Chapter 12. Siege of Belatona
The Varden was encamped nine miles away from the city and they would attack at midnight. Murtagh walked a line of twelve spellcatsers. "Remember the plan… Galbatorix will not tolerate failure and neither will I…" He turned his attention to a young man who had his same build and dressed like him. The young spellcasters hair had been changed from blonde to dark brown like Murtagh's and his face was covered by a full helmet. The sword he wielded was made to look like Zarroc. Murtagh's sword had been painted to look like a normal blade. 'Remember do not engage Eragon until I send you the signal and use the rope…" He handed the man an enchanted rope.
Then he turned his attention to Thorn; ("I am sorry…")
Murtagh sighed; ("I forgive you… you only wanted what I wanted…") He stared at the dragon in his eyes; ("We have a job to do… lets do it…")
Thorn snorted; ("So be it, but is this necessary…")
Murtagh nodded yes; ("We have been together since you hatched… I am the only one who can deal with those elves… And Galbatorix ordered me to try and capture Glaedr's eldunari…")
("If anything happens to you I will burn down the entire forest of Duweldenvarden… the elves will suffer a thousand times over…")
Murtagh smiled; ("I love you too…") He replied scratching behind Thorn's jaw.
("Be safe…")
Murtagh left the spellcasters and joined a special elite group of soldiers who had been endowed with the strength and speed of an elf. They were going to help him kill the elves. "They will attack at midnight be ready…"
Nausada sat on her horse _ next to King Orrin, Jormunder, Narheim, and Nar Garzhvog.
Trianna rode a brown horse; "Now…" Nausada said looking at Trianna. "Tell Eragon to fly now…" While Trianna obeyed her command; Nausada looked at Jormunder; "Now sound the horns of war…" He sent the signal and a thunderous shout came from the Varden and they ran towards the city. Overhead Saphira added her roar to the noise as she and Eragon flew towards the city.
Arrows whizzed from on and behind the wall from the archers, but some of the arrows when they were released whipped around killed the men who fired them. The trap spells Murtagh's orb had set activated on the trebuchets and catapults when they were fired as well. The flaming balls of fire would loop around fifteen feet from the ground and go back the other direction. They would either hit the machines they were fired from or some nearby building or house. The spellcasters had to work hard to try and break the spells on them.
"Sir all troops are in position…" a soldier said to Murtagh.
"Open the port gates and attack…" He ordered. As the gates opened Murtagh contacted his decoy and Thorn and told them to attack now. Murtagh was surrounded by elite soldiers who would help him take down the elves. They had been enchanted with the speed, strength, and agility of an elf. They ran out the city in lines shouting and as they did Murtagh flashed the Varden with his mind to locate the elves. He located them in a matter of minutes and mentally locked their location in his head.
Saphira was setting fire to the front wall to dispel the archers on the gate when Thorn's familiar roar filled the air. Saphira was in her fifth loop but instead of attacking the wall again she shot out over the city heading strait for Thorn. When they neared each other Thorn pulled up at the last minute and climbed in the sky. Saphira chased and released a stream of flame from her jaws, but the wards around Thorn protected him.
("What are they doing?") Eragon said with his mind.
("I don't know maybe they are afraid to face us…") Saphira replied pumping her wings trying to catch the hatchling.
Eragon pointed a clawed hand at Thorn and the man he thought was Murtagh and cried; "Letta!" Eragon's spell grabbed them but was dissipated by a powerful ward and no matter what he did Eragon could not circumvent it. He attacked Murtagh's mind but instead of feeling Murtagh; he felt Thorn's mind shielding them both. They twisted and turned through the air with Saphira chasing Thorn the whole time, but no matter what they did Thorn did not turn to fight Saphira.
On the ground the battle was in favor of the Varden for the moment the only trouble they had was with the elite guard fighting on the front lines, but they were slowly pushing their way towards the elves.
"Trianna!" Nausada cried riding up on her horse. "Contact Tymen and tell him to…" The words stopped in her mouth because the gates to the city opened up to the surprise of both the varden and the empire. "Never mind…" Nausada rode to the front lines on her horse shouting; "For the varden!" Her followers let out a cry and surged forward towards the city.
Jormunder was about to follow when a soldier rode up; "Sir look! The right flank…"
Jormunder looked in the direction he was pointing and spotted one hundred men cutting their way through the ranks of the varden. He gritted his teeth; "Find Roran and his knights… you men with me…" Jormunder lead two hundred men towards the warriors who had only lost two men.
