Disclaimer: Don't own Eragon.
I believe I am barely making it through writer's block right now, so please try to enjoy!
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They managed to make it to the clearing, but Saphira's strength was near spent. She shook as her many riders dismounted quickly. Murtagh ran to the horses, readying them for a night of hard riding. Alycie followed him, quickly taking her pants from Cadoc's saddlebags and pulling them on under her skirt, turning away as she removed the dress so she could get the tunic on.
"You've made a lot of mistakes," said Murtagh as Alycie turned, stuffing the dress into the bags. "Your scars signify them."
"Yes, and I still make many mistakes, as you've noticed," she replied. "I don't know why I fought Durza. I knew I couldn't win, but I still ran in to fight him...like an Urgal..."
"Durza?" asked Murtagh.
"That's the Shade's name," said Alycie, shrugging.
"I know it is, but how did you--"
"Murtagh! I need you to hold Saphira down while I get this arrow!" shouted Eragon. Murtagh turned, running over to him. Alycie finished securing the horses' saddles and turned to watch her companions. Saphira had a sapling in her mouth to receive the stress of her pain. "Hold on," said Eragon to Murtagh in warning. He pulled the shaft out in a flash. Saphira whimpered and jerked her wing suddenly, sending Murtagh falling to the ground.
"She caught me by surprise," said Murtagh, rubbing his jaw. He glanced at Alycie, who was doubled over with laughter, and got to his feet, rolling his eyes at her.
"She didn't mean to hit you," said Eragon, moving to Saphira. They started a mental conversation and Murtagh walked back to the horses.
"I'm hilarious am I?" he asked the chuckling Alycie.
"Sorry," she managed to say. "It's just...you flying through the air..." She gave in to a fresh wave of giggles. Murtagh mounted Tornac, shaking his head. Alycie climbed into Cadoc's saddle as well and Saphira took off. Not a minute later, they were galloping through the dark plain, the thin line of distant, torch-bearing trackers spurring them on.
Hours passed. Alycie nearly fell asleep while riding several times, only to awaken as Murtagh noticed her turning off course and calling her name. The sun rose, peeking shyly over the edge of the horizon and flooding the land with a pale light. Finally, they agreed to stop and sleep. Saphira landed ahead and they met her. She had landed next to a stream at the base of a cliff. A good choice for a camp.
Murtagh and Eragon removed the elf from Saphira's saddle, laying her out on the ground. Then, all three companions sat down by the cliff, leaning against it in absolute exhaustion. Alycie soon toppled over, sleep overtaking her mind. She seemed in a sort of half-sleep, however. Fragments of her companions' conversation reached her ears, but they were mottled and made no sense to her. She shot awake as Murtagh swore loudly.
"Wha?" she exclaimed, and then she saw the elf. Eragon had undone the back of her leather shirt, revealing a bloody, bruised, scabbed mess. Whip scars lined across her back in a great multitude, intersecting burns from a hot branding iron. Scrapes and scabs littered her skin, the spaces in between colored blue and purple from bruises.
"Can you heal this?" asked Murtagh.
"I...I don't know. There's so much," said Eragon. He looked at Saphira, and then pulled off his gloves. "This is going to take some time. Can you get me food? Also, boil rags for bandages; I can't heal all her wounds."
"We can't make a fire without being seen. You'll have to use unwashed cloths, and the food will be cold," objected Murtagh.
Eragon sighed, but accepted, placing his hand on the elf's back and saying two words in the ancient language. Alycie watched in amazement as the burn he had held his hand over disappeared, healing as though it had never existed.
"Alycie," said Murtagh, "come and help me." She walked over to him as he removed a loaf of bread wrapped in cloth out of Tornac's pack. "Get that dress you have. We'll need it for bandages." She retrieved it, sitting on the ground and beginning to tear it into strips.
