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The three walked in silence until they found a cave big enough to shelter all three of them comfortably. It had taken them a good twenty minutes to find a place to stay and the rain hadn't eased.
"You're drenched Thorn" Tori said as he settled himself down "You wont get sick will you?"
I'll be fine, it takes more than a light shower to bring a dragon down. Thorn replied resting him head atop his folded claws. He soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.
He sleeps more than me, Tori thought smiling to herself. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Murtagh standing at the mouth of the cave watching the rain fall. Tori stood up and approached him slowly, she stood beside him. After glancing at him for a moment she turned and watched the rain fall too.
It was then that Murtagh spoke "When I was younger, on my fifth birthday, I asked my father if I could invite some of the children in the kingdom to the celebration"
"A birthday party?" Tori asked softly.
Murtagh nodded, still watching the rain he continued "So he sent an invitation to every boy and girl in the kingdom" Murtagh almost smiled as he said this but his voice suddenly turned bitter "on my birthday I woke up and I was so excited, it was the first time he had actually taken an interest in me and I'd never really spent a lot of time with children my age so I just couldn't wait. I got dressed and waited in the hall where the feast was being held for everyone to arrive."
Tori shut her eyes and bowed her head, she knew what was coming, he hadn't even said it yet but she already felt horrible.
"I waited for so long, trying to think of why everyone was taking so long. No one came" Murtagh finally looked at Tori "Not a single child, in the entire kingdom came to my birthday. That was when I realised that I was never going to fit in with… anyone, my father wasn't a good person, in fact he was one of the worst you could possibly meet. Everyone thinks I'm my father, no one judges me for who I am, they judge me for who my father was"
"You were five when you realised that?" Tori whispered, shocked.
Murtagh nodded silently.
Tori put her hand on Murtagh's shoulder and spoke softly "Murtagh, no one chooses they're parents, I've never met my real father. My mom says he's a real scum bag, when she told him that she was pregnant with me he just took off. Apparently he's in prison now, he raped and killed a woman in her own home while her four year old son was locked in his bedroom. He was a sick, pathetic, horrible man and he deserves a far worse punishment than he got. I know I'm not like him, I know that you're blood line has nothing to do with the kind of person that you are. You're a good person Murtagh" Tori finished.
Murtagh did not meet her eyes "if you knew what I've done Tori, if you turned up three months earlier, you wouldn't say that"
"Why not?" Tori asked "What have you done?"
"Trust me it's a very long story"
Tori gestured towards the rain "Not like we don't have the time"
Murtagh sighed and lowered himself to the ground "Ok, but first you have to promise me that you will hear me out to the end, you have to hear the whole story"
"Ok, I swear" Tori said softly sitting down beside Murtagh indicating that she wasn't going anywhere.
"Well the story really begins with the dragons and the elves…" Murtagh told Tori about the riders, he told her of Galbatorix and Morzan, his father, of the egg that was stolen from the king and hatched for Eragon, how the great Brom had taught Eragon until he died. Murtagh himself then came into the story, he told her of the journey to the Varden and why he was so reluctant to go there, how he had been locked away then freed to fight with the Varden, then how the twins had faked his death, tortured him and taken him to the king who in turn tortured him for his betrayal.
Then he spoke of how Thorn had hatched for him, how Galbatorix had learned their true names and had forced them to swear their loyalty to him, at first Murtagh had refused but the king had threatened to kill Thorn so Murtagh had no choice. Finally Murtagh spoke of his confrontation with Eragon and revealed that they were actually brothers.
"But you were forced into it Murtagh, you didn't do it out of your own free will and you spared Eragon's life. You're not the bad guy Murtagh" Tori said "You can beat him, I know it will be ok"
"How? How do you know that?"
"Because it has to be. You and Thorn can't live like this forever, Eragon is fighting to stop this, he'll save you, he'll free you both" Tori smiled at her conclusion.
"Who will save Eragon from me though?" Murtagh asked bitterly "If Galbatorix orders me to kill him I have no choice"
"You won't, you're stronger than that" Tori said "You've already resisted his orders to capture Eragon, you just have to find a way around his words, like those brain teasers you get in magazines"
Murtagh raised an eyebrow "What's a 'magazines'?"
