I wasted a moment staring at the dragon before the rest of the scene below me snapped into my attention; Murtagh and a younger blonde boy I didn't recognize were fighting off Urgals. They're really good fighters I thought as I raced down to do what I could. Before I even arrived, however, the Urgals had knocked the blonde boy unconscious and began dragging him off. The dragon roared, but the Urgal holding the boy put a knife to his throat. The dragon immediately quieted, though continuing to glare and growl at the creatures.
If I come from behind, the Urgals won't see me. I can help them! I thought and increased my pace. Murtagh, not seeing me, charged the Urgals. No! I'm not close enough yet, and you'll never take them all! I thought with despair. As predicted, Murtagh took out two Urgals before he was delivered a savage blow to the head as well. I stopped and hid behind a tree. No use in getting myself injured, too.
The dragon, apparently not seeing or not caring that Murtagh had gone down, flew after the Urgals, trying to track the blonde boy, I guessed. I watched him until he woke, occasionally fending off bandits or slavers. I got my first good look at his face. To my surprise, he was very handsome, and I found myself blushing.
Quickly, I dressed his wound, cleaning it and stopping the bleeding. I hesitated to bandage it; if he was the suspicious type, which I'd already pegged him for, waking up after a battle with a treated wound would ring all kinds of alarm bells in his head. He might not trust me if he knew I'd been around while he was unconscious.
In the end, I decided to leave it. The bleeding had stopped, and I'd cleaned it before infection could set in. He'd be fine without a bandage. I retreated to my copse of trees and waited. When he did wake up, I watched him curse and stomp around the camp. From his mutterings, I gleaned the other boy's name; Eragon; and the reason behind Murtagh's presence in Gil'ead.
The man, Dormnad, was going to show them the way to the Varden. Apparently, the man I'd used to learn about Murtagh had given the same information to the wrong ears, which led to the attack. My suspicion that Eragon was the Rider, and not Murtagh, was confirmed as well, and confirmed again when she returned and ignored him with distaste. Apparently, these two were not on good terms. The scene was almost comical as Murtagh made himself dinner.
I slept in the copse with no dinner of my own; I had no cold food, and to make a fire a mere few yards away was so stupid it was laughable. I'd learned a long time ago to ignore the grumbling of my stomach; my only concern was that the dragon would hear it. I knew nothing about dragons; who knew how good their hearing was?
The next morning, the dragon, whose name I learned was Saphira, left to go hunting, and Murtagh went back into town, walking all the way around to avoid the marketplace. I followed him, seeing my chance. I climbed onto the rooftops, staying low. I knew I had to make a spectacular entrance for him to have any sort of confidence in my abilities. When he was alone, I dropped from the roof to land behind him, kneed the back of his knee to force him to stagger, then drove my knee into his back so I crouched on top of him with one knee in his back. I covered his mouth with my hand, enjoying his look of astonishment.
"I hear you and your friend are against Galbatorix. So am I, though not directly. But I have a more pressing need that I think you and your Rider friend can help me with." I said, before wincing slightly as the implication made itself clear to me. I released his mouth so he could answer.
"Let me up." He said menacingly. I was torn between being majorly intimidated and pleased that I'd found someone who would be the perfect fighting partner.
"Not until I know that you won't try to kill me or turn me in. I have no desire to bring the attention of authority to me." I said.
"Then you're in luck, because neither do I." He said, and I leaped off of his back. I saw surprise flit across his face and I became annoyed. Great. Another one who assumes everyone powerful is a guy. I scowled and held my dagger to his throat. He raised his eyebrow, and I was immediately shy of its shabbiness.
"Well? Will you help me?" I asked hostility.
"Depends."
"On?"
"On the chances that your knife will leave my neck, what you want me to do, and if you're willing to help me." I considered.
"The knife will leave your neck if I know I can trust you, and I will help you if I can. My need is simple; companions." He raised an eyebrow, and my face flamed. "Not like that, you twat! Travelling companions, to watch my back. There are men after me, and I've realized I can't keep them at bay on my own for much longer. I need help." My face softened into fear for a moment as i considered my impending fate if Murtagh didn't help me. Realizing what happened, I tightened my face and the hand holding my dagger. "So will you help me?"
"Alright. But you might not want to once you hear what I have to do."
I lowered the knife and laughed dryly. "Try me."
He cocked his head slightly and his brow furrowed. "Why are you so determined to have me come with you?"
"Because you and your friend have a dragon. And what could possibly be a better protector?" He stiffened.
"How did you know that?" He asked. I cursed in my head. I'd spent so long on my own, I'd forgotten that normal people aren't used to you knowing everything about them in minutes.
I tried to bluff. "Uh.. you had… dragon scales! Yeah! You had dragon scales…." I trailed off at his disbelieving look "uhhh… dragon poop? On your boots?" I said uncertainly.
He laughed. "You're a terrible liar." He said, amused. I let out a petulant humph.
"Alright, fine, I followed you out of the city two days ago. I saw that guy recognize you, so I waited until the market was closed and got information about you from him. He said you were a good fighter, so I planned on talking to you yesterday evening, but I was attacked about 3 hours before dawn. I had to get out of the city, so I had to find you earlier. I saw you being attacked by Urgals, but the battle was already over by the time I could get to you." I hesitated to tell him about treating his wound, but he figured it out for me.
"So that's what happened… I thought this was a worse wound. You must have treated it, didn't you?" I nodded sheepishly. "It's good work." He said grudgingly and I blushed a little.
"I've had to treat my fair share of battle wounds." I said. Flashbacks threatened to take over, but I pushed them back. Not now. "Anyways, that's how I know about her."
"Just how long were you watching?" He asked suspiciously.
"Oh, all day. And I've been following you around the city from up there." I pointed to the rooftops and he stared at me in disbelief.
"No way. That's not possible; I would've noticed you." He said.
"No, I'm just that good. But your skill impressed me, too. You almost found me after your meeting." The disbelief grew.
"You followed me from the meeting with Dormnad? Now that's not possible." He said decisively.
"Haven't you ever thought maybe someone's just better than you?" I asked, annoyed at his superior attitude. He frowned.
"There's no way you managed to follow me for that long without me noticing. No way. I've been on the run for too long." He said. I scowled and crossed my arms.
"Then how do I know that you wanted a way to the Varden?" I asked angrily. "And if you're going to be like this, maybe I don't even want you to help me." I said. His eyes widened, and I allowed myself satisfaction. I knew too much about him. There was no way he'd be ok with me just waltzing off.
"I suppose it might be possible." He said sullenly, and I had to fight back a laugh.
"Now, what is it that you need help with?" I asked. "I suppose it has to do with Eragon?" I asked. "I was watching you all day, remember?" I reminded him when surprise flitted across his face.
"Yes. Galbatorix knows he hatched Saphira. He knows what Eragon looks like, on a rudimentary level. He'll know that he has the Rider in his custody. Which means that we have to break him out of probably the second most guarded prison in Alagaesia. And we have to do it before word gets to Galbatorix, and he sends reinforcements or comes himself. We have a window of about 4 days. Are you up to the challenge?" He asked doubtfully.
I smirked. "Let's do it."