This one is a little tragic, but it picks up in the end. Read and find out how!
Chapter 21: Death and Remorse
Eragon quickly stepped back deeper into the cave and morphed into his dragon form. Saphira reached down into their nest and pulled Draken's egg tighter to her chest with one hand, and her weapon with the other. She took Eragon's blade and concealed it in her tunic.
Get on, Eragon commanded. She could hear the screams and growls of the men down below.
Where are we going to go? Saphira asked him, placing one of his tunics over his back to serve as a more comfortable saddle. Eragon growled and stepped up to the edge of the cave. He lowered his head to look down at the approaching threat and roared violently, shaking the cliff walls and tossing some of them off to their death. Despite his efforts, the group continued up towards them. He felt Saphira climb up his shoulder and take a seat on his back.
Suck in as much air as you possibly can, Saphira advised. When you cannot hold it in anymore, face downward and exhale! Eragon turned his head to look at her quizzically.
You will breathe fire! Saphira explained further. Eragon bobbed his head and did as she described. He took a very deep breath and looked down the cliff. As he exhaled, flames leapt from his mouth and flew down the side of the cliff, torching all that were in its way. As the torched bodies fell down into the forest below, more proceeded to climb up to them.
They are more presistant that you are love! Eragon whined. Does two on one hundred sound like good odds?
I never thought that these words would come from my mouth, Saphira sighed, but we need to retreat from this one. If we fall, our son would land in the wrong hands. Eragon roared again and leapt down from the cliff, scraping his claws on the rocky surface to toss some that were still hanging on. Before they hit the ground, Eragon opened up his black wings and flapped majestically upwards into the sky. The men at the cliffs began loosing arrows at him, but the two were out of range.
I will have Stave's head for this! Eragon roared. How is our son? Saphira loosened her grip on Draken's egg and pulled it out to inspect it.
He is well, Saphira explained happily. She looked around the forest and found a small clearing surrounded by trees. Touch down there! The trees will conceal us. Eragon nodded his head and swooped in for the landing. When they touched down, Saphira jumped off of him and pulled the tunic off of his back to set it in front of him.
We must be on guard love, Saphira told him. We do not know what to expect. Eragon hummed and stood on his haunches to transform into human form.
"I will take my sword now, dear," Eragon said, throwing his arms into the sleeves of his tunic. Saphira smiled and pulled his blade out from underneath her dress.
"I kept it warm for you," she replied kindly, tossing it over to him. "Now what shall we do?"
"We conceal ourselves and move through the forest!" Eragon exclaimed. Suddenly, his face turned pale. "No. We fly to Surda!"
"Leaving so soon?" A demonic voice asked behind the two lovers. Eragon turned and locked eyes with Stave. "Why leave without saying goodbye to you 'friend?" Eragon grit his teeth and tightened the grip on his sword.
"You are nothing more than a rotten betrayer!" Eragon yelled. "All we wished for was peace, but you have made us run…again!"
"You had your chance to avoid this," Stave said plainly. "If you would have smitten me when you had the chance, non of this would have happened. Now, give me the egg of your dragon and I will let the two of you live."
"If I refuse?" Eragon asked.
"I will kill you two and take the dragon for myself."
"You kill either one of us," Eragon yelled, "then the dragon race would be no more. We may be the same species but Saphira is still my dragon and I am her rider. If you kill me, she dies."
"You fool!" Stave screamed. "Do you honestly believe that I care about that? With me owning the only dragon, I will be unstoppable!"
"I will make you eat those words, Traitor!" Eragon roared. He turned to Saphira. "Quickly, run to the forest!"
"Brisingr!" Stave yelled. Eragon watched in horror as the edges of the clearing erupted into a wall of flame. "You are not leaving until I have what I want!" Eragon took to his battle stance.
"Then we will be here for a very long time!" Eragon mocked. "I will never hand over my own son."
I am proud of you, Saphira clicked in his head. We will fight together. Eragon turned to see Saphira set Draken's egg down on the grass and step beside him.
"Two on one is not a fair fight," Stave argued.
"Neither is two against one hundred," Saphira pointed out. She placed both hands to her wicked staff and twirled it. "We will both give our lives for our child."
"What a pity," Stave yelled. "Then let us get on with it." He reached inside of his cloak and pulled out a shinny metal saber. "I thought that you would have been wiser, Argetlam. Riders of Old still are far more powerful than…?"
"Thrysta!" Eragon roared. Stave watched as a sharp tree branch came hurtling towards him. He smirked and raised his hand.
"Letta!" he merely whispered. The twig stopped in mid air and fell to the ground at his feet.
"Fool," he said. "Fight with a blade instead of with tricks like this!"
"As you wish!" Eragon hollered. He jumped into the air and brought his blade down on Staves, colliding with a loud clang of metal on metal.
"How ironic would it be to die by your own blade?" Eragon taunted, as he kicked Stave away from him and swung hard, only to be blocked again. Saphira, stay out of this and watch our child.
