A/n: So yea, I was gonna write another chapter before the rescue scene, but it wanted to be written so here it is! I really hope you all like it, the way had written it on paper was …well nothing like this, this chapter sort of wrote itself, sorry rambling, go ahead, read!
Disclaimer: oh right, I always forget, but I don't own Eragon, just Aris, I simply wish I did!
Ch. 12
"Now that I've seen it…" Roran walked over to a small pond at his left with a determined expression. "Draumr Kopa." He bit his lip as color bloomed on the surface, then he gave a frustrated sigh. "Barzul! I still can't see her, but the Ra'zac are here…what does that mean?" He asked Eragon.
Two days ago they had flown into the Beors, following the Ra'zac's leftover tracks, whenever their mounts took of they left deep rivets in the ground. Finally they had happened upon a slavers camp, they had almost flown past it but Murtagh had spotted the Ra'zac coming out of a tent as they were flying close to a surrounding mountain. They had landed on a cliff only moments ago, it looked down upon the camp but was far enough up that they surely looked like dots in the landscape to anyone looking.
"It means that she is inside somewhere, you haven't seen inside any of those tents." Eragon explained looking down at the camp from the cliffs edge, slavers and their practice of selling people always made him sick to his stomach and caused his blood to boil.
"You're sure she is here?" Roran asked impatiently.
"I'm not sure of that at all, but seeing as the Ra'zac are here, then it is very likely, we can search elsewhere if you'd like though." Eragon snapped, his patience worn as well by his cousins pestering. He took a deep breath; he knew Roran had reason enough to be anxious, he only wished that he would hold off the questions until Eragon had formed a plan.
"You're right, you're right." Roran mumbled, oblivious to Eragon's irritation. As Roran continuously paced their resting place, Murtagh moved to sit by Eragon at the cliffs edge. They looked down on the silent camp for a few moments observing anything that might come in handy.
"The river, I think, is our biggest asset." Murtagh though aloud, "The Ra'zac fear water right?"
Eragon nodded and narrowed his eyes focusing on the tents trying to decipher which ones might belong to a slave. The camp appeared to be split, one side with slightly brown an yellow large tents, and the other side, farthest from the cliff, were very small ragged tents patched with miscellaneous cloth. "There," he pointed to the ragged tents, "those are slave tents, one of those holds Katrina."
At the sound of his fiancée's name Roran joined his fellow riders, peering down as well. "So what do we do?" Roran asked.
Eragon closed his eyes for a moment thinking quickly, "I can't see anyway around killing people, the Ra'zac look as if they have the slaver's prepared to fight, so one of us will have to slip away and search the tents on the further side of the camp for Katrina." Eragon shook his head dissatisfied with what he had said, "Try to avoid killing slaves though, set them free if possible, and try to get the Ra'zac before they take Katrina and run."
"Fine, I'll search for Katrina, you two and the three dragons can fight." Roran said simply, standing up and belting his hammer.
Eragon nodded and too belted his sword, saddling Saphira while the others did the same.
A-------------------------------E
Katrina was practicing magic again this time spinning the rock in circles. The past week they had been imprisoned in their tent providing plenty of time to practice. It was unbelievable how much easier using the magic was, it didn't take nearly as much time as before.
"Good, that's good Katrina." Aris said, "Now try something different, I want you to throw the rock across the tent with magic, okay?" Aris asked.
Katrina nodded and searched her mind for the proper words; with all the time that she had spent practicing she was almost fluent in the language. Aris spoke it to her sometimes, and though she couldn't respond quickly, she normally understood the meaning of what was being said. Before she could speak however the tent flap flew back revealing Bryshaw in its doorway. The girls froze, and Katrina clenched her fist around the pebble.
"Craban! Come here." His voice sounded hoarse and he looked as if he hadn't slept in days. He stared at Aris waiting for her to follow his command. "I said get over here." Aris made no motion to move, her dead eyes simply stared at him. He flared his nostrils angrily and took one stride in grabbing Aris by her upper arm and jerking her to a standing position.
Katrina's eyes widened and she too stood up, reaching for Aris, but Aris slapped her hands away, "Stop, stay here and protect yourself." Aris reprimanded, her voice toneless still. "I will be fine."
"Wise choice." Bryshaw commented, "If you cooperate, there is no need for me to harm the redheaded wench." he dragged Aris out of the tent into the late afternoon sun and continued back to his own. "I've decided that now is the time, I fear that those hideous creatures are bringing something monstrous to my camp and I will not die without seeing you broken first, so today I will break you." He said, his voice dripping with perverse pleasure and excitement.
