Hamza: I don't know. Without a story there's suspense. :) A darker blonde. I've had light blonde since I was ten.
Obliterator1519: Because something of serious importance, the silver egg's rider, threw that trust away. Eragon found out that Aesire was withholding that information, which caused doubt. Good question. :)
FlexManSteel: What do you mean?
Antclift: :) She's an elf. They're crazy. Because I've had the same color for six or seven years now and I think a new color would look better. :) Thank you, though.
The constant flicker of the light from the lake of fire around him made Eragon drowsy. Regardless, his mind was kept well awake by the heavy book that rested in his lap and the words in held. It was the book of Bloodfire, the third of the three that he, Aesire and Arya had found. A week had passed since that first foray into the depths of Dras'Leona. He had immediately set the twelve elves sent to protect him to gathering and studying all the books in the great chamber. He and Aesire were busy with the three that had been placed on the raised platform in the lake of candle oil. Eragon had told Arya to go back to the surface after the first day, continuing to pester her about it until she caved in.
Aesire shut his book, almost having to raise his arm over his head to do so. "Lunarmist," he said, ambivalently. "From the glyphs that make some sense I can tell you it's the power that resides in my right eye; my ability to command any to do as I wish."
"These must be the books Galbatorix spoke of in Belatona. He said they were in Uru'baen, though."
"That wouldn't make for a good lie," Aesire said, looking around the chamber. "This place looks old enough to collapse any day. That's probably why he built the citadel over it. I imagine he's just stalling for time until the corrosion of the citadel's weight collapses and buries the books. Based on the current status of these walls I'd say they were made by inexperienced hands quite some time ago. It's a miracle this place is still standing. What does your book say?" he asked, sitting down beside him.
"Bloodfire," Eragon said, shutting his book. "If I interpret it correctly, the spell can be cast without a caster. The wording was too complex for me to understand a good portion of it. What I can understand is that it could be the spell cast onto the magic itself to restrict magic's capabilities and to change it."
"Is that of much significance?"
"It could easily be one of the most powerful spells in the entire realm of magic. Bloodfire could be the base of all magic."
"And by that you mean..."
"All spells must have a start point. For instance, when I killed Durza, every spell he had ever cast, like the one of the Urgals, was immediately lifted. The Urgals were freed from his control because without Durza, the spell had no base to draw energy from and without energy, a spell can not continue. Bloodfire could be the base of the whole realm of magic."
"In other words, destroy the book and you destroy magic?"
"No. Magic existed long before the spell made to bind its powers was created. And I doubt that if you destroyed this book that bond would be severed, because of the dragons involved in its making. They have a way of influencing events beyond comprehension or expectation."
"This is absurd!" Aesire exclaimed, crossing his arms. "Why would Galbatorix just leave these here, waiting to be found and used against him?"
"Perhaps he didn't have a choice in the matter. Or perhaps he intended to come back to get them long ago but couldn't. Eldunari in high numbers don't travel well."
Aesire nodded, though still seemed concerned. It was a feeling Eragon shared. "What about the third book?" asked Aesire, pointing to the book of Shadowlight. They had not even gotten to it, being so taken up by the other two. Eragon shrugged.
"May as well." He picked up the book, which was conspicuously lighter than it should have been, and opened it. Eragon read it aloud, the words echoing through the chamber.
"Before the fair Elves and vicious Dragons began their bloody conflict an Elven Lord whose name has burned to a crisp in the flame of time found a spell without an equal. This spell is known currently as The Shadowlight, but was not named such for centuries after its discovery."
"Shadowlight was the second of the Three Great Spells found, harnessed, and sealed away for fear of their powers. Legend speaks of the moon crumbling and sun exploding on the day that these Three Spells were brought together. Bloodfire, Lunarmist, and Shadowlight were never meant to come into contact. Alone, they are harmless. Two together, they could kill. But all three at once would bring about catastrophe without comparison."
"Shadowlight has a power unlike the other two, as they have powers unique from Shadowlight. Shadowlight has the power to grant a being, whether it is the Humans that walk the earth or the Dragons that sore the skies, the power and authority to reach back in time and affect what was and what will be. This spell was bound away for fear of the tapering with the world itself. If this spell is cast in opposition with destiny, then the being that cast it will cease to exist. Many things govern the use of this Spell."
