Chap 16 For the Battle
The skies were clear blue, barely a cloud hovering over the lands. Saphira, Thorn, Okapi, Shruikan and Kali soared south towards the army waiting for them. All of them had their Riders and Marcie flew on Kali. The trees and streams flew below them.
It had surprised all of them when Galbatorix had joined them. They knew that now that he was there, it would make things difficult for them. Kali said she had a plan but she did not tell anyone what it was. They flew for a day and night, not bothering to stop. By dawn they saw the back lines of the Empires army. They all descended and landed in a space big enough for all the dragons. Kali changed back into herself the moment she landed to give them more space.
They all looked across the fields. The land sloped down from all side making the land like a shallow bowl. Both armies stood at the edges but the group could easily see the Varden. She whistled shrilly and after a few minutes Marlon flew to her shoulder. She handed him a piece of paper and he immediately flew off towards the direction of the Varden.
"Where is he going?" Eragon asked. They all stared at her.
"Sending a message," she replied swiftly, "Nothing much really." She looked up, "How long?" Kali asked the general who had just arrived.
"They arrived just last night, milady," he answered quickly.
"Why did you not attack?" Murtagh asked as he dismounted from Thorn. He picked Marcie up.
"We sent a messenger to them but they answered that they would say so later. They seem to be waiting for something," he replied.
Kali nodded her head and dismissed him. Just as he was about to disappear she called, "General! Any fast horses?"
"Yes," he turned, "Shall I bring you one?" Kali nodded and he disappeared. After a few minutes, the general came back with a pure black mare. "She is the fastest one, milady," he told her as he handed her the reigns, "She is good at avoiding."
Kali smiled as she patted the mare's nose, "She will do. Thank you, general." With that, Kali quickly mounted the horse. Marlon flew back just as she mounted. "That was quick," she whispered as she took the letter. She quickly read it and set it on fire as she finished. She turned at the horse and started a fast trot in the direction of the Varden. "See you in an hour or two!" she called.
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The mare flew over the hard packed ground. Kali neared the Varden's fortifications and waited half a mile away from them. She waited until she saw six figures travelling towards her. From this distance Kali could tell they were two humans, a dwarf, two elves and an urgal. She waited as they neared. The horse snorted nervously.
The two elves she could tell were Arya and Islanzadi; the humans were Nasuada and Orrin; the dwarf was Orik and the urgal, she did not know. They stopped a few metres from her. Kali dismounted and bowed to them.
"What do you want, traitor?" Orik spat. Apparently, Arya must have told him who she was. Kali wasn't very surprised at his tone.
"Peace, Orik," Arya said, "Let us hear what she has to say first." She nodded to her.
Kali nodded in return, "Thank you, Arya. I have come to talk on the behalf of the other three Riders as well as myself. None of them are bound by oath anymore. They feel they need to right the wrongs they have been accused of."
"Accused?!" Orrin shouted, "We all saw what they did!"
"But you did not see why they did it," Kali stated calmly, "They are no longer bound because of what they did. Galbatorix thought he wouldn't need to keep all of us on such a tight leash. If they had not done it, he would have forced us all to do so anyway and he would have to keep his eyes on us constantly. Now that we are free, he cannot tell us what to do. We can choose what to do and we want to stop the Empire."
"How do we know you are not lying?" Nasuada asked.
Kali repeated everything in the Ancient Language. Islanzadi looked at her sceptically. "Why would you want to fight against your own father?"
"He is a murderer."
"Yet so are you," she replied.
"But I do so for self defence, not for the pleasure of doing so," Kali looked at all of them, "I can show you why I hate that man." She slowly dragged them into her memories and showed them what a monster her father really was. She showed them the time when he had given her the scar, when she was tortured, the pain she had gone through."
"That tells us nothing!" Orik yelled.
"You cannot lie in your mind, Orik," Arya stated, "You may hide things but you cannot invent them." Arya turned back to her. "How will you help us?"
"WHAT?!"
"Orik, please! What would you do, princess? How would you help us if we say you may fight with us?"
Kali looked at all of them, "With the help of night, the Riders and I can fly over. The soldiers will be checking the ground, not the skies. If we fly here, by morning the army will be ready and we can attack the Empire. With four dragons, the elves, dwarves, urgals and humans, the army will not stand a chance. The only problem we would have would be Galbatorix but, again, if we all try and help, he can be overpowered."
