CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: You Die, So Do I

"I'm here without you, baby

But you're still on my lonely mind

I think about you, baby

And I dream about you all the time."

- Here Without You, 3 Doors Down

"NO!" The scream came from Delia before even she realized it. She stared at where Tristan was falling, falling towards the ground, her violet eyes wide with horror. Fafnir quickly grabbed his Rider with a talon, but Tristan wasn't moving. Whatever magic Zander had used on him, it had rendered him motionless. Delia was struggling to breathe as she wondered if he was dead. Fafnir retreated back to the Varden with his unconscious Rider.

Galbatorix laughed at Delia's horror. "It is in times such as these when I am truly proud of my son."

His son…Zander was his son? Delia's stomach lurched. It certainly made sense. They were both cold, cruel individuals. Zander continued to push on, easily killing Varden soldiers. Mordecai had just leaned down to pick up his second sword when a tremendous bellow made him look up.

Fafnir was rising up into the air once more, an armoured figure on his back raising Sundavar above their head. At first Mordecai thought it was Tristan…but that couldn't be. The boy was injured and besides, this figure was…different. It definitely was not the Green Rider and as Fafnir bore down on the enemy, the armoured figure reached up and pulled the helmet from their head.

On the ground, Murtagh and Eragon had paused to watch – and Murtagh felt his heart lift as he saw the blonde hair streaming out behind the person on Fafnir's back. There was no mistaking who it was now. But…how had she escaped Uru'baen?

Ashen.

There was something savage in Ashen's expression as she bore down upon the battle, hair whipping wildly in the breeze as she lifted Sundavar high. A Rider's blade…with Tristan injured, Fafnir had allowed Ashen to take her brother's place. Ashen felt murder in her heart as she searched for the one who had hurt her brother, searched for Zander.

Then her gaze fell upon the Shade Mordecai and dread filled her, threatening to overwhelm her, as she realized what she must do. Delia was duelling Galbatorix and Eragon was occupied with Murtagh. Tristan was unconscious, so it was up to her now. She couldn't communicate with Fafnir in the same way Tristan could, but she could talk to him.

"Fafnir, take me down, please. I have a score to settle."

Not the Shade, Fafnir sounded worried, Ashen, you know that your brother would never let you…

"I don't care!" Ashen snapped, her grip tightening around Sundavar's hilt, "Tristan's the one who's injured, not me. I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need to be a Rider to do this. I have to…for Colton."

Fafnir was quiet for a few moments. He understood the fierce love between these siblings, how they would do anything for each other. He had seen it in Tristan when Ashen had been captured and he saw it now in Ashen.

Alright. But know that neither Tristan nor I condone this.

Ashen didn't reply. When Fafnir landed, she slipped down off his back and slashed her way through the enemy, tainting Sundavar's green blade with the red of Imperial blood. There was no mistaking Mordecai's crimson hair from where she stood. Ashen moved closer to him, knowing that he could fell her easily – but she had to try. Because if she didn't, who else would?

"Shade!"

Mordecai whirled around and smiled deviously at the slender blonde girl who marched towards him bearing her brother's sword. This young girl wasn't even a Rider. How did she possibly expect to defeat him?

"You think to avenge your brother's death?"

Ashen pressed her lips together in a firm line. "Durza has already been killed."

Mordecai's smile widened. "Oh, no. I wasn't talking about Colton."

Ashen knew that Tristan wasn't dead because Fafnir was still around. However, that wasn't to say Mordecai wasn't planning on killing him. That thought enraged Ashen. One of her brothers had already been killed by a Shade. She wouldn't have the same thing happen to Tristan.

Without thinking, she swung Sundavar viciously towards Mordecai's head. The Shade blocked the blow and the impact sent Ashen staggering backwards. Hellfire, he was so strong…but she wasn't giving up. Murtagh had told her not to fight Zander, but he had never said anything about fighting Shades. She slashed at Mordecai again and again, but it was no use. Her anger gave way to despair and she was acutely aware that the Shade was toying with her.

Mordecai swung at her and the force of the blow was so great that Ashen went wheeling backwards, crashing to the dirt. She glared up at her foe and knew the Shade did not think of her as a threat, because he did not strike her down. Instead he just watched her with a smug look about his face – a look she was determined to wipe away.

Ashen, furious and dirt-spattered, clambered to her feet with her teeth bared in savage rage. With a cry, she lunged towards Mordecai again, hammering her blade down again and again. She needed to feel that she was accomplishing something. The Shade wasn't just paying attention to her – at the same time, he was sending waves of red magic at the rocks where the Varden's archers had stationed themselves.

Mordecai laughed as he easily batted Sundavar down. Ashen only just managed to hold onto the sword – except before she could strike again, Mordecai had her by the throat and she was kicking uselessly at thin air about two feet above the ground.

"Pathetic," he sneered, "I could crush you with my bare hands. You are hardly worth my time."