"Firstly, if your desire is to cast this spell and change the past, you can only affect those things in which you could have affected. For instance, you cannot go back and change events before your birth, for you could not have affected them without the spell. Secondly, though you can choose to affect anyone or anything you wish in the past, you can only cast Shadowlight to affect one thing. Thirdly, in order to cast this spell you must offer up a very piece of the fabric of your existence. Whether it be an offering of your flesh or your ability to cast magic does not matter. Lastly, through the use of this spell you cannot kill someone. You cannot attempt to convince someone to kill someone, including yourself."
Eragon closed the book. "After that I can't make out the glyphs." Eragon opened up the book to the last page, where three paragraphs of intricate wording had been scribed in with a glyph style that made Eragon dizzy trying to read.
"Don't bother," Aesire said. "There was a spell cast onto those words so that only certain people could read it."
"So what did Lunarmist tell you?"
"Nothing I didn't know already."
"So nothing interesting?"
Aesire looked back at him. "Did I say that?" Without waiting for a response he said, "Each of the books has a small page at the back with a glyph style that someone cast a spell on. Without knowing exactly who can read those words, we can't decipher their meaning and thus they are useless to us."
"So, who would Galbatorix only want to be able to read those words?"
"That's making an irrational conclusion."
"How so?"
"Galbatorix himself told us he didn't make the books; he found them. The spells on those words are at least a millennium old."
"So the question that will unlock these books' true potential is who did the Elves; or whoever made these books, only want to be able to read those glyphs?"
Nasuada stifled a shudder as she looked down into the dark chasm the led to the library at the end of the pathway. Three of her guards accompanied her, two humans and a dwarf, while the others guarded the entrance into the deep passages. She stepped into the chamber with a feeling of awe. The books lining the walls surpassed any number she had seen in one place before.
"Ah, Nasuada," a vibrant voice said from above her. She turned to look and her heart jumped a beat as she saw Aesire standing above her. He ran down the stairs that lead to the upper levels, holding several large books in his arms which he set on the ground beside him. An expression of jubilant excitement adorned his face. The sleeves of his tunic were rolled up and a cloth band was wrapped around his head to ward against the powerful heat in the chamber. Nasuada's eyes grew transfixed on his arms, which bulged with outward muscle and shimmered from sweat. "Nasuada," Aesire said, snapping his fingers. She shook her head, berating herself for allowing her mind to get away from her.
"Yes? Have you found anything?"
"These books," he said with a grin, "depict events and eras that dwarf our current one. The detail put into these pages make it seem like you're there and not here. It is truly amazing."
"And so I am here for no other reason than for you to tell me this?"
Aesire shrugged. "Well, that and I just wanted to see you." Nasuada's heart quickened. Because of this she responded with more anger than she had intended.
"I am the leader of an army, Lord Aesire, and if you believe the only thing I have to do is come down here to see a few old books you are very mistaken. Now get some results!"
Aesire's smile rose. He set down the last book he was holding and dipped into a standing bow. "As you command it, so it shall be done, Lady Nasuada. I cannot affect the information harvested from these books; I will search with the tireless energy of a thousand elves." He reached out and took her hand. As he did, his skin ignited a wild fire in hers. "If even a spark of information that fits your desires arises, I will immediately bring the news to you myself." He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. "I said I would serve the Varden and I meant it. I will obey your every order." He stood with a flourish and made his way over to a raised dais in the center of a pool of fire, sat and began reading. Why does my heart beat so fast when I look at him?
"My Lady," one of her guards said. "Do we return to the surface?"
"I will," she said. "You stay here and make yourselves useful where you may."
"Nasuada, what of your..."
"If my safety is such a concern to you, I will appoint Roran Stronghammer, who has the blood of five hundred men, as my personal bodyguard. Now do as you are told." She turned and made her way across the chasm of darkness. Her heart and thoughts continued to race. When she got to the surface, she gave orders to her guards to follow her at a discrete distance so she could think in quiet. Then she went wandering through the streets of Dras'Leona, hoping that the fire in her veins would calm. It did not. No matter how long she paced or how many times she fanned herself she could not get her heart to slow down.
As she turned the corner of a street she had passed six or seven times a clear voice said, "You smell agitated." She looked at the base of the building next to her where she saw Aesire's wolf friend leaning against the structure.
"You," she said.
"Me," Hola said, dully. "What a pointless statement to make. I cannot answer or add onto it in any way. Hardly a conversation starter."
