Chapter 4
The stone was of the same hue than a deep ocean. A webbing of pearly white vein-like lines covered it's surface ; it was beyond perfect. There was something familiar with this stone, something eerily familiar giving Murtagh a sense of deja-vu. He picked it up carefully with both hands - the stone was heavy - before pulling out a magnifier from his pockets. The stone had no imperfections ; it was unnaturally smooth, featuring no traces of toolwork whatsoever. There was this faint glow, giving the stone an ethereal appearance.
It was clearly a magical object and was certainly not crafted by human hands.
"Where and when did you find it?" He asked, still lost in his observations.
"A week ago. In..in the spine. It appeared to me in a flash of light" Eragona answered, her voice slightly shaky
"In the spine?"Murtagh snapped back at her "What were you doing in the spine, all alone?"
Eragona recoiled a little, her facial expression bearing traces of fear. Murtagh instantly regretted his harshness
"I was picking up mushrooms for the winter...dwelved a bit too deep.." She responded, before shifting her gaze back to the enticing stone. Her brother was mumbling and she was unable to fully catch what he was saying. However she could several phrases such as "I told you not to" "dangerous" and "Never listens". Obviously he wasn't happy, but what is done IS done.
"I'm sorry" She apologized uselessly, which Murtagh ignored for the sake of his concentration. He vaguely remembers seeing a similar stone as a child, of different colour. However, his memories were made foggy by time. He let out a sigh of frustration; the only conclusion he could come up with is that this is an object of great importance. From the corner of his eyes he caught Eragona stirring slightly, her gaze casted on the ground.
"I´ve been told that the traders are on their way to Carvahall. It will only be a matter of days before they arrive." She paused, looking up to the window "There will be jewellers among them, maybe we can inquire on it's nature."
He however paid her no heed as he took out a dagger he had up his sleeves. Under Eragona's watchful and questionning gaze, he decided to tap the blade against the surface of the stone.
Bong...Bong.
As if it was hollow. Yet, the stone did not shatter, no matter how much force he applied to it. She noticed that her older brother's complexion has grown several shades paler; he looked most distressed.
"What's wrong?" She shakily asked, obviously not liking Murtagh's reaction at all. There was a very odd gleam in his eyes, that indicated how worrisome the matter at hand is. He swiftly stood up, carefully placing the stone back into the satchel containing it. He then turned to her, his stance rigid.
"I need you to keep this safe and keep it secret. This might be something of very great importance, but I need to confirm my assumptions."
Eragona meekly nodded to him, her eyes shifting towards the stone. "What is it all about, brother?"
"I cannot speak of it. At least, not yet." He responded grimly "I need to go soon. This is really urgent , before leaving I will have a word with Garrow and Brom. I want the old storyteller to teach you the art of swordfighting, it will be necessary for you to learn to defend yourself." He said, noticing his sister's shock at the thought of having to learn the manly arts. He held her shoulders and shook her lightly, his gaze implanted firmly against her own. "This is no jest, sister! Forget about all those silly women courtesies, for this is a matter of life or death! You must learn! You will have pants and suitable shirts tailored for you, because no one can fight in a dress. You shall get riding boots aswell." He loosened his grip, his eyes growing softer at her own enlarged, fearful ones. "Your lessons will begin at the earliest conveniences, possibly tomorrow if I can get Brom to for I, I will leave. I will see Garrow, and ride south at dawn..." The rest of his phrase was cutted off by the fact that she threw herself in his arms.
"Please, Murtagh" She looked up to him, her eyes once again watery "You just arrived today. Please stay at least one more day with us, please!" She begged him, before pointedly adding "You already rode so much. At least give your horse some time to rest!"
He knew he could not refuse and his shoulders slumped back in defeat.
Who was he kidding, he thought to himself. He was fighting a lost battle ; he could never refuse his little sister anything, when she asked him in such ways. And she always made sure she had a logical argument to back it up, the clever little thing. He returned her tight embrace, burying his face into her beautiful golden locks. He caught a whiff of lavender and smiled contentedly. He wished this moment would freeze and remain unchanging for the eternity.
"Alright" He said "I won't leave today."
At the sound of that, Eragona sighed happily, resting her head on his chest. She could hear his steady, strong heartbeat. A sound she adored hearing ; it made her feel safe. She did not want to be removed away from her older brother's hug, she didn't want to let go.
"I love you Murtagh" She felt the warthm of those words she spoke lingering in her chest.
"I love you too, my little precious" He slowly answered, tasting the words that rolled off his tongue. He toyed with her hair for a while before asking if he could comb it, to which she responded enthusiastically. It was something he always did, since they were children ; he never spent time with other children of his age because they would look at him with scorn. He felt like he shared little with them, the scars of his childhood having left too deep marks in his psyche. Thus, no one could separate him from his little sister; she healed him where others couldn't.
