Chap 17 Fire-horses

"NO! I have to help her!" Murtagh cried. There were people holding him back but he didn't care who he hurt. Kali needed him. He needed to get to her, before she destroyed everything. Murtagh pulled and tugged at the people holding him but they didn't let go. "Please! I need to help her!" he screamed.

The flames from the Empire's camp were starting to spread. The fire grew metres high and the soldiers surrounding it started to move away from it. A scream pierced the air but it was not one of pain, it was one of madness. The flames spread faster, engulfing those that didn't move away fast enough. The screams of soldiers and the smell of burnt flesh started to fill the air.

The fire started to grow more. Everyone from the Varden camp watched the mayhem unfold in horror. The flames started to take the shape of horses. They all lined up in a row, neighing, rearing and all had their coats aflame, their black eyes showing their excitement and madness. They seemed to calm down slightly as a figure walked out of the flames. The fire had stopped spreading when the horses had appeared.

The figure was wearing everything in black but its arms, legs and abdomen were bare. A cloak billowed with the flames. Kali stood amongst the lined up herd, the leather piece she always wore and her trousers ripped. Everything was suddenly quiet. The horses had stopped neighing, the soldiers screams were suddenly cut off.

"No, please," Murtagh whispered, "Kali, don't do this." A single tear slipped from his eye, "Please." Kali's head swivelled to stare at him. His breath caught. She was beyond reason. She was beyond the realms of sanity. "No."

The quiet was deafening. No one dared move or speak. Suddenly, Kali started laughing. It wasn't her usual chuckle; it had insanity, pain and hysteria emitting from it. The horses started to snort and paw the ground in impatience and excitement.

Kali swung herself onto one of the horses. The horse reared and started to gallop forward. The other horses neighed and followed. Everything was happening too quickly. The horses scattered and everywhere they went, the fire spread. The fire-horses started to spread outwards, slowly nearing the Varden camp and destroying the Empires.

The Varden was chaos. Everyone started to grab whatever they could and started to run away from the approaching flames.

"Murtagh, come on!" Luka screamed as Eragon threw her on Okapi. Eragon mounted Saphira and both dragons took to the air.

Murtagh stood where he was. Everything seemed surreal. Thorn nosed him gently. You know what you have to do, Murtagh.

I...I can't, Thorn. I can't kill her.

Well...just make sure she stops. Without another word, Thorn took to the air. Murtagh waited as everyone rushed past him. One of the fire-horses had entered the camp and was destroying the tents, dancing in the flames it created. Running against the stampede, he jumped onto the horse.

The horse reared and neighed. He didn't burn but the horse was uncomfortably warm. He grabbed a handful of its fiery mane and kicked its flanks, turning the horse around. He galloped through the flames the horse had already created and looked around for Kali. He spotted her on the stallion of the herd, in the middle of the circle the horses were quickly enlarging. Her eyes were unfocused, looking at something no one could see. The horse bucked yet she didn't fall.

Murtagh crashed his horse against hers. She quickly looked at him. Her eyes flashed to gold for a second before suddenly turning black again. "Kali?"

Her back arched. Her eyes changed gold again, "Help me," she begged. Her eyes turned black again. She growled at him and made the stallion crash against his horse. From the force, both horses merged to one and Kali and Murtagh crashed together. He grabbed her arms before she could lash out. She snarled, trying to escape his grasp.

She kicked him in the knee, making him lose his grip on her arms. Reaching for her back, she pulled out her sword and swung. Murtagh looked up in time and threw himself to the side. The sword whistled passed him.

He quickly got off the floor and reached for Zar'oc. They circled each other, the flames spreading even more where the horses had crashed. Everything became quiet. The shouts and screamed slowly withered into nothingness, the flames lost their roar as they destroyed the camps and sparse vegetation. They circle, none able to find an opening.

They struck at the same time, the swords clanging together. Murtagh growled slightly and pushed her back roughly. Kali turned and struck left. He blocked the blow easily and delivered a few of his own. In her madness, Kali didn't react fast enough. The blows cut her skin, making the cuts bleed badly.

