Chapter Sixteen

Ambush and Treachery

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

Aragon and Thelduin returned to Oromis's home, before collapsing exhausted onto their respective beds.
Three hours later, they were awake, by no means rested, and tired.

Aragon pulled everything they'd need for the up-coming hunt together: weapons, sleeping gear, provisions, a spare set of clothes, cooking gear, and Elmïra even gave him a map, detailing the entirety of Alagaësia.
When Aragon protested, saying he probably wouldn't be gone that long, Elmïra silenced him with a look.
'Take it, odds are you'll need it, whatever you might think.' She told him.
Aragon reluctantly pocketed the map, and went to leave.

'Oh, and here, drink this.' Said Elmïra.
Aragon turned just in time to catch a small bottle.
'What's this?' Asked Aragon.
'Faelnirv, after last night, you look like you could use it.' Said Elmïra brushing a strand of hair behind a pointed ear.
Aragon pulled the stopper from the flask, and cautiously took a swig, then gasped as it went down his throat, burning as it did.
Instantly, Aragon felt refreshed and restored.
'That's quite a drop.' Said Aragon in shock.

It certainly seems to have done you good, maybe it could do the same for me? Enquired Thelduin.
Aragon hesitated. It tastes real strange, and it feels like it's burning when it goes down your throat. He warned.
I'll be fine. Thelduin told him, then opened her mouth, a clear message for Aragon to give her some.
You do need your strength. Said Aragon, then poured the remainder of the faelnirv down Thelduin's gullet.
He only just managed to get his arm clear of Thelduin's jaws before they snapped shut and she reared back, eyes wide, and tail twitching. That stuff is strong. Agreed Thelduin, as she shook her head to clear it.

Aragon turned back to Elmïra. 'Thank you for that mistress, now we are ready to be off, most definitely.' He said.
'Good luck, student of mine.' She called after him, as Thelduin and Aragon exited Oromis's house.

She'd done it!
She'd done the impossible: Broken into one of the rider's nurseries and stolen a dragon egg.
Now, this deed should prove to the riders, and probably to the dragon within the egg, that she was worthy of becoming a rider.
She stopped in a grove, some miles distant from Ilirea, and made her way to a cave hidden therein.

In this cave, were her few belongings: a few tattered blankets, another set of clothes, as tatty and patched as the blankets, a few tarnished utensils, and a little carved wooden dragon she'd been given when she was seven by a passer by.
As for everything else she had, it wasn't much: another set of clothes that she was currently wearing, a canvas pack she'd stolen when she'd left Dras Leona, and a notched and rusty dagger she'd taken from the drunk inn keeper she'd worked for occasionally.

And now, she had a dragon egg.
She pulled the egg from her pack, and sat cross-legged, admiring it's smooth, reflective black surface, like a midnight pool that would never ripple, and eternally reflect the light.

'Such a pretty thing.' Said a voice from behind her.
She spun around, with a gasp, and saw a black haired youth with a blade-like nose, burning brown eyes that showed little white, making them appear almost black and sunk deep in their sockets, giving him a wild look, and a wide, thin mouth with down turned corners, and weather-beaten, pale, skin.
All up, he looked like a highly unsympathetic mad-man.
He was dressed in steel mail that somehow looked dull and dead, and didn't reflect the light.
There was a sword at his waist, a sword of pale green.

He was flanked by two men.

One had taut, pale skin, maroon eyes, and hair as red as wine, when he caught her looking at him, he gave a smile, revealing pointed teeth.
He too was clad in armour, but it was plate and mail, black as night, and immaculate, with a snakeskin cloak.

The other man had shoulder length grey hair that hung lankly around his lined, bloodless face, his eyes were a sickly yellow, and filled with shrewd cunning and malice.
He didn't smile at her, merely inclined his head.