Murtagh's face was twisted in a snarl as he cut down soldier after soldier, conserving his magic for the elves. He looked back when the gates opened and became aggravated. Because the spells were cast by his orb conscious, he could not distinguish between the spells he had cast and the ones the orb had cast. So Murtagh ordered the spellcasters to leave them alone. ("I must end this quickly…") he thought to himself.
Murtagh leapt over a group of soldiers, but when he landed, four urgals were blocking his path now. He cut the head of his opponents axe and spun around slashing the neck of the second. The first he attacked tried to crush him in his arms but Murtagh dropped to his knees and leaned back thrusting Zarroc into his gut. He then jumped to his feet and spun in the air decapitating the third urgal. As he was coming down the forth swiped with his hand and knocked Murtagh out of the air. The blow knocked the air out of him but his wards had protected him. The urgal tried to step on Murtagh's chest, but he cut off the urgal's foot as he rolled to the side. He finished the urgal off with a stab to the chest. By now Murtagh had been joined by his elite soldiers, but now he was confronted by dwarves. Murtagh pointed a clawed hand at the group of dwarves and cried; "Garjla!" A red wave of light shot from his palm and killed all twenty dwarves, but his actions drew the attention of two urgal spellcasters helping to protect the elves. Murtagh threw Zarroc; it spun through the air and struck the urgal in the chest. "Nor Vista Ra Zarroc unThark…" He shouted in the ancient language. The jewel on Zarroc unleashed a red flash and all the energy stored in the jewel. The blast killed the two urgals and three of the elves. Murtagh dove for his sword and charged Blodhgarm when he recovered it.
Arya's wards had protected her, but the blast had greatly weakened her and the other elves and when she looked up the elves and Blodhgarm were facing soldiers whose speed and strength was equal to theirs. She stood up and was strengthened by Glaedr's eldunari. Reenergized she charged the knot of soldiers and managed to kill one soldier when she was joined by Jormunder and some reinforcements.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw Blodhgarm's head role past her. In anger she pointed her hand at the mysterious warrior and cried; "Thrysta!" A ball of green energy shot from her hand but the warrior caught the ball of light out of the air and threw it at another elf killing her.
Jormunder and Arya along with several others converged on the soldier, but within a matter of three seconds Murtagh managed to kill three men and stabbed Jormunder in the gut. Arya screamed and tackled the man removing his helmet. She gasped because underneath the helmet was Murtagh. He head butted her and they wrestled back and forth on the ground. ("Eragon…") She shouted with her mind.
When the first three elves died Eragon's strength dramatically dropped as the elves were confronted by a new foe. He felt Blodhgarm die next. Then he heard Arya's voice in his mind; ("Eragon… Its Murtagh he is here on the ground… he killed Blodhgarm and Jormunder… We need your help…")
("Arya… Arya!") He shouted with his mind, but he could no longer feel her. A terrible fear came over Eragon, the fear that she was dead.
("If Murtagh is on the ground then who have we been chasing?") Saphira asked.
("I do not know…") Eragon responded as he cut off the straps on his legs. ("Stay on them I will be fine…") He jumped out of the saddle and plummeted to the ground determined to save Arya.
(NOW!") Murtagh shouted when he felt Eragon make his move.
Thorn closed his wings and tucked his body; he dropped out the sky allowing Saphira to fly past him. Then he opened his wings and started chasing Saphira. The man on Thorns back took the enchanted rope twirled it and released. The rope flew through the air and started winding around Saphira's tail and made its way up her body.
("Eragon!") She shouted with her mind.
Eragon heard her call and turned his entire body around in the air and saw Saphira's dilemma. (Up!") He yelled in the ancient language and his body flew through the air towards Saphira. The energy he used came from Glaedr so he didn't get tired. He drew his bow as he flew through the air and shot, but the arrowhead shattered against the rope. He sneered and drew his sword. "Brisinger!" The sword burst into flames and he cut the rope from the tip of Saphira's tale. He caught onto a spike and walked along Saphira's back swinging his sword but no matter how much he cut the rope kept wrapping and wrapping around Saphira and it was getting close to her wings. Eragon did not notice the rider fling his rope at him; it wrapped around his arm in mid-swing and began mummifying him as well.
Nausada looked up in horror as they were tied up and dragged behind the wall towards the fortress. "Nausada! Nausada, we need to retreat…" King Orrin said riding up to her side.