Tori smiled, she started to explain what a magazine was, which soon lead to explaining a movie, then a car, then a plane. Murtagh was especially interested in the aeroplane.
"So it flies without any wings? How is that possible?"
"Well, it does have wings, they just don't move, there are these…" Tori spent at least half an hour trying to explain the aeroplane. Eventually she remembered that her ipod was in her backpack, she pulled it out and handed an earphone to Murtagh.
"Put it in your ear" she told him.
"Why? Will it read my thoughts?" Murtagh inspected the earphone closely.
"No it will play music" Tori told him, she put one head phone in her own ear "See? Just like that"
Murtagh hesitated but then followed Tori's example and put the headphone in his ear. Tori scrolled through her songs and picked 'The Kill' by 30 Seconds to Mars, as soon as the music started to play Murtagh jumped back and pulled the headphone out of his ear.
Tori laughed "Sorry I should have warned you that would happen"
Murtagh was about to put the earphone back in when something else that had fallen out of Tori's bag. It was a book, with a familiar looking dragon on the front cover. Murtagh picked up the book and ran his hand over the cover.
"Saphira…" he whispered then looked up at Tori "Where did you get this?"
"Cat gave it to me when…" Tori trailed off realising what was going on. "Oh my God… no" Tori said laughing nervously and shook her head "No, that isn't possible, I mean I can't be in- I didn't even read- what?!"
"Tori?" Murtagh asked "What's going on?"
"I don't know! But I think somehow I got sucked into this book. No, come on now that's just too weird, which is a lot coming from me! This definitely blows anything that happened on twighlight zone right out of the water! If I'm in a book that means you're not really real, and if you're not real but I am that means I'm talking to an imaginary person right now, which is super weird. I haven't had an imaginary friend since I was three and a half! Oh Jesus I am crazy aren't I? Maybe I'm sitting in a mental institution right now in a straight-jacket surrounded by padded walls. Or maybe I'm in a coma, crap! What if I was hit by a car or something and now I'm in a coma in hospital on life support! Wait no I couldn't have been in a car accident, I was in the clearing watching the comet…"
Tori sat back down and rubbed her temples. Murtagh put his hand on her shoulder which made her jump "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think so anyway, I mean if I am going crazy at least I'm still sane enough to know I'm going crazy" Tori groaned "This just hasn't been a good week for me, but then again I did meet you and Thorn so at least the was a positive in this" Tori finished with a weak smile.
Thankyou, Tori and Murtagh turned around to see Thorn watching them, his eyes only half open.
"Hey big guy" Tori smiled getting up and walking over to Thorn, "how long you been awake?" She patted his neck gently and smiled at him.
Thorn grunted, not too long.
Murtagh walked over and sat down, leaning against Thorn. Tori sat next to him and snuggled into both Thorn's side and Murtagh's shoulder.
"Hey Thorn, can I ask you a question?" Tori asked.
Aside from that one?
"Yeah" Tori smiled.
Of course little one.
"You're a dragon" Tori begun.
"Oh very observant" Murtagh smiled.
"Shut up" Tori laughed then continued "So you breathe fire huh?"
Yes.
"So… does that mean you can fart fire too?" There was silence for a second or two until both Murtagh and Thorn burst into laughter. The three of them laughed and talked light-heartedly the rest of the night, they didn't mention Tori's predicament of how she got there or Murtagh's painful past. They just enjoyed themselves and exchanged stories of Murtagh's travels and Tori's life back home.
Tori was the first to fall asleep, Murtagh positioned her so she was more comfortable and draped his cloak over her. He looked up and saw Thorn watching him with a certain gleam in his giant red eye. What? he asked.
You know what, Thorn answered.
No, I don't believe I do, Murtagh said.
You like her don't you?
Of course I do, Murtagh said, she's completely insane but no one has ever been this nice to me… ever, she's probably the best friend I've ever had.
That isn't what I meant Murtagh, Thorn looked at him with a knowing look.
Murtagh smiled and shook his head, I think you need to get some sleep Thorn.
Thorn gave a soft growl before lowering his head and closing his eyes, Goodnight stubborn.
Murtagh chuckled softly, goodnight… he leaned against Thorn's side, looked over and smiled at Tori snuggling up to Thorn's neck. Murtagh closed his eyes and fell asleep.
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