Chap 18 Weasels

Eragon, Luka, Brom, Selena, Andra and Galbatorix all sat around the crackling fire. The sun was setting after an abnormally long day. Once Kali and Murtagh had died...no one had acted the same. The other Dragon Riders has spoken with the Varden and Empire while the small group had gone into the newly made forest Kali and Murtagh had matured from the dead grasslands from before. They had spent most of the day crying and comforting each other. Morzan had disappeared not long after they had settled in the clearing. No one knew where he had gone nor had they cared.

Luka sat in Eragon's lap, thinking. Eragon was just staring at the fire, holding her. Selena had wept the most and was still crying silently; Brom was rubbing her shoulders comfortingly. Andra was sitting on the floor while Galbatorix sat behind her on the log. Both of them had had their share of tears and were now just staring at the flames. The dragons had landed in a nearby clearing, giving them time to mourn on their own.

The flames danced and flickered, like the flames that had consumed Murtagh and Kali. Once everyone had wrapped their minds on what had happened earlier, their bodies had burst into flames. Nothing was left of them now, not even ashes to be remembered from; only memories.

Most people didn't know how to react went they had found out what had happened. The urgals and elves remained undecided, the dwarves had been rejoicing until they had learned Kali had been pregnant. They knew that it was the child of both Murtagh and Kali but they knew the child was innocent nonetheless. They now felt partly guilty especially after what Galbatorix forced into their head; the torture and pain both had gone through. The humans also remained undecided but they now had the Empire so there was too much work to do.

Luka looked up suddenly. Eragon was brought from his thoughts by her movements. "What is it?" he whispered but the others heard him. They all looked at Luka.

"There is something I don't get," she said quietly. "Murtagh was a demon because of Selena and Kali was a demon from Andra but you and Murtagh share the same mother. How can you not be a demon?"

Andra and Selena looked at each other hesitantly. "Maybe we should," Andra squeaked. "They have a right to know." Selena nodded hesitantly but said nothing. Andra took a deep breath. "They're not our children, not really."

"I don't understand," Luka stated.

"I was pregnant, so was Selena but we had the misfortune to produce stillborns. Selena found Murtagh in the bed that was for the baby a day after the birth, I found Kali in the gardens. Even though they weren't our real children, we took care of them as if they were. Both looked barely a day old, they wouldn't have survived if no one did the job. We were both in shock, I guess. We did what anyone would do."

"They're not your children?" Eragon questioned. He looked at Galbatorix, "And you knew?"

Galbatorix nodded gravely, "Yes...I knew," he smiled slightly, looking at his nails, "But once I saw Kali I wouldn't have let her go at all. She was too...I can't really give you words for it, Eragon, but I knew I wouldn't be able to abandon her after I saw her. I had already lost a child; I didn't want another to go the same way, even if it wasn't my own."

Eragon turned to Selena. "Murtagh was treated the same way I know my own child would have. I loved him as if he was my own but I could never really see him. He was always too quiet, even for a baby, never did anything really. The nanny always told me he wasn't normal," she laughed bitterly. Brom rubbed her shoulders.

"But how do they look so much like you?" Luka asked. "Murtagh looks like Morzan's replica and Kali looks enough like Andra to be her twin. How? Why?"

"I don't really know," Andra answered, "I thought Galbatorix had done a spell on her. That is, until Selena died and Murtagh came to Uru'Baen. She had told me Murtagh wasn't hers but he looked too much like Morzan and I know he would never have done something like that."

"Too true." Morzan appeared from the trees and sat down on a log. He sighed slightly. "I wouldn't have. Murtagh might...call it whatever you want but magic sometimes can damage growth or give an living object a strange abnormality. I didn't want it to happen to him so I didn't try. I considered it, but no, I didn't want to risk it."

"Murtagh did become more active though," he said after a while. "Selena mentioned that Murtagh was too...abnormal. He acted like a real toddler at two. We don't know what happened."

"Kali," Luka said quietly, "He must have felt her, somehow."

"But they were both barely a day old!" Selena stated, "If they were demons or their parents knew it, why were they abandoned? That is the one thing I don't understand. That, and the fact that both of them were found a day after giving birth, for both of us. It couldn't be a coincidence either that both were bound to see each other, what with Galbatorix knowing of Murtagh and both of us always going to Uru'Baen. I think keeping them away from each other would have been unavoidable." Eragon shook his head suddenly. "What is it, honey?"

"Something she once said to me. I was just talking to her about spells and something she said suddenly came to me. She said, "It takes too many years. Too many for me to teach you. I think we will both be dead before you really comprehend the dangers and damage you will do." It was I spell I had asked her of, I can't remember which but it was deadly to a large about of people at the same time. I might be able to live for thousands of years and yet she said we would be dead before I would understand. She knows it, of course, but how would she know how long it would take for me to understand?"

