"Murtagh, run!" Came a shout. It's origin was hard to determine due to the massive number of soldiers and Ravtelr battling along the base of a large volcano that had began to erupt when they arrived.
The red rider turned in time to see a charging monster headed his way. Zar'oc was already in hand, all Murtagh did was jump to the side and stop the swinging motion of a brutal ax. The weapons clanged together and the Ravtelr rammed into the rider, sending him several feet away.
He pounded into the ground harder than he expected, feeling the jagged ground tear into his flesh and hearing his armor grind into the black, volcanic rocks. He came to a sudden stop and had nearly seconds to react as the ax sliced through the air above him.
Murtagh rolled right and quickly returned to his feet. The Ravtelr was furious since it's target escaped, and Murtagh was getting the punishment.
The ax curved upward, knocking his sword to the side, then he was kicked in the chest. He was quick to recover and counter-attacked by striking randomly, ensuring that his opponent couldn't predict his next move. But a false hit forced Murtagh to dodge to the left, nearly missing the ax blade.
The monster snarled and lashed out with his claws, taking the rider by suprise. The sharp, spiked appendage smacked across his face, he barely saw the second attack coming. Zar'oc was raised just in time to block the ax, several sparks erupted from the collision.
Murtagh then ducked under the monster's arm, grabbing it with both hands as he went, and twisted it back. He heard a sharp crack and a roar of pain from the Ravtelr. Being behind his opponent he kicked in the left knee causing the creature to collapse, then with a forcefull twist he snapped it's neck.
The monster fell face-down in front of Murtagh. The war continued on behind him, drawing his attention back to his main goal; follow the Ravtelr up the volcano. There was a certain one he wanted revenge on.
He snuck around the battle and started climbing the steep trail that wrapped around the mountain. He looked up to see a large, thick pillar of black smoke billowing out of the peak. Shortly afterward a bright flash shot out of the top causing lava to rain down.
(End Vision)
Nasuada shot into the air. A pounding rattled her door several times before a woman's voice broke the constant battering.
"Nasuada!" It asked. "Is everything well?"
It was Queen Ayra.
Suddenly, as if they were not going to wait for a reply, the door crashed inwards, the hinges popping loose while one fell to the groundand bouced a couple times before settling. The door itself smashed into the ground.
Ayra entered and stopped at the bed-side while several elven soldiers filed in after her and began checking the room as if some enemy were hiding from them. As frieghtened and confused as Nasuada was, she refrianed from speaking.
"Monhier," said Ayra. "Heard you shouting. He didn't know if you were under attack, so he called us in."
Monhier was the guard stationed outside her room, he was a tall elf with dark hair and pale skin. His personality amused Nasuada due to the fact that he had never met a human before and did not understand their customs or manner of speaking.
"No, I'm quite fine." Nasuada replied, watching as the soldiers continued their search. "It was just an uncomfortable dream."
Ayra nodded and waved a hand to the elves, signaling them that everything was safe. She waited for them to leave before replying.
"Well, it's good to have you back." She then looked to the door. "I'll get a replacement before nightfall."
Nasuada smiled. Suddenly a presence entered her mind, ignoring her defences. It was a familair feeling, but it was uninvited. She cringed on instinct.
"Is something wrong?" Ayra asked, she stepped closer.
*Don't let her know that I'm here.* Said the presence.
She forced a smile and lied. "Yes, I'm just hungry, that's all."
Ayra nodded and started walking towards the open door. "I'll get someone to prepare you a meal and bring it to you." Then she left.
Nasuada waited until her footsteps receaded before continuing the conversation.
*What now?*
*I don't see what I did to not recieve a formal welcome. However, there is something more important than that, and you need to know about it.* Said Galbatorix.
*There better be a good reason for this, I had to lie to the Queen to protect you.*
Nasuada felt slightly bad for doing what she did. Galbatorix was their enemy and here she was keeping him safe. But even more unbelivable than that, he was helping her in some ways.
*Do you remember that dream you had in that old house, the one where Murtagh was killed.* Nasuada nodded. *Well, I believe that something is trying to warn you of an upcoming event.*
*How is that?* She asked.
He sounded annoyed. *Because, you keep have recurring dreams of Murtagh's death. But each time it's different. Am I right?*
She suddenly felt unnerved. *Yes, but... how do you know?*
*Nevermind that. What you should be concerned about is when each of these events are going to take place. That way you can prevent these deaths. Murtagh has a part to play in the upcoming war, and he can't act if he's dead*
(Vision)
The volcano grew steadily harder to climb as Murtagh got closer to the top. It diffused from a smooth, unbroken trail to a hazardous and uneven cliffside. With each step, it seemed, he grew more and more weary.
Every so often he would stop to rest and watch the battle, noticing that it had broken into several quadrants. The fighting was spreading along the platue, getting farther away from any reinforcements that might eventually show up. On the bright side, however, the Ravtelr were losing numbers fast.
