and Durza, which was as grim as it was brief. Galbatorix betrayed little emotion while she spoke, but inside he was horrified. The atrocities which the two Shades had committed were unspeakable. They showed absolutely no concern for the wellbeing of the country; everything they did was done in order to increase their power. They had sucked the life-force out of hundreds of people, and bound the rest with magic to stop them even contemplating resistance. Torture, executions, massacres, the theft of magical artefacts… the list was endless.

Now Durza was in Urû'baen, and Rangda was roaming the country with Vervada, looking for the rebels. The rebels, who were very few in number, had been on the move for the last five years, not daring to stay in one place for too long lest they be discovered.

'I suggest we go after Rangda first,' Nasuada finished. 'Fighting both of them together would be suicide.'

'I agree,' said Galbatorix. 'Our dragons can take Vervada down once I've made an assault on her mind. Once Rangda is on the ground, we can fight her as a group. But it'll be dangerous. I've never fought a Shade directly before, but… well, Durza obeyed me for a reason.'

'I don't doubt your fighting ability,' said Nasuada, a shade sarcastically. 'But you'd better tell us what to expect from her.'

'She'll use magic before she uses her sword,' said Galbatorix. 'I suggest that Murtagh and I try and wear her down.' He looked at Murtagh. 'I hope you remember your lessons, boy.'

'Well enough,' said Murtagh, unsmiling.

Once they'd made their plans, the only thing left to do was try and figure out where Rangda might be.

'That's easy,' said Galbatorix. 'I'll just scry her.'

'I already tried that,' said Murtagh. 'She made herself invisible. The dragon too.'

'No-one hides from me,' said Galbatorix. 'Hand me that bottle of water.'

Nasuada passed it to him, and watched as he poured a small amount of it into the palm of his hand. He held his other hand over it. 'Draumr kópa.'

He watched the vision that resulted, then looked up at the others. 'She's at Tarnag.'

Nasuada started. 'But that's-,'

'Yes. She's coming here. Now.'

Murtagh swore. 'She must have found out where we are.'

'Or maybe she's just coming to look,' said Carnoc.

'Anyway, it's all to the good,' said Galbatorix.

'All to the what?' said Carnoc.

'Well, we want to fight her, don't we?' said Galbatorix. 'And here she'll be completely isolated. There's no-one here to help her.'

Nasuada stood up. 'There's no time to lose. We have to organise ourselves. Carnoc, go and fetch the archers. Murtagh, you and Thorn go to the top of Farthen Dûr and keep watch. The rest of you…'

Galbatorix listened as she gave out her orders. He was impressed, but to his surprise he was also feeling a little jealous. He was used to automatically being in command of other people, and seeing someone else giving the orders made him feel slightly useless.

'Skirnir, Lifrasir and Katana will attack Vervada in the air,' he said, unable to prevent himself from interrupting. 'I'll ride one of them.'

'And I'll go with you,' said Skade.

Galbatorix nodded. 'Murtagh, you be ready on the ground below. Attack Rangda the instant she's within range. I'll join you as soon as I can. The rest of you, keep your distance but attack her with any ranged weapons you've got. Throw rocks if you have to. Anything to keep her distracted. She can't fight a dozen people at once. I'll join up with you, Murtagh, and we'll show her a little sorcery. If we fail… the rest of you make like the Red Dwarves at Orthíad and run for it. Understood?'

Nasuada gave him an irritable look, but said; 'A good plan. Get to it, everyone.'

It took them only an hour or so to get into position. Galbatorix and Skade got onto Lifrasir's back, and she, Skirnir and Katana took to the air, making a wide circle around Farthen Dûr. Skömm, much to his irritation, was told to take the hatchlings and go to the safety of a nearby valley.

Thorn stood at the highest point of the mountain, his golden eyes fixed on the horizon.

He was the first to see Vervada coming. When the distant silver speck appeared over the mountains, the red dragon let out a deep roar. Katana, Lifrasir and Skirnir answered it.

Sitting on Lifrasir's back, his arms around Skade's waist, Galbatorix pushed his hair out of his face and watched the warped dragon and her rider as they entered the valley in front of Farthen Dûr and came steadily closer. He realised that his heart was pounding.