'W-who are you?' She asked eyeing the three men warily.
She was afraid, but she wasn't going to let these people know.
The man with the grey hair chuckled. 'Fear hangs thick around you girl, we are… people who have our arguments with the riders, and would… like to sort them out.' He said.
The man with the red hair also chuckled. 'Our names wouldn't mean a thing to you, but maybe we should tell her anyway?' He enquired, looking at the young man with the burning brown eyes.
'If you would tell us your name first, we will give you ours.' He said, in a rich and evocative voice.

She scoffed. 'I'm an ex-slave, I was called 'Pious', during that time, but I go by another name now, one that I don't think you need to know.
'Well, Pious,' said the man with the lank grey hair, 'I am Angbard, The Lord of Shades.' Said Angbard with a haughty manner, and she felt a chill, not only was the man a shade he was the infamous Lord of Shades, a creature said to have come across the sea from the west, and to be literally heartless.
'I am Durza.' Said the man in the immaculate black armour simply. 'I am also a shade, although I do not serve the self-proclaimed lord. Yet.'
Now she was full-blown trembling with dread.

The man in the middle laughed. 'Now, now, no reason to scare the young lady to death, my friends.' He said, then looked at her with his burning gaze. 'I am Galbatorix, and the Riders have forsaken me.' He said.
He said something else, but she didn't hear it, as she passed out.

Galbatorix looked dispassionately at the girl who'd introduced herself as Pious. 'Bind her, then conceal yourselves, my servant shall be along shortly, and hopefully, he'll lure one of those bastards who denied me redemption here as well.' He said, and Angbard and Durza hurried to obey.
It grated on them to have to do this traitor-rider's will, but the rewards would be great.

Aragon leaned close to the path, examining the heavy prints that led away from the city.
It was fortunate it was so damp, and even more fortunate few people had headed for the city yet today, otherwise the thief-girl's prints would've been impossible to find.
'Thelduin, this way,' said Aragon gesturing further down the road.
He hadn't gone a dozen steps before the concussions of wing beats caught his attention.

Aragon looked back, irritated that he couldn't be left to such a simple task alone, and saw the familiar golden-yellow form of Seithrena landing a slight way behind him.
He sighed, and Thelduin stopped short, and came black to crouch beside Aragon.

They waited while Dorian unstrapped himself from his saddle, then pulled the goggles on his helmet up from his eyes, and above the small brim of the helm, he then dismounted onto the muddy road, heedless of his immaculate brown leather boots.
'Aragon!' Called Dorian cheerily as he strode up, 'I'm glad I caught up with you, as this is your first assignment, Seithrena and I thought you might appreciate some company.' He said jovially.
Aragon had to use every ounce of his self-control to remain civil.
This was the man who'd tried to ruin his chances of joining the riders in the first place, and had tried to kill him after his first attempt to prevent his joining had failed, after all.

'Master Staves, if you wish to join me on this hunt, that is your decision, but Master Eragon was very clear on the point that the girl be brought back alive if possible. So, if you accompany me do not draw your sword unless no other option remains, or if she draws a weapon first.' Said Aragon seriously.
Dorian frowned. 'Was that an order?' He asked suspiciously.
'No,' said Aragon smoothly, 'that was an ultimatum: If you wish to accompany me, you should abide by it, if not then you can either return to Ilirea, or alternatively, hunt the girl out yourself. Your choice really.' He explained.

Thelduin glanced at Dorian, with a worried look in her eyes, then at Seithrena with the same look.
Something's not right with him today, but I just can't figure out what. She told Dorian privately, then said the same thing to Seithrena.
Be watchful of him mistress, I do not think all is as it seems here. She added to the great gold-yellow she-dragon.
Yes young one, I saw his memories during the test in Tierm; this behaviour seems very out of character for him. Replied Seithrena.
You're right, this isn't like him at all, even if Aragon is holding a grudge against your rider, he wouldn't act this way. Said Thelduin concernedly.