"What about the Eldunari?" Islanzadi asked.
"He does not use them; not anymore. He uses me," Kali smiled, "Murtagh's power did not come from the heart of hearts but from me. If Galbatorix cannot get to me then he cannot get to the power he so badly wants."
"Explain, princess," the urgal said.
"Well, I am very powerful, so is Murtagh because of our demon side. We share a mental connection as well as an emotional one. We share our power between ourselves but we may also pass it to other people. If I join you in fighting the Empire then Galbatorix cannot use the power I have. He cannot use me so he does not have an advantage."
"What about Morzansson?! He killed our king!" Orik bellowed.
"And for that we are both sorry," Kali whispered but they still heard her, "It was the same as in Gil'ead; Murtagh had no control over his actions. I was there, on the Burning Plains and I saw everything that happened. It was not his fault."
"You say that only because he is your husband!" Orrin shouted.
"Would you not do the same? Protect someone you love?" she asked as she crossed her arms. "I may not agree with everything you accuse us of because we were forced to do thing unimaginable. Nasuada, when you saw Murtagh in Farthen Dur, when he came to the Varden with Eragon, did you feel he was a traitor? Did you feel he was unable to be trusted?"
"No," she whispered but then said fiercely, "But looks can be deceiving!"
"I am not talking about looks! I am talking about the fact than anyone can sense danger! If you know you are in danger you get a strange feeling and the animalistic urge to run for safety. You didn't feel that with Murtagh because he wasn't a danger to anyone, not then and not now." Kali slowly rubbed her temples.
Kali, if it isn't getting anywhere then come back. The Varden are a bunch of stubborn mules, Murtagh stated. Kali smiled slightly as she looked at the floor. Just come back. We'll figure something out, alright?
Ok, she replied. She looked up at the leaders, "Make your choice now. Will you accept our help or not? Take a vote if you have to."
They all looked at each other. Arya stepped forward first. "You can join but only for the battle." She looked at the others.
Nasuada stepped forward, "For the battle."
"For the battle," Islanzadi stated.
"For the battle," the urgal and Orrin said together.
Kali looked at Orik as well as the other leaders. He glowered at all of them, "The moment this battle is over his head is ours." Kali nodded grimly. He sighed. "For the battle."
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"You can't be serious!" Murtagh exclaimed.
Kali had taken an hour to set the plans with the Varden and had gotten back. The armies stayed stationary all day. It was now nightfall and Murtagh, Eragon, Luka and Kali were around a small cook fire waiting for the meat to cook. Kali had told them everything, even Orik's warning.
"Murtagh," she started.
"They are not getting my head!" he shouted.
"Of course they won't!" Kali stated forcefully, "Now quieten down or someone might overhear us." The thought of that was unlikely. With Thorn, Saphira and Okapi sitting in a circle around the Riders no one would dare approach them and they were too far away from everyone else.
"So how are we getting there?" Luka asked.
Kali smirked, "We're flying. With the excuse of the dragons having to hunt we fly away from the armies and circle back."
"What about you?" Eragon asked. "You don't have the dragon excuse and you're eating now. Your father will become suspicious."
Kali hummed for a second. "I'll ride on the ground then. I'll take the black mare and go through the camp. No one will be awake by then except for the soldiers patrolling the edges. By the time they realise we've gone it would be too late for them."
"How would you get past the guards?"
"Look, I'll find something, alright?" she snapped.
She looked off to the distance and her eyes became glassy. Murtagh looked at her, a frown on his face. "Kali?" Her face snapped back to him so fast it was a wonder how it didn't click. "What...?"
She looked at them with panicked eyes, "I...I...fire...lots of fire," she whispered, "horses," she looked at Murtagh. He looked just as panicked as she did.
"To what side?" he asked urgently. He shook her shoulders, "Kali, to who?!"
"Both," she whispered.
"What are you two talking about?" Luka asked quickly.
Murtagh looked up. "Fire-horses are the worst beasts you can find. They are what they are called. They are horses but everything about them is fire. When there is a forest fire or something the no one can easily control, the horses come alive. They are born from the fire and die with it until another fire is started. They cannot be tamed but they are controlled. They do what they like to something but only if they have been told to."
"So what is the problem?" Eragon questioned.
"Fire-horses are controlled by one thing and one thing only, but..." he looked at Kali.