"I do not have time for this," Nasuada said and struck off in a random direction. The fact that the woman was following her was as obvious to Nasuada as the fact that it was day. For nearly twenty minutes she followed in silence before the wolf woman said, "Hola." Nasuada stopped and looked back at her. The woman's wolf ears were set out into full display, slightly twitched back and her tail waved back and forth.
"I beg your pardon?"
The woman looked up at her. "You wanted to know my name and now you do. Hola."
"Ah. Hola. That is a nice name." When Nasuada started to walk again, she felt more comfortable in Hola's presence. "May I ask you something, Hola?"
"But of course."
"If someone stole Aesire away from you, what would you do? I ask only because I saw how furiously you fight."
Hola looked up at a pair of swallows flitting by. "What would I do?" she asked, almost to herself. Then she returned her attention to the ground in front of her. "I guess it would depend on the circumstances."
"Such as?"
"Well if Aesire was stolen from me and the woman that did it for some moronic reason told me, I would likely rip open her entrails, boil them in a pot of her own blood and eat them under a red full moon. I would probably keep her head as a souvenir so that every night before I went to sleep I could sink my fangs into her flesh."
Nasuada gulped and looked down at Hola out of the corner of her eye. Does she...no, that's impossible. "And if he wasn't? If he allowed himself to be stolen away?"
Hola's golden eyes grew thoughtful and then she allowed them to look up at the azure sky, where they grew distant. "If by some miracle of the devil's making Aesire fell in love with another and it would make him happier than being with me, than I would support it."
"What?" Nasuada was astounded.
"If I could not satisfy Aesire, then I would want whatever, or whoever, could do so. Aesire means more to me than my ears or my tail."
"Why would you care about those?"
"Because they are single things that set me apart from those that I hate. If I did not have them, I would be exactly like those that mocked me and laughed at me for being different. I covet them as I covet him. If anyone," she said with a growl that sent a shiver down Nasuada's spin. "Endangered Aesire, I would hunt them down like a man does a deer and show them no mercy. You say I am formidable on the field of battle?"
"Yes, quite," Nasuada said, hoping the fear was not evident in her voice.
Hola tossed her head so that her hair fanned out behind her. "Then you should see me when my opponent cannot fight back and I don't have to think about what Aesire would think of me." Hola turned down a side street and disappeared like a shadow.
That's it, she thought. Forget about him. She's too furious. Just listening to her talk is enough to make me terrified.
Then, somewhere in the far back of her mind, there came a voice that was like dripping honey. Whatever are you talking about? Think of what you have done, Nasuada. You fought in the Battle for Farthen Dur when others thought it only logical you flee. You shouldered command of the Varden when there were many other candidates. You cut your arms nine times during the Trial. You are doing everything humanly possible to overturn a dictator. Don't you deserve some comforts? An image of Aesire from earlier came to her mind; his arms flexing with muscles and his entire body gleaming as if he were lit from inside with golden light. "Nasuada, you are gorgeous tonight!" Aesire took her hand and pressed it against his chest. "Come with me. Let me undress you and feel your body pressing against mine. Let me run my tongue up your naked body to your stunning breasts. Let me taste your exotic skin and feel you quiver as I taste your womanhood. Let me press myself inside of you and hear you scream as you climax. Let me take you to a place of heat and darkness so that we can make love in peace." Then the image of her and Aesire locked together so tightly a piece of paper could not fit between them faded. "Do you not deserve to be loved?"
He loves Hola.
"And she just said that if he loved another then she would be fine. What does Hola matter before the passion that exists between you and Aesire? You saw how he looked at you. You heard what he said. He wanted to see you. He would lie about the thing that enthralls him the most just to get two glimpses of you. He even said that he would obey your every command. Perhaps I am wrong, but that sounds like a door opening to me. A door to a lockable room with a bed and a fire of naked passion. Just imagine what his hardened manhood would feel like."
Nasuada swallowed hard past the lump in her throat. "I'll do it," she said to herself.
Reader: Yep, that is defiantly the smell of another serial adultery in the making. Or just adultery and not serial. Why would you break of an awesome couple like Hola and Aesire?
Me: I wouldn't.
Reader: Then why are you?
Me: Just keep reading and you'll find out.
Man, I could not find a graceful way to end that chapter. I got my hair dyed and I'm getting a light tan tomorrow. All in all, I feel pretty good. :)