I will not leave you! Saphira called back. We will fight together!
I do not want to see you hurt.
Do you think that I do? Saphira replied. Before even waiting, Saphira lunged out at Stave and clipped the staff with the backside of his neck, bringing him down slightly to his knees. Eragon attempted to use the strike to his advantage and tried to stab him in his heart, but Stave blocked the blow with his saber.
"You will suffer for that, brightscales!" Stave growled at Saphira, further enraging Eragon.
"Hurt her and die by me!" Eragon replied harshly. He did a well-planted roundhouse kick to Stave's head, knocking him to the ground. He watched as Stave did a back handspring and landed firmly on his feet with his sword clutched in his hand.
"You must do better than that!" he mocked, casually walking over towards Eragon. He raised his sword up and brought it down forcefully against his Eragon's blade, locking the two enemies in a deadly standoff.
"You leave me no choice!" Eragon yelled. "Malthinae!" Stave gasped as Eragon finished the command. His whole body was stiff and his mouth couldn't even move to counter the spell. He was unprotected against any blow Eragon could give him.
"You were a trusted friend," Eragon said with regret. "Now you are our enemy, no different than your own brother. It pains me to do this, but for bringing harm to my family, you must suffer!" He watched as Stave put on a sadistic smile across his face. Suddenly, he broke free of his binding and charged against Eragon with his saber's tip pointing towards his heart.
"NO!" Saphira yelled. She tossed herself between the tip and her rider and was impaled just above her right breast.
"Saphira!" Eragon hollered in agony. Without even thinking, Eragon spun around and kicked Stave in his throat to pull his sword out of her. In one motion, he reached out and caught her before she could hit the forest floor.
"My love," she muttered painfully. Flames crackled nearby from the effects of Stave's opening spell, but he could only pay attention to his one true love. "It was so sweet was it not? You have made me a very happy female. I love you."
"Saphira!" Eragon yelled. "Do not leave me! I cannot go on without you!"
"It is too late," she whispered. Her blood was flowing freely onto his hands that held her. "We made a family…and I…I found love." She laid there limp in his arms.
"Saphira, do not die on me!" Eragon cried loudly. He turned and glared at Stave. You will not go alone, my love! He whispered to her in her mind. Eragon reached out and began to pull energy from every living creature within the forest, from the mighty wall of fire to the smallest worker ant. He gently held his marked palm over her wound and continued to draw on the energy from life forms around him.
"How touching," Stave said. "Let her die so we can continue!" Eragon then focused his attention on Stave, tugging away at his very soul and pulling every ounce of strength from him. "Do not do it, Eragon!" Stave commanded. "I forbid you!" He tried to counter what Eragon was doing, but Oromis never showed him this technique before. He was doomed.
"Waise Heill!" Eragon screamed with all of his might, focusing on her mortal wound. He felt the fire lose its heat and the ants fall over dead with every passing second.
I love you! Eragon said to Saphira, still cradling her head with his free hand. He watched as Stave fell to his knees and then to his face on the ground, but Eragon never lost his focus. If she was going to die, then everything around her would as well. He had so many promises to keep, so many that would be forced to be broken if she took her last breath. Eragon refused to let her go and placed in his own energy to add the strength of the spell. Her form began to glow an odd color of sapphire, but she still refused to breath.
"Stave!" Eragon screamed, as he watched the villain struggle to get to his feet again. "Go see your brother in Hell!" With that said, Eragon placed all of his energy into the spell, knocking Stave back to the floor to where he would never get up again. All of the energy he had collected was spent and he was relying on his own. "Do not do this to me love, come back!" Eragon felt himself grow weaker as he spent his energy on her. The flames were extinguished and every living creature near them was dead and gone, but he refused to give up and let her go. Suddenly, she shot her eyes open and gasped for air. Eragon quickly broke the spell and fell down beside her.
"Eragon!" Saphira gasped, quickly shooting up to look over him. "What did you do?"
"I…?" he said weakly. "I brought you…back."
"How?" she asked worriedly. Eragon refused to shut his eyes even though his spirit was begging for him to do so.
"I gathered energy from…him!" Eragon said, pointing to the limp figure of Stave lying face-first in the soil. "Along with some other objects. I could not give up and have you die in my arms." Saphira leaned down towards him and placed her lips to his ever so gently. He was too exhausted to hold on and was forced to let go of the moment.
"I love you," Saphira whispered to him, placing her hand to his cheek. He reached out and placed his marked palm to hers, making her tremble slightly by his touch.
"I always will!" Eragon exclaimed. He looked over to where Stave's body was and made a horrific discovery. Stave was gone! Eragon shot up to his feet and turned to see that Draken's egg was exactly where Saphira had placed.
"He will be after us again," Eragon cursed. "I should have killed him right where he stood."
"Unlike him," Saphira commented, "you have remorse."
- - - - - -
"Light up the forest!" Stave screamed. "I want to see bodies come tomorrow morning!"
PEACE!