"Do it," Ashen choked, trying in vain to loosen the Shade's hold around her throat. "If I'm just dirt under your feet…do it."

He wouldn't and Ashen knew why. If she was dead, Galbatorix couldn't manipulate Tristan and Murtagh. Taking his hesitation to her advantage, Ashen weakly stabbed at him with Sundavar. Mordecai hissed in pain as the blade slashed his shoulder and he released her.

Ashen knew that her chance was now or never. She whirled around behind the Shade while he was still agonizing over his wound – and with a war cry, she lifted Sundavar and drove it straight through his back so that the tip of the sword came out through his chest. Mordecai's eyes widened in shock as Ashen withdrew the sword and stalked around to face him with contempt on her face.

"You say I'm weak?" she hissed at him. "I'm willing to die for what I believe in. Are you, Mordecai?"

The Shade glowered at Ashen and as he reached for her, he looked so like Durza that her eyes widened in fear and she dropped Sundavar and staggered blindly backwards, caring about nothing but getting away from him. Then he howled in agony and rage and seemed to burst apart into fragments of darkness.

Ashen leaned down to pick up Sundavar and swung it in a quick circle as she glanced around her, shocked. I have killed a Shade.

As soon as he'd seen Ashen on Fafnir's back, Murtagh lowered Zar'roc from Eragon's throat and instead held out his hand to help his younger half-brother to his feet. Eragon stared at him suspiciously for a moment or two, before he grasped Murtagh's proffered hand and was pulled up. Both Riders glanced across at Ashen, watching with awe as she wheeled around behind the Shade Mordecai and delivered the fatal stab.

"She's more powerful than I thought," Eragon muttered, glancing surreptitiously at Murtagh. "You said that Galbatorix had her prisoner. So why is she here?"

Murtagh shook his head. He honestly didn't the answer any more than Eragon did. He shielded his eyes as he looked up at where Delia and Aziza were battling Galbatorix and Shruikan, before he turned to Thorn.

You have to tell Aziza to pull back. We need to regroup.

Eragon glanced questioningly at Murtagh. "If you are really on our side…now that Ashen's free, this means you will fight with us."

A grim smile crossed Murtagh's lips. "Aye. To the death."

Someone was rushing towards them, sheathing their bloody sword. Eragon recognized the raven-black hair of the elf Arya. Her eyes were wide as she glanced up towards where Fafnir was hovering almost uncertainly.

"Tristan must be injured." Her gaze turned almost accusingly on Murtagh. "So you are indefinitely on our side, Murtagh Morzansson? We need to be certain. There is much at stake here."

"I am." Murtagh inclined his head.

Arya nodded slowly. "That is good. There is more hope. But I can no longer attend to matters on the battlefield. I fear that Tristan's wounds may be severe and I must assist the healers. No matter the cost to me, the Riders must fight Galbatorix."

Eragon observed her carefully for a few moments, looking as though he was holding something back.

"Be careful."

Arya stepped forward and opened her mouth as if to say something, then her green eyes flashed with something almost fierce and she kissed Eragon lightly on the lips, before turning and running back through the midst of the battle. Eragon looked rather dazed, as though someone had clubbed him over the head, and he touched his lips disbelievingly.

"She…she kissed me."

Murtagh chuckled at the look of awe on Eragon's face, but there was no time to tease him about it – Delia and Aziza landed nearby and the elf Rider dismounted her dragon and stalked over to where Eragon and Murtagh were standing.

"This had better be worth my while," she snapped at the pair of them, jabbing a finger at Murtagh, "If you even think about turning on us, I will slay you. Is that understood, Red Rider?"

Murtagh had no wish to ignite the wrath of Delia and he nodded fervently.

"I have no desire to turn against you and I never have. My only enemy is Galbatorix."

Delia's eyes glimmered with approval and a vicious smile curved the corners of her lips. Eragon remembered the anguish in her cry when Tristan had fallen. She cared for him – and this was partially to do with vengeance. Not just for Tristan. For the fallen Riders. For those of her people had died.

A flash of silver-white hair caught Murtagh's attention and his eyes narrowed as they followed Zander's path. He turned his head and saw Ashen fighting an Imperial soldier, her teeth bared and Sundavar still in her possession. There was no doubting that that was where Zander was heading – and Murtagh had to stop him.

"You take care of Galbatorix," he told Delia and Eragon, his voice hard. "I'll deal with his magician."

Delia called out something, but her words were lost to Murtagh as he moved towards the battle with Zar'roc clutched tight in his hand. Riding on Thorn's back would have been quicker, but there was no clear path to Ashen that way and it would have meant passing by Imperial archers. Murtagh knew that he was going to kill Zander for what the man had done to Ashen.