On the ground, Nasuada watched from among her archers. She realised she was holding her breath, and sighed it out again.

Something white flashed across her vision, and she nearly swallowed her own tongue. She whirled around, drawing her dagger instinctively in readiness to fight whatever it was, but it was only a bird.

A large raven, its feathers pure white. Nasuada stared at it. 'Blagden?'

The raven cocked its head, its beady black eyes disconcertingly alert. 'Wyrda!' it screamed at her.

'Blagden!' said Nasuada. 'It is you. What are you doing here? I thought you must be dead.'

The white raven was bedraggled and looked thinner than before. He must have been living on his own since the destruction of Ellesméra. He looked straight at Nasuada and said; 'Wyrda!' again.

Nasuada checked the sky again. Vervada was very close now.

Bobbing agitatedly on his branch, Blagden spoke again. 'Beware!' he croaked. 'Beware, beware the betrayer, beware!'

Nasuada went cold. 'What betrayer?' she glanced up automatically at the sky, where Lifrasir was circling, her two riders just visible on her back. 'Is it him, Blagden?'

'Live forever, remember forever,' Blagden intoned. 'Beware!'

Before Nasuada could ask him any more questions, the white raven took off in a flurry of feathers, flying straight up into the sky like an arrow, and was gone.

On Lifrasir's back, Galbatorix watched Vervada's approach and readied himself for the attack. This was it. As soon as she was close enough…

'Look at that,' said Skade. 'Is that a raven?'

Galbatorix blinked. The white raven drew level with them in the air, and perched on one of Lifrasir's neck spines. It fixed him with its bright eyes, and said; 'Wyrda!'

'A talking raven,' said Skade. 'Huh. Try and catch it, will you? I'm hungry.'

The raven looked at them, then at the oncoming Shade, and began to speak. 'Four will die, four will die, two of his and two of hers. A King chosen, a bond reforged, a promise broken and a true name fulfilled. One with a mismatched blade sees their beloved die at the traitor's hands, when the Rider with no dragon meets his Doom.'

Galbatorix batted the creature away with the back of his hand. Blagden took flight, croaking indignantly. As he hovered by Lifrasir's head, the blue dragon flicked her head toward him and deftly caught him in her jaws. The white raven's bones crunched between her teeth, and she swallowed him and sneezed. 'Feathers taste horrible.'

Galbatorix wasn't listening. Vervada was upon them. 'Hold onto me,' he told Skade, and reached out with his mind.

He found Vervada's consciousness with ease. The warped dragon was already reaching out with her own mind, intending to seize control of his companions.

No time for half-measures. He slid out of his own body and into hers, breaking through her mental barriers after a fierce struggle, and suddenly he was inside her. He looked out through her eyes, felt her body as if it was his own. And, to his shock, he found that he was not the only one in there. There was another presence: Rangda's. The Shade was touching Vervada's mind, not controlling it, but sharing her thoughts with it.

The realisation trickled through his own mind like icy water – They were linked. Rangda had bonded herself to Vervada. She was a rider.

Rangda detected his presence almost instantly. 'Get out!' she screamed, and he could catch the raw fear behind the words. He could hardly believe it. A Shade, frightened.

'I'm sorry, Rangda,' he said as he wrapped his mind around Vervada's, blocking her powers and protecting his friends. 'Would you like to know what it feels like?'

Without waiting for an answer, he gathered his strength and took control of the dragon's body. He let his consciousness merge fully with hers, severing all ties to his own body. Vervada resisted powerfully, but he beat her down remorselessly. Her wings were his now, and he beat them powerfully, driving her straight toward Lifrasir's waiting talons. The three dragons closed in on Vervada, teeth bared, and began to rip her to shreds.

And now he paid the price for what he'd done. His mental voice joined with Rangda's and Vervada's, as he felt their pain. He could feel Vervada dying – and he was dying too.

He looked out desperately through the silver dragon's reddened eyes, and saw Skade. She was holding onto his own body, which had gone limp.