Kali roared and swung in rage. Realising she wasn't thinking properly, he took the advantage. He feinted left. As she turned to block it, he swung right quickly and caught her sword. The sword flew into the flames and Zar'oc went up to her neck. The heat was making them sweat and they couldn't breathe properly from the smoke. Kali panted, the sword cutting into her neck slightly.

Kali swayed to the side and he caught her before she fell. "Kali?" he asked worriedly, "Kali, come on! What do I have to do?!"

One of her eyes became gold, the other staying black, "Marcie," she choked.

He stared at her. Marcie had disappeared after she had spoken with Nasuada and the other leaders. He hadn't thought anything about it at the time. "I don't know where she is," he whispered as he laid her on the burning ground. She stared up at the sky with blank eyes. "Kali, where can I find her?"

Her arm stretched outward, pointing to the sky. He looked up and saw something black flying towards them. A bald eagle landed on the ground beside both of them. It started to grow and change shape until it looked like Marcie. Kali's head turned towards her but her eyes remained unfocused. Marcie picked up her mother's hand and started to speak in a language he didn't know.

Kali's eyes started to clear slightly and she started to glow slightly. Murtagh wordlessly grabbed Kali's other hand. She started to glow brighter and it spread to him. Marcie let go and she changed back into an eagle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eragon and Luka stared down at the two glowing beings. They started to glow brighter, so bright that it was difficult to look at. The fire-horses slowly started to stop. They turned towards the dome of light in the centre of the field and trotted towards it, the fire travelling in the same direction.

Horses stopped outside the dome of light and waited.

Suddenly, the dome exploded and the light shot miles in the air. The light stopped, hovering in midair. The ball slowly started spinning, gaining speed rapidly. The horses started to blend together and the circle started to spin in the same direction. The flames started to build upwards as it span, as if the light was summoning it. They slowly started to surround the light and left the ground completely.

The fire started seeping into the ball of light until it was completely encased. Millions of thin tentacles started to sprout over the ball of light and slowly travelled downwards. As it touched the ground, grass started to grow. The tentacles started to spread slowly, repairing all the damage the horses and fire had done. When it reached the camps, the tentacles detached themselves from the ball and started to surround those that the fire had killed or wounded badly.

After they were quickly surrounded by the tentacles, the light disappeared. The fallen soldiers stood up disorientated and watched as other of their fallen comrades stood and stared at the wonder around them. The tentacles reached to the furthest ends of the camp, fixing anything that had been destroyed and healing those that were wounded.

Those that stood looked up at the ball of light that still hovered in midair but was slowly losing its brightness. The fire inside it was taking shapes of dragons with their riders. The ball exploded and the dragons took to the air. The light completely disappeared and two dark shapes fell from the sky. The fire on the dragons started to disappear and revealed scales of every colour. There were so many dragons that there was no way to count them.

The dragons roared and flew to the newly ground. Nasuada, Orrin, Arya, Orik and the urgal leader rushed up to where the dragons had landed. Eragon and Luka looked at each other and flew down to the ground landing beside them.

Dragons of blue, red, orange, green, violet, brown, gold and silver of all shades and sizes stood before them. The Riders dismounted. Most of the faces Eragon didn't know but there were four that stood out.

Brom, Morzan (only because he looked like Murtagh's replica), Galbatorix and Oromis. A woman jumped down from Brom's sapphire dragon who he knew even though he had never seen her before. His mother. Selena. All of them looked younger than he remembered and Glaedr's leg had been repaired.

They heard a roar and Kali and Murtagh landed beside the group. They changed back to human form. Kali smirked slightly, "You had it coming."

"Fine, I'll agree," Galbatorix stated, "But honestly! Fire?! Everyone's enemy gets burnt to death?!" The Rider's and dragons started to chuckle. The orange dragon he had dismounted from nosed him gently.

"You had it coming, dear." A woman that looked like Kali stepped up to his side.

"Mummy!" Kali ran so fast she was a blur and hugged her mother.

Andra laughed as she hugged back. "You didn't know who you picked, did you?"