"The fire is...free, wild," she whispered as she looked at them, "The can only be stopped by that one thing because that thing is a fire being, free and wild like the horses. The horses destroy anything because it is in their nature and so is the being that controls them. They are important to nature because things have to die in order for there to be new life but sometimes they go too far. The being can sometime get carried away as well partly because they give in to the freedom."
"But can't you stop that being?" Eragon asked.
"Have you ever managed to stop me, Shadeslayer?"
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The dragons were saddled, the sky was dark and they were ready to join the Varden. Eragon and Luka mounted Saphira and Okapi but Murtagh stayed where he was. "Kali, you can ride on Thorn," he insisted.
Kali shook her head as she patted the black mare's nose, "It will cause suspicion."
"And you riding a horse through the camp at the dead of night isn't?!" he yelled.
You know she won't change her mind, Murtagh, Thorn stated. Murtagh grumbled as he was forced onto Thorn. All the dragons opened their wings and they flew west towards the small forest away from the battlefield.
Kali stood stroking the mare as she watched them go. Before long, she mounted it and started off at a canter. She rode through the rows of tents quietly although she could hear the quiet jingle of the anklet in the silence. She saw all the soldiers were in their tents or passed out on the ground. She was halfway across the camp.
A horn sounded. Then another. Then another. Kali panicked. They were coming from the back of the army. She made the mare start to gallop as fast as she could go. She made it another quarter of the camp before the soldiers realised what was wrong. As she tried to run, Kali heard them start to follow her.
She knew she wasn't going to make it even before the horses started to get close. She couldn't use her magic to stop them. Not that she couldn't, she just knew that her magic would destroy everything, including herself.
Just as she made it to the edge of the camp she felt something hard collide with her head. Dazed, she fell off the horse. In seconds, soldiers were grabbing her. Kali roared and changed into her dragon form. She opened her maw intending to burn them all but a muzzle was placed around it before she could try. She desperately tried to throw them off, but she couldn't. They were everywhere, like parasites. Her wings were being held down to her sides and her legs and tail were being chained to the ground.
Kali summoned all her energy and lifted her wings, throwing a few men in the process. Before she could do anything, they were being held down again. She saw the flash of swords being drawn. She tried desperately to get away.
Even with the muzzle, everyone from both armies heard her roar of pain. Eragon had to hold Murtagh back before he rushed to help her. They had landed in the Varden camp just as the first horns had sounded. Murtagh fell to his knees with tears in his eyes as he helplessly watched them cut Kali's beautiful wings into shreds.
Kali felt tears of sorrow and pain in her eyes as they chopped off her wings. They stepped away when they finished, and Galbatorix stepped through the soldiers. She collapsed to the ground as the tears fell. She tried to feel if there was any way she could repair them but they had shredded every muscle she needed.
"Change back, Kali," her father demanded.
Her nostrils flared for a second before she did as he asked. The muzzle fell off but the chains shrunk so they would still fit her. Her arms looked like they had been ripped and her shoulder had two gaping holes where her dragon wings should be. He had taken away the most precious thing for a dragon; their wings. By taking away her wings he had taken away her freedom.
Kali looked up at him. Her eyes were now pitch black. Any logical reason had left her mind. She stood on her feet and pulled at the chains. They broke easily. The soldiers held their weapons, ready to attack, but most now knew that no one could defeat her. She stood in the centre of the circle and waited. And waited.
A small fire began at her feet and slowly started to travel up her legs. She didn't stop the fire; she let it consume her. Just as she flames were about to engulf her completely and heard someone scream. "NOOO!!"
N/A: I had a very good conversation with my friend the other day with this story. Now that I think about it, it's hilarious! (me and friend)
FRIEND: Where do you get all these ideas from? Why can't you tell me the plot?
ME:(smiles sheepishly) I can't tell you the plot because I completely lost it after the first chap. I'm not kidding!
FRIEND: So how are you writing this story if you have no clue of what you're writing?!
ME: I do know what I'm writing! I just don't know if it goes with my original plot! And I don't have a clue where these ideas come from! They keep appearing to me randomly... and why are we dicussing my story? I thought we were going to finish Spanish?
Take it from me, my friend talks about the randomest things to try and get out of homework. She hates fanfiction but has decided to help me with this chap. She gave me a few good ideas. The wing chopping was necessary so don't hate me!!
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