Disclaimer: Don't own Eragon
This chapter is shorter than usual. And, I'm having trouble keeping the characters constant to their personalities and range of abilities, so bear with me. Please.
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The news of Garrick's dark deed spread through Dras-Leona faster than Alycie had predicted. When she reached the large wall of yellow stone that surrounded the inner city, she saw that the gate had already been sealed shut, with no less than two guards standing watch.
She stood behind a building, watching them for a long time. They seemed drowsy, their heads bobbing forward to rest on their chestplates of armor every few seconds, only to be jerked back up vigilantly to resume the duty. The gates were wooden, tall and smooth with a solid wooden beam set into two hooks that held them in place. It was definately beyond Alycie's power to lift it alone.
More minutes passed as she studied every aspect of the surroundings, noting a small barrel that lay abandoned by the wall. Slowly and silently, Alycie slipped off her shoes, moving behind the men and slinking across the cobblestone street to the opposite alley where the barrel lay. Neither guard noticed her.
The girl moved the barrel next to the first hook that held the beam in place and pulled herself up onto it, clambering from the lid to the beam itself. As she was pulling her second foot onto the beam, however, it kicked out in a moment of imbalance, loudly toppling the barrel. The guards turned sharply, staring at her.
"HEY YOU!" shouted one, brandishing his spear. "You're not supposed to be up there!" Alycie quickly adopted an innocent look.
"Please, I was visiting my...dear...dear friend Mayle, a fairly wealthy man here in the central city, and I lost track of the time. You know how it is when one is...occupied. And, well, I need to get back to my home, but you see it's past this wall, here. My cat needs feeding as well. Could you two, fine, strong gentlemen help me get back home?" she asked.
"There's an escaped killer on the loose, Miss," said the other guard, lowering his spear an inch, "and we'd hate to see him escape because of lax security. But we may be...persuaded...to help." He smirked, his companion's expression matching his. Alycie nearly gave herself away at the prospect, but an idea occurred to her.
"I wouldn't sleep with you if it was a choice between you and an urgal!" she shouted down at the guard.
"What!?" he exclaimed in anger.
"If somebody said to me that you weren't fit to sleep with the pigs, I'd stick up for the pigs!" continued Alycie. She was beginning to enjoy herself.
"You shouldn't talk that way to us, Miss, unless you want to die," threatened the other guard, brandishing his spear.
"Keep talking. You might say something intelligent someday."
"Do you want to see these hands around your throat, girl?" threatened the other one in fury.
"I've seen better hands on a leper!"
"You dirty little bitch!" shouted the guard. "I'll beat you so bad your own mother won't recognize you!"
"I've seen rotting corpses less offensive than you!" retorted Alycie. The guard, in a fit of fury, threw his spear at her with his full force.
This was what Alycie had been waiting for. She leapt back at the last second, watching as the head of the spear buried itself deep into the wood not even a foot in front of her. She quickly climbed onto it, standing precariously and pulling herself quickly up onto the top of the gate.
Flushed with her triumph, she swung her legs over to the other side, shot one smug look over her shoulder, saluting the soldiers mockingly. Then, she swung herself down so she hung parallel to the other side of the gate in time to avoid a second spear. Alycie cursed under her breath as she looked down, finding no footholds in the smooth wood of the gate. She looked back over her shoulder at the ground. It was far, but what choice did she have. Taking a deep breath, Alycie summoned a last prayer, and dropped.
She landed on the side of her leg, scraping her hands as she braced her upper body from flying into the cobblestones. Pain enveloped her side and wrists and she sat up, moaning. Nothing seemed to be broken, but her left knee and ankle burned with pain as she tested her weight.
Gritting her teeth, Alycie stood on her right leg and quicky limped off down a side alley. The two guards on the inside wouldn't dare leave their posts to follow her or fetch reinforcements merely for vengeance. She'd done nothing against the law, and therefore would receive no punishment. Still, it was a wise decision to stay off of the main road.
A sleeping beggar caught Alycie's eye and she hobbled over to him. A smooth, thick wooden stick lay by his side, stolen from an abandoned butter churn no doubt. This Alycie took, leaning on it as a makeshift crutch. Remembering a small habit all men on the outskirts had, Alycie reached into the sleeping man's boot and felt around. A moment later she withdrew her hand, clutching a small, sharp dagger, which she slipped into the pocket of her skirts. She leaned heavily on the stick, and continuing along the alley until she reached another wide road, which she followed.
Minutes passed, then hours. One agonizing step after another. Steadily, the buildings surrounding the street turned from mansions to common peasantry abodes, a shady black market, and, finally, shack. The street along the outskirts was not made up of cobblestones, but mud that sucked at Alycie's shoes, eventually wrenching them from her feet all together. She didn't stop. It was a small obstacle she could endure.
The last house came within sight. A poor, abandoned, rotting thing it was, yet Alycie had never been happier to see anything else in her entire life. She looked at it as she hobbled along, laughing with relief.
Her steps quickened until she passed it, closing her eyes with a sigh at the way her heart fluttered at the accomplishment. Her eyes opened after a few deep breaths of the fresh plains air. The road turned dryer a few meters down, stretching off into the distant plains of Alagaësia where the sun's golden body peaked out from the horizon. Fatigue ached Alycie's every nerve, but she pressed on, her mind still completely devoted to the task of leaving Dras-Leona far behind. Step by step, she began to make her long, painful journey out into the world.
Alycie had never seen a map of Alagaësia. Neither had she ever dared venture out of the city before. But really, Dras-Leona was huge. Compared to that, how big could the world be?
The sun continued to make its passage through the sky, creeping up quickly at first, then at an agonizingly slow pace. After what seemed like hours, Alycie glanced back over her shoulder to find that both Leona Lake and the city were too far to be seen. Then a question popped into her tiring mind.
Where was she to find Garrick?
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