They watched and waited as Eragon worked tirelessly to heal the elf. At one point, Alycie brought him the bread as he healed a particularly nasty cut on the elf's waist. She caught his ears turning red and raised an eyebrow.
"Ridiculous..." she muttered, shaking her head and walking back to where Murtagh sat. Eragon glared after her, though his ears reddened all the more. She sat down next to Murtagh, throwing a handful of leaves in the fire, watching it roar louder before returning to it's gentle crackling.
"I never thanked you for distracting the guards so I could get into the castle," said Murtagh suddenly.
"It was for the greater good," said Alycie. Murtagh crossed his arms, looking at her.
"You didn't do...anything...too far..." he started awkwardly, faltering. Alycie shook her head vigorously. "What happened?"
"I lured him off to kiss him while you snuck by, and I realized I knew him," she said. "He was my brother's best mate when they were children. I hadn't seen him in years." She laughed. "He was very upset when he found it was me he'd been seduced by."
"That...that really was a clever idea...acting as a...concubine..." said Murtagh hesitantly. "It was brave on your part as well. Again, reckless, but sometimes recklessness is a good plan on its own." Alycie regarded him steadily, working out what he was saying.
"Are you trying to thank me in so many words?" she asked. Murtagh smiled, letting his breath out in a chuckle.
"You could say that, yes," he said. Alycie smiled at him, happiness filling her.
"I have another riddle for you," she said. He looked at her expectantly. "Give me food, and I will live; give me water, and I will die. What am I?"
"Fire," he said.
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The next day passed without much incident. Eragon, who had remained awake the entire night healing the elf, seemed constantly on edge, snapping at anyone who spoke to him. They had had to avoid every town in their path, taking mile-wide detours to avoid the soldiers who were tracking them with well-attuned hunting dogs.
They stopped when darkness fell, discussing their predicament over a small dinner. Alycie sat off to the side, watching the elf in silence. Indeed she was stunningly beautiful. Eragon's healing had made her look healthier, yet still she did not wake. It had been days since her rescue. Alycie found herself wondering who this elf was and how she had come into the clutches of the Empire. Her thoughts were interrupted by a call from Eragon. She walked over to the fire where they sat, sitting cross-legged on the ground.
"Have you chosen a direction?" she asked.
"We plan to cross the edge of the Hadarac," said Eragon. Alycie looked confused.
"A desert?"
"It is the safest path to the Varden," said Eragon. "Are you against it?"
"Not as long as it doesn't kill us," said the girl, shaking her head.
"If we reach the other side of the Hadarac safely where will we go?" asked Murtagh slowly. "Those lands are well outside of the Empire. There will be few cities, if any. And then there is the desert itself. What do you know of it?"
"Only that it's hot, dry, and full of sand," said Eragon.
"That about sums it up," said Murtagh. "It's filled with poisonous and inedible plants, venomous snakes, scorpions, and a blistering sun. You saw the great plain on our way to Gil'ead?"
"Yes, and once before," said Eragon.
"Then you are familiar with its immense range. It fills the heart of the Empire. Now imagine something two or three times its size, and you'll understand the vastness of the Hadarac Desert. That is what you're proposing to cross." Alycie's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"Impossible!" she exclaimed. "Just how big is Alagaësia!?"
"Larger than you can comprehend," said Murtagh.
"No wonder the Empire ends at the desert. Everything on the other side is too far away for Galbatorix to control," said Eragon, looking at the map. Murtagh crawled over, pointing at the right side.
"All the land beyond the desert, which is blank on this map, was under one rule when the Riders lived. If the king were to raise up new Riders under his command, it would allow him to expand the Empire to an unprecedented size. But that wasn't the point I was trying to make. The Hadarac Desert is so huge and contains so many dangers; the chances are slim that we can cross it unscathed. It is a desperate path to take."
"We are desperate," said Eragon. "If we rode through the belly of the desert, it would take well over a month, perhaps even two to cross it." Alycie examined the parchment, pointing at the edge of the blank space.