Dorian and Aragon proceeded on foot, following the girl's trail as it led off the road, and into a small grove, from where her path became harder to follow.
Seithrena was circling the grove high above, while Thelduin watched from the trees, looking for all the world to be a large, long tailed lizard.
Up ahead, they saw a small clearing with a fire burning in the centre, and the thief-girl sitting by the fire enjoying a meal.
'Quiet and stealthy from hereon out.' Said Aragon, before dropping to the ground and crawling through the underbrush as quietly as he could.

She sat by the fire, barely touching the hot food the traitor-rider and the two shades had given her.
She was too scared to eat properly.
When she heard the noise of someone moving stealthily through the undergrowth, she didn't react.
If she did, if she tried to warn whoever it was, then she would die at a snap of their fingers.

A flicker of movement caught her attention.
She glanced sharply at it, and saw a strange, long bodied lizard lounging in a tree, watching her curiously.
She'd never seen a lizard like it before, and it took her mind off of the traitor-rider hiding in the trees, and the two shades hiding gods-knew-where.

'Well, if it isn't the thief-girl who stole the dragon egg.' Said a calmly mocking voice from behind her.
She snapped around, and found herself looking at the boy she'd kicked in the groin that morning during her escape.
She hadn't noticed at the time, because she was too busy trying to escape, but he looked quite handsome, in a sort of careless, untidy way.
But, there was something decidedly wrong with him.
When she met his eyes, she got the distinct impression he didn't know what he was doing, or where he was, as if-
Oh gods! He's bewitched! She realised with a sickening jolt.

'You know,' said the boy casually, putting his hands on his hips, and leaning against a tree, 'the Masters back in Ilirea are rather impressed with what you did, even sent me out to bring you back, find out just how you did it, there'll be food, drink, a safe place to sleep, and from what the Scion said, there'll be no punishment if you return the egg you stole.' Said the boy.
A hard arm gripped her around the neck, and pulled her to her feet.
'And you don't have a choice whether you come or not.' Growled a hard voice in her ear.
She felt a presence in her mind, and it wasn't the presence of Galbatorix or the shades, so she did the one thing she could:
This is an ambush, your companion is bewitched! Get out of here before they come back! She screamed mentally.

That's when things started happening very quickly.

Dorian stiffened as he heard the girl's mental shout, and immediately, Seithrena dived towards the clearing.
Angbard and Durza literally climbed out of the trees they'd concealed themselves in, stepping from the living wood like phantoms, then Galbatorix stepped from the trees, so he was flanked by Angbard and Durza.
Thelduin! Grab the girl and go for help! Dorian bellowed mentally, then threw the girl bodily into the air, till she hung in space a full twenty feet above the tree tops.
Thelduin surged from her branch, and into the air, size-shifting as she did so, and grabbing the girl in her forepaws as she began to fall.

After he'd thrown the girl, Dorian drew his yellow and gold sword with whiplash speed, as Seithrena crashed to the ground beside him.
High above, Thelduin barrelled back towards the city.

'Stop that thing!' Snarled Galbatorix, and Angbard immediately spat a foul spell, summoning a beast from his native land to pursue Thelduin.
It was slightly larger than Thelduin, and looked like the bastard offspring of a Fanghur, and a species of bird that inhabited the Beor mountains, that the dwarves called 'Ak-Baba'.
A smell of decay and burning hair and dust hung around the vulture-like creature, as it beat it's mighty wings and pursued Thelduin towards Ilirea.

Throughout this, Aragon simply stood, unmoving, and unreactive.
Deep down inside, he was wondering why he was simply leaning against a tree, hands on hips while Two shades and some vagabond with a rider's sword sized up one of the elder riders.
Then the vagabond began to speak, and Aragon wondered how he could ever have doubted the voice's owner of being anything but benevolent.

This didn't see too heavy an edit, just elaborated a little on the appearance of an Ak-Baba for those who haven't read the Deltora Quest series', or seen any of the awesome artwork done by Marc Mcbride that is associated.

No One-liners!