Theme: Faint by Linkin Park… It fits nicely for the battle sequence.
Chapter Fifteen: Tracked & Ambushed
Now that Oromis was dead and Islanzadí's birthday celebrations were finished, there was nothing keeping Eragon and his companions in Ellesméra and he couldn't ignore his duty to the Varden any longer. With fresh supplies including food and materials for lightweight tents and Islanzadí's blessing, Eragon, Arya, Saphira, Roran, Katrina, Garrow, Murtagh, Circe and Thorn departed from Ellesméra at day two days after Islanzadí's birthday. The elves should have already arrived in Aberon with those from Galbatorix's army that Circe deemed trustworthy, as it had been over a month since the Battle of Isenstar Lake.
Garrow was now big enough to hold both Roran and Katrina on his back and this eliminated the need for extra mounts; Eragon and Arya rode Saphira and Murtagh and Circe were on Thorn. With the exception of Katrina and Circe, everyone was armed with a sword of some sort, a bow and a quiver of arrows, though Roran really wanted his hammer back. Katrina had a small bow, and Circe was armed only with her magic. They all wore travel clothes and dark elven cloaks designed to help shield them from view of the Empire's agents.
By dusk on the first day, they cleared the lush trees of Du Weldenvarden and decided to continue south through the Hadarac Desert in hopes of avoiding Urû'baen and other Imperial cities. At dusk on the second and third day, they were in the heart of the desert.
After diner on the third night, the six of them returned to their tents weary from three straight days of travel astride dragons. The dragons themselves had gone off hunting and hadn't returned yet.
Eragon awoke with a start that night. There was a sinking feeling in his heart. Groggily, he reached out to Saphira through their mind link. She still hadn't returned to camp yet. Come back, he told her urgently. Something bad's going to happen.
I'm on my way, was Saphira's serious reply.
He rose from his bedroll to see that Arya was still sleeping silently on the other side of the tent. He pulled on his tunic and attached his blue sword that he'd named Wyrda, meaning fate, to his belt before going over to wake her up. "Arya!" he said in an urgent whisper. "Arya, wake up!"
In an instant, the elf was up with a previously concealed knife at the Rider's throat. She sighed when she realized it was just Eragon and lowered the knife. "What is it? Why do you wake me in the middle of the night?"
"Something bad's going to happen," he whispered. "Come. Get up."
Arya nodded and pulled her cloak over herself, concealing her knife and taking her bow and sword. Eragon crept over to the tent's opening and a shrill shriek rang throughout the night, sending an all too familiar shiver down the Rider's spine. "Ra'zac," he whispered in horror as he drew Wyrda and stepped outside into the cold night air.
There was a sword pressed to his throat.
The Shadeslayer gasped and looked around the camp. During the night, it had been infiltrated by the King's Men. At least fifty men in Galbatorix's red crested tunic were poised at the entrances to each of the three tents, waiting for someone to leave. In the middle of the camp, now approaching Eragon, were the two Ra'zac themselves. He watched the scene in grim realization that their little plan had failed to trick Galbatorix. He had seen through Circe's magical veneers of their deaths. Either that or Circe had betrayed them.
The Rider took a deep breath and stretched out through his mind link to Murtagh and Roran, each in their own tents. We've been found by the Empire, he said grimly. Our camp has been infiltrated by Galbatorix's been and the Ra'zac. Get up and ready, but be silent. Wait for my signal. The two sent back messages of agreement; though they didn't seem at ease with the idea of simply waiting for Eragon's orders.
Eragon nodded and stared at the Ra'zac, trying not to give away his panic.
"We knew we would find you. You can not essscape usss," one of them hissed from beneath its hood.
Eragon forced a grin. "It's nice to see you again too," he said sarcastically, tightening his grip on Wyrda and preparing to attack the man holding a sword at his throat. Where was Saphira?
"Human ssscum!" the second Ra'zac spat at him.