"What about there? Cross that river there below that town and cut through that curve of the desert to the mountains?" she suggested. Murtagh looked at it.
"That would take us as long as the journey to Gil'ead was!" he exclaimed. "That was nearly a month!" Eragon shook his head.
"She has a good idea. Our ride to Gil'ead was slow on account of my injuries. If we press ourselves, it'll take only a fraction of that time to reach the Beor Mountains," he said.
"Enough. You've made your point," said Murtagh. "Before I consent, however, something must be solved. As I'm sure you noticed, I bought supplies for us and the horses while I was in Gil'ead." Alycie looked at him.
"When did you do that?" she asked.
"I stopped while we were searching for the pub and bought some. You were distressed at the time," he said. "But that is not the point. How can we get enough water in the desert? The roving tribes who live in the Hadarac usually disguise their wells and oases so no one can steal their water. And carrying enough for more than a day is impractical. Just think about how much Saphira drinks! She and the horses consume more water at one time than we do in a week. Unless you can make it rain whenever we need, I don't see how we can go in that direction." Alycie's heart sank.
"We'll have to find another route then I suppose," she said.
"No. I have an idea. Let me experiment, then I'll give you an answer," said Eragon suddenly. He turned, walking out of the camp, Saphira in tow.
"What's he planning?" Murtagh asked no one in particular. Alycie's eyes followed the Rider until he disappeared into the foliage.
"Maybe he's found something that will help," she said, shrugging. They sat in silence for a while, tending to the fire or watching the elf. Then Murtagh spoke.
"You say you have a brother?" he asked.
"Yes," said Alycie. She grinned at him. "You actually remind me of him sometimes."
"Do I? How so?"
"You do the same things. You tease me for my rashness and my inability to fight," said Alycie. Murtagh smirked as the mood hanging over the camp lightened. Alycie rolled her eyes at him, standing. "I'm going to check on the elf again," she said.
As she took a step, however, Murtagh stuck out his leg, tripping her. She fell to the ground as he laughed. Indignant, Alycie launched herself back at him. He fell back as she bowled him over, smacking him lightly. He continued to laugh at her weak strikes, easily catching her wrists and rolling over, pinning her to the ground. Alycie stifled a small laugh at the familiarity of the scene as they looked at each other, panting.
Then, all in one motion, Murtagh's smile faded, his eyes closed, and his face lowered, his lips pressing to hers in a kiss. Alarm shocked through Alycie's mind, but a sense of calm belonging extinguished it immediately as her eyelids closed as well. She kissed him back. The world seemed silent, passing along at great speed as the two kissing beings remained locked against each other's lips as if frozen in time.
Then, after what seemed an age, sound broke in upon them as Murtagh pulled away, opening his eyes. Both he and Alycie, who opened her eyes as well, were breathing hard. They looked back at one another.
"I'll bet your brother never did that," said Murtagh. Alycie laughed.
"No..." she said. Her eyes flicked from one of his stormy gray eyes to the other, her smile relaxing. "Don't stop."
Murtagh didn't need telling twice. His eyes closed once again as his face returned to hers, slower this time. The same, blissful feeling spread through Alycie's body, immobilizing her under Murtagh. His arms moved away from her pinned arms, wrapping around her waist, and she rolled onto her side, her hands sliding along his arms to his shoulders in a caress. They remained locked in this position for several minutes.
The sound of snapping twigs caused Alycie's and Murtagh's eyes to shoot open and they pulled away from each other quickly, sitting up as Eragon entered the clearing. Murtagh cleared his throat as Alycie ran a hand over her hair nervously.
"Er...well? Is the desert open to us?" he asked.
"It is," said Eragon, walking to his blankets and dropping, rolling so that only his back was visible to them. Murtagh and Alycie watched him for a moment, and then turned back to one another. Murtagh stood, walking to his bedroll and lying down. Alycie followed him, snuggling up against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. Their lips met once more.
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