The words tore from Vervada's throat. 'HURT ME!' They were loud and harsh, maddened and fading. Galbatorix fought against his own terror, and spoke again. 'Skade! For the love of gods, hurt me! NOW!'

Skade heard it. She held onto Galbatorix's body, paralysed with fear, speaking his name and trying to wake him up. He didn't respond.

In seconds it was over. Lifrasir, Skirnir and Katana tore Vervada's wings to pieces, and the silver dragon tumbled from the sky, head-downward, her throat ripped open and gushing blood, unable to speak another word.

Skade patted Galbatorix's cold face. 'Galbatorix, wake up! Can you hear me?'

There was no response. But when Vervada's body hit the ground far below, he shuddered all over before going limp again. In desperation, Skade slapped him.

Galbatorix's eyes flicked open. He gasped in a breath, and grabbed hold of Lifrasir's neck, hanging on for dear life.

Relief flooded through Skade. 'Oh, thank the sea and the sky! What happened to you?'

Galbatorix's breathing was fast and shallow, as if he had just run a mile. 'Thank gods,' he gasped. 'I thought I was lost.' He pulled himself upright with an effort, and quickly touched his face as if to reassure himself that it was still there.

'Are you all right?' said Skade.

'Fine,' said Galbatorix. He looked down over Lifrasir's shoulder, and saw Vervada lying on the ground below in a crumbled heap. Murtagh and Thorn were already rushing to attack. 'Lifrasir, take us down!' he yelled. 'Now!'

Lifrasir didn't need any more prompting. She dived.

On the ground, Rangda pulled herself free of Vervada's broken, bloodstained form. The silver dragon was dead, and now… now Rangda knew what it was like.

The Shade looked around dazedly, her eyes blank and dead. She could feel a horrible, deep ache in her chest where Vervada had been, and it was a terrifying and bewildering thing for her. She had never really felt pain before. Not like this. Where had her certainty gone? Before she'd always known what to do, never been at a loss, never been confused. But now that Vervada was dead, she felt… lost.

Rangda was given no time to try and come to terms with these new feelings. She had barely extricated herself from Vervada's body before she was attacked.

Seemingly from out of nowhere, a hail of arrows hissed toward her, embedding themselves in her arms and chest. She let out a scream of anger and tore them out, flinging them carelessly onto the ground. Those didn't hurt.

Rangda drew her sword. The blade of Eragon the first rider shone a rich golden-yellow in the sunlight, and she held it ready to attack her still-unseen enemies.

More arrows came for her. She deflected them with a shielding spell, silver light forming a halo around her fingers. And then she saw the man running toward her. He was followed by a red dragon, and in his hand was a sword. A red-bladed sword, set with a ruby the size of an egg. A sword she knew all too well.

'Zar'roc,' Rangda hissed, and attacked.

Murtagh was ready for her. He managed to block her first attack with a fast counter-spell, but almost instantly she followed it up with another attack, and another, and another thick and fast.

Murtagh felt leaden shock settle into his stomach as he summoned up shield after shield to defend himself. He had never imagined that the Shade would be this fast. It was like trying to fight an oncoming storm. She barely paused between each spell. It was all he could do to simply stand his ground; actually counter-attacking was impossible. He had no wish to be hit by one of her magical weapons; each one was so powerful that it instantly shattered every shield he put up against it. Any minute now and she was going to hit him directly, and when that happened he would probably die.

Murtagh started to panic. Where was Galbatorix?

As he fought on with increasing desperation, a horrible thought occurred to him. What if Galbatorix wasn't coming? What if it had all been a trick? What if he was going to just let Rangda kill him?

Then Lifrasir landed, and the ground shook. Galbatorix and Skade slid down from her back and ran to join the fray, and moments later Murtagh found himself fighting side-by-side with his former master and his Queen.

Rangda let out a screech of maddened fury when she saw Galbatorix. 'YOU!' she bellowed, pushing forward to attack him with all her might. He blocked her with impressive speed, and counter-attacked in the blink of an eye.