He only left later that evening, when Eragona was sound asleep. She had asked him to tell her a story, like she always did when he was around. And so, he told her about great adventures which led to realms beyond the seas, beyond the stars. Entire new worlds, filled with all sorts of odd creatures, or sometimes simply humans. Skyfarers, travelling in between to fight a great darkness; Gods of all kinds warring, and heroes being thrown in the midst of it all...thus were the kinds of stories he told her. She had a lust for the unknown since she was small, and she made it known by devouring all the maps Brom owned and remembering tales of far-away lands. Tales of Elves, Dragons and Dwarves. When she was just 3 years old, she promised to take him, uncle Garrow, Roran and Brom on a trip through the stars. She then excitedly proceeded to explain to Brom about the "Treasure star" where a sky pirate magician hid his wealth. She firmly believed that it contained the "Loot of a thousand worlds", which earned her a chuckle from the old man.
However, Murtagh noticed that she has changed. Hidden was the little girl who wanted to discover ; It seemed that she has almost resigned to her fate as a woman. One who will settle down and get married, be all proper, and have children. The society was indeed very rigid when it came to expectations for one of the female gender.
"Uncle Garrow." He greeted, seeing the older man's still form in front of the chimney; it seemed like he barely moved at all since Murtagh left him. On a closer inspection, Murtagh could hear his soft snores and smiled slightly, before tapping the older man's shoulders.
A yelp, two swear words and a grunt later, Garrow looked up to his nephew and asked what was the matter.
"A very urgent one." He responded, his grave tone being the only manifestation of his lingering fright since this afternoon. He hoped that his speculations were not correct, because if they were his family would be in great danger. Garrow seemed to understand that this was a very serious situation.
"Did Eragona show you the blue stone she found?" Murtagh asked.
"Yes she did. What of it?"
"I suspect it is something of very great importance to the king. Something that he would kill to get." Murtagh answered him
Garrow tried to look for any signs of jest in his eyes, but found none.
"What makes you so sure? And what is it?" Garrow frowned worriedly. If what his nephew said was true, this was indeed very ill news.
"I have seen a similar stone once. And it was a dragon's egg. Whatever this stone is, it has very high magical properties."
"A Dragon's egg? Surely this is..."
"My memories are faint." Murtagh cutted him. "But if it is that, then what? You know very well that dragon riders are not a mere legend. You know very well of Galbatorix's deeds against them, and the dragon kind. If he hears of a dragon's egg existing outside of his clutches, what would he do?"
"He would murder anyone who posessed it." The older man nodded, understanding. "But if it is a dragon's egg, how did it land here, in the spine? Dragons died a very long time ago."
Murtagh's eyes lingered on the dancing flames. "It could've been forgotten, or..." He paused a little while, his expression illegible "I have heard of a dragon egg being stolen from Galbatorix. A while ago ; I am not sure if there are any truths to these rumors. But Eragona did mention that it appeared in front of her in a flash of light. Obviously someone tried to use magic to relocate the stone ; and an incredible one at it. The caster must have been desperate. The stone, egg or not, must've been of great importance."
"Should we just simply put the stone back where it was found?" Garrow asked.
"Not if someone else saw the stone previously." Murtagh spoke again in a slow, pensive tone, his gaze set upon his uncle's face.
"Well ain't that just shit" Garrow grunted before explaining " I believe she has tried to trade the stone for more meat - with that old bugger Sloan..."
Murtagh let out a resigned sigh. "I plan on leaving after tomorrow, at dawn. I need to find out more about this stone, and will head to Gil'ead." He swiftly moved and placed himself in front of the older man. He sat down and made sure that he was at eye level with Garrow, holding the man's older hands. "Uncle, I need you to do something for me. Tomorrow, I will speak with Brom ; I will not give him specifics, but I will tell him to teach Eragona how to fight and defend herself. I am unsure of his own allegiances but we all do know that he is not a bad man. The codger handles swords better than an average man. I want you to help her aswell because you are also good with weapons. "
Garrow meekly nodded, remaining silent.
"At any eventualities you must be ready to leave everything. If I do not return within a month, you must leave ; that would mean that something happened to me. Or worse, someone caught me and might possibly be interrogating me. If within that month strangers are seen, you must leave."
"Leave?" His uncle protested, his jaws tensing in the all too familiar stubborn way "Leave to where? What about the farm? What about the animals? I can't just leave like that. Where would we go?"
Murtagh shifted impatiently, his tone laced with an edge of anger : "Leave to life. Do you realize that staying behind can cause the death of us all? Just go anywhere else, the best option would be to move to Surda. Go to Teirm, travel by sea to Dauth; I know there are boats that goes there every week. If Brom learns about the stone, try to convince him to come. I don't believe he is an enemy; I know you see him more or less as a brother."
"What about you, what about Roran?"
"My priority is to make sure that your lives are safe." Murtagh responded, his gaze softening. "As for Roran, if he goes to Therinsford, I believe he will be safe too. I do not think he wishes to be parted from his love in such ways."
"I made a promise to your mother many years ago.."
"I know. But you can't always shield us all from harm ; at least protect my little sister for me,...father."
Garrow's eyes shone of unshed tears. They both stood up and held each other firmly, Murtagh patting the old man's back.
"I hope you will be able to forgive me for putting you through this." Murtagh whispered
"T'is not your fault, my son."
A.N : Sorry for this update that took supppperrrr long. I will update more regularly now that I have my tablet and everything back. As you probably noticed, there was a part inspired from Treasure Planet xD.
Don't be surprised if many things are changed from the original storyline ; two modified characters alters the premises!