Suddenly, soldier that held him with his sword let out a cry of agony and fell over, dead with a knife in his back. Eragon couldn't help smiling again. Arya was there for him. She emerged from the tent with her sword drawn and it was time.
Now! Eragon shouted to Roran and Murtagh. There were screams from the guards by the other tents as the other soldiers attacked Eragon and Arya who had moved so they could fight back to back. Soldier after soldier fell to their deadly teamwork and Wyrda's sapphire blade.
Murtagh emerged from his tent with Zar'roc in his hand. One of the King's Men ran at him, but Zar'roc swung up and made contact with the soldier's throat, cleaning severing his neck. As the man's head fell to the ground and rolled away, his body collapsed and Murtagh took his sword, running at another assailant with Zar'roc in his right hand and the stolen sword in his left. Circe was out of the tent right behind him, shielded by a magical ward on herself, she bore no physical weapon, but countless men fell at the hand of her magic.
Roran was out of his tent with a loud battle cry, wishing for the millionth time that he had his hammer in his hands again. Otho, the green sword that he named after the dwarvish word for faith, was in his hands now, and he would make the best of it. He used it like his hammer, slicing open a man's skull with the same movement he used to smash one and severing limbs using the same motion that he'd used to break bones. Soon, Otho's green blade was barely visible under the blood of his enemies. Katrina was his unseen archer, hidden in the tent and shooting down anyone who tried to come at him from behind.
With their combined strength, it wasn't long at all before it was just the three Riders, the elf, the Kylrian, the human and the two Ra'zac left in the clearing. Eragon and Arya turned to face each other and the Ra'zac. Murtagh, Roran and Circe stepped over the dead soldiers' bodies to stand next to Eragon and Arya. Even Katrina came out of the tent and took her place next to Roran.
"You have lost," Murtagh growled. "Go back to Galbatorix now and perhaps we'll let you live."
The Ra'zac merely laughed and drew their swords.
"We aren't giving up that easssily," one of them growled back at Murtagh. "You ssshould have ssstayed with your massster."
The other one glared at Roran. "And you ssshould have come with usss without a fight. Then we wouldn't be in thisss horrible messssss."
Roran spat at them and raised Otho. "Your king should know by now that we will never join him."
The two evildoers laughed again. With inhumane speed, one of them snatched Katrina away from Roran yet again. She screamed and Roran ran after them.
"Perhapsss ssshe can convince you to change your mind when ssshe'sss dying in Drasss-Leona," the monster shouted back at Roran who was in hot pursuit.
The other one cackled, "We ssshould have killed her when we had the chance."
The surviving lethrblaka descended by the sky and the one of the Ra'zac dragged Katrina on with him. The other turned around to face Roran with his sword.
Suddenly, there was a thunderous roar from the sky and three large shapes were visible on the horizon: Saphira, Thorn and Garrow. The three dragons had finally returned. Garrow landed right next to Roran and his Rider quickly knocked his Ra'zac opponent to the ground and mounted the dragon, which took off in pursuit of Katrina and the lethrblaka. Saphira, Eragon, Thorn and Murtagh were right behind him.
The Ra'zac on the ground had recovered from Roran's blow and was quickly advancing on Arya and Circe, left alone on the ground when the dragons took to the sky with their Riders. The two women glanced at each other and nodded in understanding. Together, with Arya's skilled swordsmanship and Circe's powerful magical ability, they could vanquish this foe.
The foul Imperial agent ran at the two of them, sword high in attack position. Arya blocked and swung her own sword around towards its neck while Circe concentrated her energy on magical wards around herself and Arya. Once they were untouchable, she prepared to attack the sinister beast. The monster growled, barely blocking Arya's sword. Its eyes fell on Circe, seemingly unprotected. The Ra'zac threw its blade toward the witch, only to see it explode into flames as it made contact with her magical ward. Circe smiled and knocked the desecrator to the ground with her magic. Arya took the honor of finishing off the horrible monster with her sword.