Now things were even. Rangda was fast, but not fast enough to effectively attack three opponents at once. Murtagh, Galbatorix and Skade sent a relentless barrage of magic at her, scarcely pausing to take breath, and now it was Rangda who was struggling to hold her own.

Still, the two humans and the elf were not strong enough to defeat the Shade. Now it was only a question of endurance. Who would run out of magic first – Rangda, or them?

Of the three, Galbatorix was the most skilled. He fought as quietly with magic as he did with a sword, his hands outlined in black energy, sometimes casting spells using words Murtagh had never heard before – words with a strange mellifluous sound that did not belong to the ancient language.

Skade was wild and savage, roaring the words of each spell as if they were a battle-cry, her silver hair flying and her eyes aglow. She was nowhere near as skilled as Murtagh, but she was quick and strong, and relentless.

The struggle dragged on endlessly, with neither side showing any decisive signs of winning.

After what felt like days, Murtagh's vision went grey and the red light around his hands died. He gave a little sigh and collapsed, Zar'roc falling out of his grasp. Thorn darted forward and dragged him to safety, leaving Galbatorix and Skade to fight alone. But they too were starting to weaken.

Galbatorix's heart sank when he saw Murtagh fall. Any minute now he too was going to be too drained to continue, and if that happened, he and Skade would both die. He gritted his teeth and fought on as hard as he could, not letting up for an instant.

And then, at long last, it happened. The light around Rangda's hands dimmed and then faded away. Her magic had failed her.

Almost instantly, she was struck by a barrage of spells from both Galbatorix and Skade. The Shade went down, enveloped in flames, and a ragged cheer came from Nasuada's watching followers.

Galbatorix and Skade ceased their attack and rested, both pale and exhausted. Skade was quick to begin summoning another spell, but Galbatorix said; 'Don't. You won't kill her that way.'

Rangda got to her feet, slowly and painfully. She was a horrible sight. Her hair and clothes were blackened and singed, and her front was a mass of painful-looking burns, raw red and weeping thin blood. But she showed no sign of feeling it, and her eyes were burning with hatred. She was still holding the golden sword in one hand, and without warning, she rushed at them, screaming a word. 'Vervada!'

Galbatorix's grip tightened on the hilt of White Violence. He lifted it in readiness, and he and Rangda met with a deafening clash of steel.

This was true sword-fighting. The human and the Shade circled each other, their swords moving in a blur of white and gold. Every thrust, every parry, everything was elegant, fast and fluid. This was a fight to the death disguised as a dance.

Galbatorix felt his confidence soaring as he deftly deflected Rangda's sword. Now he was certain of winning. No-one had ever bested him in swordplay, and no-one ever would.

He darted around Rangda, intent on attacking her from the left before she could turn to face him properly.

Too late, he remembered.

Pain shot through his lame leg. The knee buckled, and he fell sideways.

Skade saw him fall. Without a second thought, she snatched Murtagh's sword from the ground and charged forward.

Rangda saw her coming. Like a cat, unable to ignore sudden movement, she forgot about Galbatorix and turned to meet the elf, raising her own sword in readiness to attack her.

Skade didn't think. She didn't recall any of the proper moves which Galbatorix had taught her. She simply hurled herself at her enemy, roaring her hatred, and drove Zar'roc straight through Rangda's heart.

In the same instant that the blow was struck, she looked into her enemy's eyes. And then a rush of blinding energy blotted out the world, utterly destroying Rangda's body and then blasting into Skade's mind. A blur of confused images passed before the elf's eyes; words, names, ideas, places and people. Beware thy powers, Alsha, do not toy with spirits, they are not for games, my child. Words that should have been heeded. There was a scream and a roaring darkness, and a girl who howled and clawed at her face as her long hair bleached to white and a new voice entered the world, cold and silvery. I am Rangda.

Pain overcame Skade's senses, and she saw no more. She never felt herself hit the ground. The last thing she heard was Galbatorix's voice cry out her name, and then it was all over.

The silver elf crumpled before Galbatorix's eyes, the sword dropping from her fingers. He ran to her, screaming her name, lifting her into his arms. Her skin was cold. He felt desperately for a heartbeat.

There wasn't one.