He continued to climb, now only ten feet from the top. From there he could hear the bubbling of the lava within the crater and smell the thick smell of fire and brimstone. It was tiring work, but he finally broke the surface and stepped onto level ground.
There was a flattened ledge nearly fifty feet across that hung over the giant crater of the volcano. Along the edge were pillars made from the same black stone as the rest of the landscape. Old, crumbling structures lied everywhere giving Murtagh the impression that a temple once graced the peak of the mountain. Between each pillar stood a single Ravtelr, a complete number of five and a large one standing halfway across. All but the large monster wielded a brutal mace.
A crest of horns adorned the giant's head, like a natural crown, and lined his chin where they met two long spikes that jutted out like a cartilagous beard. A thick, muscular neck molded in broad shoulders broken apart by multiple spikes of different sizes. The bristles lined the back of the biceps and ended in a large protrusion at each elbow.
This was Murtagh's example of the appearence of the Devil.
Murtagh crawled over the edge and stood to his feet. "I've called other's ugly, but now..."
The monster released a short growl which the rider took as an unamused laugh.
"Send your best!"
Faster than Murtagh expected, the monster from between the two closest pillars lunged out and sprinted towards him, mace held above his head.
Seconds later Zar'oc met the other weapon in a shower of sparks. The Ravtelr locked their weapons together and then pushed agianst Murtagh, forcing him to slide across the ground, his boots grinding up loose rocks.
Unexpectedly the Ravtelr pushed Murtagh to the ground, disarming him in the process. Zar'oc went spinning through the air and landed hard several feet away. With no time to react, the rider rolled to the left hearing the jarring sound of the mace cracking the ground behind him.
He rushed to his feet and searched for his sword. A glimmer of red caught his attention on the opposite side of his opponent. But he was distracted by something else, a figure running from the pillars.
*Come on!* Murtagh shouted to himself. He was unable to fight the two Ravtelr unarmed.
Then an idea popped into his mind. But if it didn't work, then he would be dead.
He ran towards the approaching Ravtelr at full speed. He had to time it perfectly, which was hard considering his two opponents were not aligned correctly.
At just seven feet distance he lept through the air, dropping to the ground on the left side of the enemy who, running to fast to immedeatly halt, continued a short way from the rider. Perfect!
"Gath sem knífr un lam iet!" Shouted Murtagh, reaching in the direction of his sword.
In a burst of action Zar'oc lifted from the ground and shot, blade pointing towards him, through the Ravtelr that was turning around to attack. It passed completely through, making a clean hole in it's torso. Blood erupted from the wound following the forceful motion of the sword.
Murtagh, still reaching out, sprinted towards the Ravtelr that had ran passed him. Zar'oc twisted in the air it's handle fitting perfectly in the rider's hand, the speed of which jerked his hand back slightly.
The Ravtler, however quick he was, was to slow to block as Murtagh came trampling into him, slicing upwards as he went. The monster fell and Murtagh used the movement to drive Zar'oc into it's heart.
(End Vision)
Nasuada opened her eyes. She was lying face-first in her bed, completely unaware that she had passed out. She sat up and pulled her hair back.
*How long was I out?* She asked.
*About ten minutes. I figured you were seeing a vision so I left you alone.* Galbatorix said. *During that time a servant brought your food.*
She looked over to her desk where a platter sat, covered with a silver dome. She could see soft steam swirling into the air from the space between the plate and lid. Sadly, she had lost her apitite when Galbatorix started speaking, so she stayed in her bed.
*So do you know what's going on or not?* She asked, desperate for an answer.
It was a whole minute before he replied, it seemed like he had trouble comprehending the situation himself. *Say that all events are part of a straight line that continues on forever. This line is called Time. Running parallel to Time is another line called the Spirit world, that's were you go after you die. The Spirit world is connected to Time by gateways that attatch to every event that has ever happened.*
*If a spirit is strong enough, it can breach these gateways and pass into the Time line or Overworld. If their stronger they can pass between each realm multiple times, and if they want to they can travel between past and future. They can then alter events as they please in order to change the future. Often times a spirit will try and change it's physical death so that it never would have died to begin with.*
*What I think is happening is a spirit is feeding you these images in order for you to decide the outcome.*
Nasuada processed as much as she could before asking, *Is it possible to find out exactly is doing this?*
Galbatorix laughed. *Yes, it is actually quite easy, because a spirit can only visit or share events that it was physically involved with. For example, the spirit of me could return to this conversation, but the spirit of Ayra wouldn't because she was not a part of this event. So whoever was showing you the visions had to have been in the images you were seeing, and since Ravtelr have no spirit, I guess you are being visited by Murtagh's ghost.*
(A/N):
I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. It is actually a very important chapter in this story. I hope the Nasuada/Galby colab is working well with you all. Thanks for reading, I'll be back with another chapter, real soon.