Kali let go, "Hey, when you are in pain you don't realise what you do! I didn't even think of Oromis...or dad for that matter!"

"SOMEONE EXPLAIN!!!!!" Arya shouted. They all looked at Kali.

"Er...well the fire-horses couldn't be control because Kali had gone insane," Murtagh started, "So Marcie and I tried to...get her sanity back?"

Kali laughed, "What he means to say is that we used the fire-horses to do this," she indicated to everything, "It wasn't planned but we used my insanity to an advantage, isn't that right daddy?" she said looking at Galbatorix. He said nothing but looked anywhere but her.

"So you brought the dead back to life, including murderers?!" Islanzadi screeched.

"Goes against all forms of magic, doesn't it?" Kali smiled as she walked to Murtagh. He wrapped his arms around her waist, "But yes," she replied, "We brought the dead back to life. And the Varden now have the Empire too as Galbatorix is supposedly dead."

"I'm standing right here!"

"After dying!" she retorted.

"Then you should take the throne!"

"AS HELL!!" Kali and Murtagh shouted together, "Anyway, we can't even if we wanted to," Murtagh stated.

"We're both going to be dead by sunrise," Kali stated as she looked at the brightening horizon.

"What?! Why?!" Brom and Eragon shouted at the same time.

"Dwarves," Murtagh replied simply.

"But you said you're not going to let them take your head!" Luka protested, "Avoiding a battle, not losing soldiers and getting peace isn't enough?" They both smiled and shook their heads.

"Orik," Nasuada started.

"NO! Absolutely not!" he screamed, "He murdered our king!"

"And Galbatorix is a saint?!" Arya yelled, "I don't see you taking your hammer to him!"

"It is a different matter!"

"It is not!" one of the riders yelled. Eragon didn't know who he was. "One person cannot account for another's actions, the same way you cannot blame someone who is blameless. Murtagh could not control his actions nor could he have stopped himself if he wanted to. We should all know," he said indicating to the other Riders.

"It matters not!" Orik shouted, "Morzansson was the one who killed him whether he was willing or not!"

"So you would kill not only him but his wife and unborn child as well?"

Silence. Everyone except for the once-dead-Riders turned to Kali questionably. She had a slight guilty blush on her cheeks. "Kali?" Murtagh asked.

"Alright, so maybe I lied the last two or three days," she admitted.

Galbatorix coughed, "Or weeks."

Her cheeks reddened. "Or weeks," she whispered, "But I knew that you wouldn't let me fight if you found out and you know, with the depression a few months ago I thought that you would become...you know...overprotective."

"What did we agree on?" he asked.

"Yeah, but-"

"What did we agree on?" he demanded.

She sighed and crossed her arms. Looking down she replied, "No secret, no overprotectiveness."

"Is that even a word?" Morzan asked.

"Give it up for the idiot to say something that has nothing to do with the subject at hand," Brom clapped. Morzan glared.

"Boys, be nice," Selena stated.

Kali turned to Murtagh and gave him a kiss, "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied. Kali turned so her back was to his chest and he wrapped his arms around her waist. Everyone heard the whistle of an arrow coming towards them. Murtagh and Kali stiffened suddenly. Kali looked down to her left breast and found an arrowhead protruding from it. It was right where her heart should be. The wound started to spill an unearthly amount of blood for a wound so small. Both their eyes started to turn glassy.

They both swayed and fell to the ground. Eragon and Luka pulled them both apart once they had reached them. Both of them had the same wound, an arrow connecting them. Luka yanked out the arrow from Murtagh's back. Kali gasped quietly before she lay still, her eyes staring. Murtagh didn't make a sound but just slumped in the grass.

Luka felt for Kali's pulse but felt nothing. She quickly crawled over to Murtagh but Eragon grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away before she could reach him. Luka buried her face in his shoulder, tears wetting the fabric of his shirt.

Thorn started to mourn with Saphira and Okapi. Their lament echoed in the fields, the new sun rising over the horizon.

N/A: Alright, not my best chap, but it is nessecary!! One of my friends almost murdered me when she found out I killed them of! But don't worry! Not even halfway done yet!!