They reached his tent and he threw Aris inside onto her knees. He approached her and flipped her over onto her butt, then dragged her by her hair to his bed. She drew upon her hidden store of inner strength and wriggled from his grasp. She refused to be fouled by him. A vein throbbed in his forehead as his anger grew, he came at her again and slapped her, hard. He knocked her onto her back with his foot and then kicked her ribs. She barely restrained a scream as she felt two ribs break in her left side.
She climbed hastily to her bare feet, ignoring the aching protest in her side, and darted for the door, but Bryshaw expected it and grabbed the back of her dress as she passed him. The already worn material ripped, the one thin band holding the dress on her left shoulder tore, leaving only the right shoulder intact. She hit the ground with a thud as he released her.
He pushed her down and straddled her hips with his knees. Aris felt fear grip her heart as he bowed his mouth and forced himself upon her lips. Disgust and sickness claimed her stomach, she gripped the much older mans graying hair with her hands and pulled back, he simply pressed at her harder. Then she opened her mouth, and his tongue slid in, then she clamped down as hard as she could, her tongue tasting the blood as his tongue split. He pulled back and yelled angrily as his hand brushed his mouth, drawing it away to see blood.
"You wench!" he spat, showering her face with his blood. He leaned to the side to grab a dagger from his belt that was laying on the edge of the bed, then brought his hand back to press the metal against her throat. "Now, you will do as I say, or I will kill you." he grinned a red smile, his teeth coated with his own blood.
"Kill me then." She said, still determined to never give into him. He gnashed his teeth and drew the dagger back, ready to plunge it into her chest. Before his arm lowered again a chorus of panicked shouts began outside.
"Damn!" He cursed, standing up and belting his swords, "I will have you as my slave Craban, I'll be back." he glared at her before running out of the tent.
"I won't be waiting." Aris muttered dragging herself up from the ground and stumbling outside.
A--------------------------E
The dragons descended upon the camp, just as the late afternoon was turning into dusk, before they even reached the makeshift prison the shouts began. The figures of men scrambled around in a panic, some drawing swords others taking up bows and arrows.
"Now!" Eragon shouted within his mind, telling the others to spring into action. Saphira, Inarkien, and Rahzin all opened their jaws wide, engulfing the slavers below them in a fiery heat. Roran jumped from Rahzin and Murtagh caught him with magic lowering him to the ground, his figure landing on the other side of a close tent so he was hidden from view. Eragon let out a war cry and the remaining five sprung into action.
Roran ran through the haphazard arrangement of tents and darted across the open separation between the slavers tents and that of the slaves. The clash of metal and the screams of men could still be heard across the camp. In fact, many slaves were peering through the openings to their tents, scared of what might be coming their way.
"Go! Run away from here while you have the chance!" he shouted to all those who could hear. He only had to say it once for suddenly bodies poured from the tents taking off into the Beors. Roran panicked praying Katrina wasn't one of them, but they had all looked like they were the dark skinned nomads from the Hadarac. He began to look within all the tents and had reached the third one when he noticed the opening to one further down shift. He stared then took off into a sprint reaching the tent just as a head full of read hair stuck outside.
"Katrina!" he gasped falling to his knees before her. She looked at him in shock then tears welled in her eyes and her entire body left the tent. She fell into his arms and sobbed, her body quaking with relief. "I found you, I found you." he said over and over again stroking her knotted hair with his hand, his other arm holding her thin frame to his chest, "I found you." he whispered. She suddenly pulled back though, her tears halted by some thought.
"We have to leave before the Ra'zac find us!" she whispered hoarsely. Roran looked at her and regained himself, remembering where they were. He nodded and pulled her to her feet, gently though. Then he took her hand running back towards the fighting.
They broke into the battle scene and Roran heard Katrina's shocked exclamation behind him as she saw the three huge dragons and the dying or already dead slavers. "I'll explain later! C'mon!" he said urgently pulling her forward and drawing his hammer at the same time. Only two slaver's approached him, they fell to him hammer, their skulls crushed. Roran sprinted with Katrina in tow towards Inarkien, the great silver dragon turning his head to look at Roran then observe the girl behind him.
"This is her?" Inarkien asked, unconcerned with the fighting around him.
"Yes, this is my fiancée, Katrina, I know you will approve of her." Roran replied, stopping his run directly in front of Inarkien. Inarkien nodded and shifted his wing as if inviting Katrina upon him. "Katrina, I am a Dragon Rider, and this is my dragon partner, Inarkien. That is Eragon over there on the blue dragon, Saphira. The man on the red dragon, Rahzin, is Murtagh." Roran said aloud to Katrina. She stared at him for a moment, then glanced around her at the bloody mess.
"Explain later." She said climbing upon Inarkien with no sign of fear, Roran following quickly behind her. Inarkien lifted up from the ground and the other two followed behind him.