Ashen was weary and there was a nasty cut on the side of her head that she refused to acknowledge – yet there was no change in the ferocity with which she wielded her brother's sword. It was only when she saw the silver-white hair of Zander that she felt dread. She had fought and killed a Shade, so surely she would be able to deal with him.

"I'm impressed," Zander said as he advanced on her, a thin, curved sword swinging almost lazily from his grasp. "You managed to escape Uru'baen."

"It wasn't hard," Ashen shot back, "You and your father both – you're so arrogant. He thought that you would be able to hold me prisoner with only a few soldiers left to spare in the palace…how wrong he was."

A nerve twitched in Zander's forehead and the disdainful smile was wiped clean from his face. Suddenly he wasn't so confident anymore. Ashen had managed to best him once and he was determined that she would not do so again.

"You think you are so clever," he sneered at her, "Just because you managed to kill a Shade. Mordecai was a fool. Pain doesn't hinder me."

"We'll see about that," Ashen replied grimly.

Zander raised his hand. "Garjzla."

Ashen was ready for him. She held up her own hand and quickly retaliated with; "Skolir!"

The light bounced off Ashen's invisible shield, but when they both released their magic Zander noticed with a smirk how she struggled to stand straight. The use of magic was taking its toll on her. Unlike him, she was just an amateur and would not last very long at all.

Zander lunged at her with his sword. She easily blocked the blow – he was not as powerful a swordsman as Mordecai, but she feared that he would use more magic and then she would be done for. As they battled on, Zander began to realize that Ashen was far more skilled with a sword than he was. Teeth bared in anger, he used his free arm to backhand her.

Ashen spat out blood and gingerly brought her hand up to touch her split lip. She glared at Zander, loathing him for playing dirty – although she could hardly expect him to fight fair, when his father had defeated Vrael by kicking him between the legs.

"Where is your Murtagh?" Zander taunted her. "Where is he when you need him the most?"

"Killing your bastard of a father," Ashen hissed, raising Sundavar and slashing at Zander again. This blow caught him off-guard and he stared down at the blood trickling from the new wound on his arm. Then he tilted his head to the side and looked at Ashen almost consideringly and she could definitely see the madness in his green eyes now.

Zander knocked Ashen's feet out from underneath her so that her vision swam and her head felt like a rock had been cracked over it. She managed to drag herself backwards and she felt around for Sundavar – which had fallen from her grasp when she'd hit the ground – but Zander kicked it out of reach.

"Now you are afraid," Zander laughed. "Afraid of the monsters that dwell in the darkness…the Shade Durza, me…"

Ashen just shook her head slowly. "You're insane."

Then suddenly there was something, someone inside her head. She screamed at the pain of it as the invader…Zander…forced his way into her mind, searching for her memories. It felt as though he was burning her alive. She felt back onto the ground and rolled in the dirt, pressing her hands to her temples and sobbing hysterically at the sheer agony.

Colton at fifteen years old, teaching her how to use a sword…Colton and Tristan involved in a friendly brawl as she watched and tried not to laugh…Colton kissing her on the forehead as he left her for the last time…Colton screaming as Durza tortured him…

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Zander was standing over her with a cruel smile on his face as he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to her feet, making her grimace. She tried to break free, but he just tugged her closer.

"You know, it's a shame that Murtagh isn't around to see this. If he truly loves you, Ashen, then why can't he stop me from doing this?"

There was a searing pain as Zander's sword pierced Ashen in the stomach. It was too crippling an agony for her to even scream. She opened her mouth and the only noise that escaped her was a hoarse gasp, before Zander gave her one last look of contempt before he threw her to the ground.

"I think I shall take Sundavar as well," Zander called to her as she lay there with a hand pressed over the wound in her stomach – so much blood, no, no, there was just too much of it, all over her, everything… "It will make a fine prize for the Empire's victory."

Then he turned and walked away, but he was only gone a few moments before Ashen was vaguely aware of someone calling her name. A dark-haired young man knelt by her side, his eyes filled with tears. Murtagh.

"You can't die." He sounded like his heart was breaking, breaking, breaking. "Look at me. Don't you dare give up on me now. Sing to me – like you sang before, remember?"

The song from the dungeons. The song of utter hopelessness and despair. It pained her to cry, but she did so anyway, the tears tracking through the grime on her face. She could feel the life ebbing out of her. There was just so much blood. She opened her mouth and her voice was hoarse.

"Just one last dance…before we die…I'll try my…hardest…not to cry…I'll close my eyes…pretend it's real…maybe…remember…how to…feel."

Then the pain started to fade and Murtagh watched with pure horror as the light died from Ashen's eyes and she fell limp as he cradled her close, sobbing his heart out. He could take anything, anything…but not this.

"No. No. I can't lose you as well. NO!"

Murtagh threw back his head and cried out in pure agony. His whole world had shattered around him and he kissed Ashen's cold, dead lips, willing her back to life. He had lost everything…and now he had lost her.