Meanwhile in the sky high above them, Roran, Eragon and Murtagh rode atop their dragons chasing after the remaining Ra'zac and lethrblaka who had once again stolen Katrina from Roran. It was difficult. Even though they were close enough, they couldn't breathe fire at the monsters or Katrina would be burned as well. Roran was uneasy about arrows too. One gust of the wind and it would miss its target, perhaps impaling Katrina as well.
Eragon and Murtagh quickly grew tired of this stalemate chase. They had to do something, attack in someway. "Roran!" Eragon shouted. "We have to do something! We have to shoot down that Ra'zac to save Katrina."
"No!" Roran yelled back. "It's too risky."
"Didn't you just give Arya a speech about taking risks?" Murtagh growled impatiently. "You're a bloody hypocrite!"
Roran glared at him. "Fine!" he gave in. "Let me take care of it, then. You two go back to Arya and Circe. I left a Ra'zac down there with them."
"They'll be fine!" Eragon shouted. "Let us help you!"
Roran nodded. "Each of you come in real close on either side of that monster," he instructed. "I'll dive down from above and Garrow can grab Katrina."
Eragon and Murtagh nodded and steered Saphira and Thorn around to either side of the Ra'zac and lethrblaka. The Ra'zac snarled and drew its sword, swinging it over at Eragon and Saphira. Saphira growled and bit it right out of his hand, throwing it down to the ground below. Murtagh took advantage of the Ra'zac's distraction and plunged Zar'roc into his back. The monster yelped and fell off his mount's back.
Roran came in overtop of the lethrblaka right after that and Garrow grabbed a screaming Katrina in his claws. Roran expressed his thanks to Eragon and Murtagh and flew back to the camp with his fiancée.
"Let's finish this monster!" Murtagh shouted to Eragon, still next to the lethrblaka. "Move out of the way so we can toast this thing and get on with our journey!" Eragon nodded and Saphira descended, eventually touching back down at the camp.
Torch that thing and put it out of its misery, Murtagh told Thorn.
My pleasure, Thorn replied, raising his hand and letting a long jet of flame engulf the howls and shrieks of his victim.
Pleased with their work, Rider and dragon followed their companions back down to their camp, now covered with blood and bodies left over from the earlier battle. When Thorn landed, the breaking of dead bones could be heard as he crushed the skulls of dead soldiers with his feet. Murtagh dismounted and ran over to the rest of the group.
The weary companions retreated to Eragon's tent with wary eyes on Circe. Eragon wasn't sure what had happened, how Galbatorix had discovered them. "Are you sure that you actually sent Galbatorix false images of Roran and Murtagh's deaths at Isenstar Lake?" he asked the Kylrian witch suspiciously. "It doesn't look like the King believes us to be death."
"Yes!" Circe tried to explain. "He must have seen through them. I told you many, many times that he was much more powerful than me. I told you that there was a chance, however small, that he would not believe what he saw."
"Are you sure you didn't betray us?" Eragon asked with narrowed, accusing eyes. He had never been too sure of Circe. He was never sure that they could trust her, that she wouldn't turn on them. Especially when she hadn't agreed to help them right away.
"That's outrageous!" Murtagh shouted indignantly.
"Is it really?" Eragon asked his brother. "Is it really so absurd to think that someone who lived under Galbatorix's control for her whole life wouldn't be loyal to him? Wouldn't betray us to him?"
"You trust me, don't you?" Murtagh challenged, daring Eragon to say no.
"That's different," Eragon told him.
"Is it really, Eragon? Me and Circe and really very much alike if you think about it," Murtagh pointed out. "You trust me. Why can't you trust her?" Eragon lowered his gaze.
"I agree with Murtagh," said Arya. "Circe helped me to kill a Ra'zac earlier. I do not think that she intentionally allowed Galbatorix to know the truth. He is the most powerful man in all of Alagaësia. It is most difficult to fool him."
Eragon sighed and relented, forced to accept that Circe was not a traitor. "Go back to your beds," he ordered. "It is still nighttime. Get your rest for we ride again tomorrow."