"WAIT!" she suddenly shouted. "You have to save Aris!" Katrina cried twisting in the saddle to stare at Roran with desperate eyes.
"Who?" he asked just as desperate to leave as she was to return.
"Aris! The girl who shared my tent, the reason I'm alive!" Katrina screamed, writhing in panic and shifting to look at the shrinking ground, searching it for her black haired friend.
"Katrina we have to go, all the other captives fled into the mountains." Roran touched her shoulder.
"No! The leader of the camp had taken her away, he was going to do something to her, she wasn't with the rest of the slaves, and she wouldn't have left!" Katrina screeched, her words reaching Eragon.
"I'll go back, tell Katrina not to worry." Eragon said, "Tell her to think of what the girl looks like."
"Eragon will go back, think of what she looked like in your mind, and then Eragon will see her." Roran said and Katrina nodded, she squeezed her eyes shut and focused on Aris' face.
"Got it." Eragon said, Saphira turned around, and Eragon searched the ground for the girl with black hair and blue eyes.
A------------------------------------E
Aris walked as fast as she could towards the screaming of men. After Bryshaw had left she had forced herself to walk to the weapons tent. As she had entered, she had searched until she had found her mothers two swords, bow, belt, and her two daggers. She had tightened the belt around her bony, narrow waist and sheathed the swords, tucking her daggers in at her waist. She had slung the bow and its arrows across her back then marched out of the tent, praying Bryshaw hadn't been killed yet.
She came upon the fight just as three dragon's were taking off into the mountains, they were already across the river and Aris could barely make out Katrina's copper hair on the back of the silver one. "Good, she is safe now. I never thought I would see three Dragon Riders though, I thought my theory of one was extreme, that must be Eragon on the blue dragon, Arya must have found someone to pair the egg with." Aris thought with an internal smile. She knew within that she would more than likely die within a matter of minutes, but she was happy for Katrina. "I just have to kill Bryshaw." She closed her eyes under the protection of the shadow she was hiding in, "Mother, give me strength for this one last task." She drew herself upright and ran into the bloody ground.
Bryshaw heard her vicious scream and turned to see her running at him with a sword drawn. His shock of seeing her with emotion was quickly overridden as he realized her intention. He drew his sword only a second before she hit him. He pushed her back, her frail arms no match for his.
Aris was not dissuaded however, she drew a dagger and swung the sword again, knowing that at the moment she couldn't beat anyone with strength, but quickness she still possessed. He met her steel with his, but hadn't seen the dagger in her other hand. She plunged it into his stomach and he gasped, releasing his sword and falling to the ground.
She withdrew the dagger and lifted it to strike his heart next when her left shoulder was struck with an arrow. Aris barely kept a grip on the dagger. She belted it and raised the other arm, swinging the sword, "Die." she said swiftly beheading the source of her years of torture. She stared uncaring at the corpse as it fell sideways and she turned, her back to the river, to face the archer who had shot her.
She looked without fear at the group of slavers that had survived, they were weak and untrained, she could kill a few as payback before they got her. Aris straightened her shoulders, the left one still with an arrow embedded in the skin. She raised the sword in her right hand, as if motioning them forward.
It was then that she saw them. The Ra'zac climbing on their mounts. Aris knew they meant to pursue Katrina. She mindlessly sheathed the sword, ignoring the men that were coming closer. She took the bow from her back and knocked an arrow aiming at the chest of one of the Ra'zac. She released the arrow, but her aim wasn't true, it missed the Ra'zac, it didn't however escape their attention.
Their mounts flew at her and she hastily released another arrow, she managed to hit the nearest flying beast in the chest with it this time. It let out a horrendous high pitched shriek, causing the slavers running at Aris to hit the ground covering their ears. Aris simply stared, she knew it had only made them angry. "It will all be over soon." She thought and drew her sword, she could hold them off at least.
The beasts flew at her again, and Aris felt one of her knees give out, a sudden dizziness overcoming her. "Not now!" she yelled at her body, but her strength had failed her and she collapsed to her knees, "Let this be quick." She prayed, anxious to meet her mother again. She belted her sword and stared at her approaching death.
Before death took her though a great shudder crashed through the ground. A large shadow loomed overhead of Aris and she tilted her head back just in time to see the large blue dragon release flames from its maw. She looked back to see one of the Ra'zac taken in fire, the other rapidly retreating, as did the slavers. The dizziness increased and she fell onto her butt, a young man suddenly appearing beside her. He looked elfin and he was saying something to her, but all sound was blocked from her ears. He extended his hand but before she could reach out to grasp it, her vision blurred and the world went black.
A------------------------------------E
A/n: I hope that was intense enough for you, I'm not sure, there were so many other ways I could have written this chapter…but this one seemed best…so review, and I'll have the next chapter up soon.