"But Eragon! We can't just leave him…"
"If that dragon returns and unleashes his fire on us there will be no varden left…" Orrin was afraid she wouldn't make the right choice so he blurted; "Jormunder is dead…" She looked at him. "…One of my spellcasters saw it happen… and the elves have suffered many loses as well… They tell me Blodhgarm has died as well…"
"Retreat!" She cried looking towards Belatona. "Retreat!"
She rode her horse storm shadow and was joined by the knightstalkers, she stopped to look at Arya who was engaged with Murtagh.
Murtagh swung his sword, but Arya leaned back and did a spin kicking him in the face. Murtagh dove to the ground and swung at her feet but she jumped at the last minute. Their swords met in mid-air and they continued fighting, but Murtagh managed to wrench her sword from her hand. She caught his sword hand and punched him in the gut. When Murtagh bent over he caught Arya by the leg and pulled it from under her. He summoned his sword to his hand and was about to kill her when he was bashed in the head by Roran. Murtagh's wards protected him but he still had a ringing in his head. He rolled to the ground and faced Roran; "Roran Stronghammer… we finally meet…"
"Yes I am not impressed…"
Murtagh laughed, "Lets see if you live up to the legend you have made for yourself…" Many soldiers from the varden and empire stopped fighting to watch the confrontation.
Sword and hammer met in the air with a resounding clang; Roran was strong and his blows shook Murtagh to the core. Especially since his hammer had been enchanted by Eragon. What Murtagh lacked in strength against Roran he made up for in speed. In order to fight Murtagh Roran used that speed against him as Eragon taught him. He would allow his sword to glance off his hammer and parry; with that maneuver Roran managed to bash Murtagh on the arm and then his shoulder. The only reason Murtagh was able to keep fighting was because of the wards.
In frustration Murtagh cut the head off his hammer and Roran rolled to the ground and came up on his feet drawing his sword. They fought back and forth and in the span of eight moves he wrenched Roran's sword from his hand. Murtagh swung for Roran's head, but Roran tackled him to the ground. They wrestled back and forth, but Roran was too strong. ("Thrysta!") Murtagh yelled. A blast of wind threw Roran off him. Murtagh stood up to capture him, but what he didn't realize that Angela was sneaking up behind him. She reached into a pouch on her belt and removed a hand full of red sand. She spoke several words over the sand and it sparked into red lightening. She threw it at Murtagh and it struck him sending Murtagh to the ground.
"Risa!" Angela yelled pointing her hand at Roran. Her invisible hands dragged him across the ground and when he was close enough she helped him up and together they retreated with the Varden.
Murtagh was not in pain as he writhed from the red powder lightening it was constricting him and drawing power from his own wards. When he released the wards the strange magic ended. Murtagh stood up, watched them retreat and was joined by one of his elite soldiers. "Do we pursue them my lord?"
"No we have what we want…" Murtagh hesitated; "On second thought send out scouts and drive them from the countryside…"
The soldier saluted and Murtagh walked back to the gates then up the main street. He ignored the fires burning and the people scurrying about to put them out; as he walked up the street he contacted Thorn to let him know that he was alright and to get an update on their prisoners. Through Thorn's eyes Murtagh saw Eragon try to free himself but he was quickly subdued by the spellcasters. The rope Murtagh enchanted bound Saphira.
He strolled through the gates to the courtyard and as he did the spellcasters were separating Eragon from Saphira. Eragon's eyes narrowed and a blast of power killed two spellcasters. Murtagh walked right up to Eragon and pointed Zarroc at his throat. Eragon stopped struggling as Murtagh took an amulet with one hand and placed it around Eragon's neck.
"Take him away and make sure he is well fed…" Murtagh ordered. Then he turned his attention to Saphira as the soldiers harnessed her to Thorn. Murtagh snapped his fingers and a spellcaster handed him a gold collar. He walked up to Saphira whose mouth was also bound by the rope and placed the collar around her neck.
"She won't give you any more trouble… shackle her feet and tale with the special chains…"
As Thorn dragged Saphira into the dragon hold beneath the fortress one of the spellcasters handed Murtagh Eragon's sword. He examined the sword and it was the finest he had ever seen. The sword held a terrible power in the blade as if it were alive.
When Saphira was secure in the hold Murtagh and Thorn flew over the countryside to ensure the varden retreated back to Feinster. As they returned to Belatona the sun came up.
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