AUTHORS NOTE: Quick clear up: Murtagh has NOT betrayed Julia yet…you'll know when he does…trust me. About their mind link: if Julia dies - Murtagh dies; if Murtagh dies - Julia dies…that's it, the end.
Well this is it…the chapters all of you have been waiting for. I just want to let everyone know that I forged the movie and book together quite a bit in the next two chapters. I also had to change some things for the sake of this story.
Happy Reading!
The next week was long and strenuous. Every night Eragon would let the group rest less and less. By the end of the week they were lucky when they got two hours of sleep.
Julia tried to act normal around Murtagh, but he could sense her withdrawal. She would sit stiffly on his lap and she touched him only when necessary.
Their newly formed mind-link didn't cause too many problems. Julia would have an occasional attack and Murtagh would share in it. Besides that, nothing else seemed to change. Arya remained exactly as she had been.
The weather was hot and the food was scarce. Everyone seemed annoyed at all times, and conversations were kept short. Julia could see the Beor Mountains getting closer each day. At the pace they were going they would definitely make it, but Julia wasn't sure if they could keep it up.
As they entered the second week of their journey, Eragon refused to take any rests. Julia would let Murtagh lean on her and sleep, as she guided Tornac. When Murtagh would wake up, Julia would lean against him and sleep. Eragon never seemed to sleep, except for the couple minutes in which he dozed off while riding Snowfire.
The group barely saw Saphira. She would fly ahead with Arya and rest or hunt.
Luckily, the scenery began to change. They were now riding into a large valley that lead straight to the huge Beor Mountains. The green grass, trees, and streams seemed to cheer everyone up. Even Eragon began to talk again.
Finally, after traveling for thirteen long days, they reached the foot of the Beor Mountains.
"What now?" asked Julia, looking up at the mountains. They were so high the peaks were hidden within dense, white clouds.
Eragon thought, "In the vision Arya showed me, I saw a waterfall…it has to be somewhere around here."
Eragon jumped off Snowfire and began to search.
Murtagh slowly dismounted with a groan and stretched his sore muscles. Julia slipped off of Tornac and onto the ground. Her muscles were so cramped that her legs wouldn't support her. She sat on the ground, waiting for the pain of her sore muscles to subside.
Murtagh couldn't help but laugh when he saw Julia sitting in the dirt with a pout on her face. He offered his hand to help her up.
Julia shook her head and crossed her arms, "I'm going to sit here until Eragon finds that darn waterfall…and I am never riding a horse again. Stupid saddle…"She muttered some unladylike things under her breath.
Chuckling to himself, Murtah left Julia where she was and proceeded to help Eragon search for the waterfall.
After an hour, they found it.
"What do we do now?" asked Julia, who had finally agreed to stand up.
She was looking at the waterfall. It was about ten feet high and very wide, but she could see no clues that would suggest this was where the Varden was located.
Eragon picked up a rock and pounded against the rock wall next to the waterfall. He yelled, "Aí varden abr du Shur'tugalar gata vanta!" (A warden of the Riders lacks passage).
The group waited in anticipation for several long minutes.
Nothing happened.
Eragon tried again.
Followed by some more silence.
Nothing.
Eragon shook his head, "I don't get it. This is the place Arya showed me…and I've said what she instructed. Unless…"
With that, Eragon jumped into the water and yelled, "We're on the wrong side…we have to go through the waterfall!"
"What about the horses?" shouted Murtagh over the roar of the waterfall.
"I'll touch their minds and convince them to go through it." Eragon closed his eyes and entered the animals' minds.
After a couple of seconds, both Snowfire and Tornac jumped in the water and swam after Eragon.
Once they had disappeared into the waterfall, Murtagh nudged Julia, "Ladies first."
Julia looked uncertain at the waterfall. She could swim…but the water was coming down hard and strong.
Murtagh sensed her fear, "Alright, we'll go together."
He grabbed her hand and both of them jumped into the water.
Julia could feel the waterfall pounding down above her. She was kicking her legs frantically, trying to surface and breathe, but the pressure of the waterfall pushed her down.
The only thing that kept her from panicking was Murtagh's hand in hers. He was starting to swim towards the surface and pulled Julia up with him.
Once they surfaced, Julia felt two strong arms roughly grab her and pull her on land. A tall bald man in red and purple robes had pulled her out and was now holding a dagger to her throat.
They were inside a giant tunnel filled with many warriors. Some human and some dwarf.
Once Murtagh saw that the bald man had Julia, he unsheathed his sword and slowly said "Let her go."
The bald man laughed, "Foolish boy!" and with a tilt of the man's head, Murtagh's sword flew out of his hand.
"No harm will come to the girl…if you do as I say. Follow me."
Eragon tried to tell the man about Arya, but the man ignored it. They had not choice but to follow the warriors. The bald man still had the dagger to Julia's throat and was leading the group down a small tunnel into a larger cave.
A small dwarf ran up to the bald man, "Egraz Carn! Are you blind?! Did you not see the poisoned elf tied to the dragon?! We must get her to a healer."
The man looked unconcerned, "I suppose you're right Orik." The man snapped his fingers and several warriors warily approached Saphira and untied Arya.
"She's not to be harmed!" shouted Eragon as the warriors carried Arya away.
The dwarf named Orik assured Eragon that no harm would come to her.
"Now, before we can do anything we must inspect your minds. Who's to say you're not working for Galbatorix?" The bald man ran a finger down Julia's cheek and smelled her hair, "We'll start with this one."
Murtagh had to be restrained by two warriors or else he would have ripped the bald man apart.
Julia remained calm. She was so relieved that they had found the Varden; she didn't even care about the bald man or that she was being held with a dagger to her throat. She figured that they would inspect her mind and see she's not working for Galbatorix; then they would be free to join the Varden.
"Don't move," ordered the bald man as he took a step away from Julia, "and open your mind. There's no use in hiding anything for I will extract it by force if I have to."
The man then closed his eyes and Julia could feel him pushing into her mind. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but not really all that painful. She could feel the man searching through her mind.
He was sifting through her memories, when she felt him hit a wall.
"Open your mind you stupid girl! What is it you have locked up in here?"
Julia could feel him tearing at the wall which encased her lost memories. He was ramming against it with his mind, and every time he hit it a wave of pain would run through Julia's body.
Murtagh could feel how painful it was for Julia and he was struggling with the soldiers holding him, "Stop this now!"
Julia was starting to lose consciousness. She could feel cracks appearing in the wall of her mind and foggy images were flying around her. With every crack that appeared, parts of the wall were crumbling away. Julia was on the floor now, grabbing her head and begging the bald man to stop.
Murtagh and Eragon both had to be held back by several warriors.
Julia wanted it to stop, she wanted to die; anything to make the pain stop.
With one final attack, the bald man hit Julia's mind and the wall surrounding her lost memories exploded into many tiny fragments. The last thing Julia remembered was Saphira letting out an earth-shattering roar, and then she fell into darkness.
AUTHORS NOTE: The End! Ha ha…not really! It was too long to fit all into one chapter so I posted the rest in Chapter 8. Go read that :p.