"Maybe she was just being overdramatic," Galbatorix stated.

"Have you ever managed to grasp the knowledge?" Galbatorix shook his head. "Exactly!" Eragon exclaimed. "Not even you can yet she knows it and can perform the spell. And the way she said it, you could tell she was not joking. She was serious but she was only nineteen went I asked. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Yes," Luka whispered. "They both always acted like adults, even when they were children. Everyone said it was because of how they were both brought up."

"Both of you are not making sense," Brom stated, "Explain."

"Well," Luka started, "You know that Kali took me out of Uru'Baen when she was five, I was three. She made it to Carvahall and then to Aquila in a matter of weeks, without getting lost, she took care of both of us, she knows spells that haven't been used since before the Grey Folk, ones not even they can understand, Murtagh knows too much also. They both know too much for one lifetime! Too gain all that knowledge; it would take millions, tens of millions of years!"

"It's not normal," Eragon continued, "They knew everything, things not even the elves could imagine. They knew more than the Grey Folk, or demons, whichever you want to call them. For goodness sake! They brought the dead back to life! And they weren't dead after they had done it! There is no written or spoken history of that! They couldn't just have gotten that from a book! The spell must have been even more complicated than the one to kill people and that takes thousands of years!!"

"They can't have been their age, or the one everyone thought," Galbatorix caught on, "They could easily change their appearance. They could easily have changed to look like one of us. Only the hair would be the same length but they could easily have cut it," he cut off. "Oh, stupid, stupid, stupid!!"

"What's wrong?" Andra asked.

"Morzan, do you remember that woman? The one that back mouthed you in Gil'ead? Brown hair, strange gold eyes, slim, about Eragon's height?"

Morzan nodded. He looked like he was wondering where the conversation was going before a look of understanding passed on his face. "The one who's husband was watching in amusement?" Galbatorix nodded. "You can't seriously think..?"

"I watched her grow up. Sometime she acted just like her with Murtagh a safe distance way watching the person she was screaming in enjoyment."

"What are you two talking about?" Brom asked.

"Both of us were in Gil'ead. We went because something was wrong in the army and we went to sort it out," Galbatorix explained. "We were on our way to meet the general when Morzan bumped into a woman. She was quite young, only about early twenties and we could tell she was a traveller. He made her drop all her belongings. Well, she had started to shout about how she couldn't stand that Riders thought they were better than everyone else and that he should help her pick up her things because he had made her drop them in the first place."

"She had started making a scene and there was a crowd gathering," Morzan continued. "The woman was screaming at me, people were staring and we really needed to get the problem in the army sorted. I was shouting back at her, my patience gone. This man was leaning against the wall, leisurely watching the shouting match between us went he suddenly stepped in between us and picked everything up quickly, but I mean quickly as in a literal blur. He placed the bag on the saddle of her horse and just waited. In the end she just ended up slapping me. She mounted on the horse and so did the man and they just went off, as if nothing had happened. I heard them laughing."

"As well as half the crowd," Galbatorix chuckled, "But the point is that Kali acted the same as the woman and Murtagh the same as the man. They knew how to calm the other in seconds, stop the other from fighting; every problem, the other knew what to do."

"So what does that mean?" Andra asked. "That Kali and Murtagh are millions of years old?"

"It's possible," Brom stated, "Elves are immortal."

"No," Luka answered, "Immortal just means a prolonged life. Death will eventually come to that person, one way or another."

"But if they are millions of years old and have never died because they somehow can't, why was Murtagh always worried of Kali?" Eragon questioned, "She couldn't die unless he did. She survived a hundred mile drop and lived. Why was he always so worried?"

"Acting?" Morzan suggested, "Anyone, or at least, any normal person would be worried. It would have been strange for someone to look at him and find him whistling. Murtagh couldn't have acted like nothing had happened to Kali; it would have been too suspicious."

"No one can act that worried," Luka stated, "When Kali was in the coma, he didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't do anything. If he wasn't that worried, he would have been able to do something, anything. The same goes when something happened to Murtagh. Kali was always prone to get into the bigger sort of trouble but Murtagh had his days too. She would always try and help. To me, she acted a bit like a mother hen."

"Well, she was overprotective in her own way," Eragon said, "But the way they acted, it couldn't have been acting, it wasn't fake."

"It still doesn't answer the first question," Brom stated. "Why did they act like that if it wasn't fake and they couldn't die?"

"Maybe it was because they knew they were finally going to die," Andra suggested quietly, "They knew they were going to die today. Maybe they didn't know when but they knew it would have been while they were Murtagh and Kali. If they really had lived before as different people they would have had other names."

"Wait," Morzan interjected, "If they had other lives as other people, they wouldn't have been travelling forever, right? They would have settled in a few places to live. How would they have gone to another life if they were settled? They moved? Or they 'died'?" he asked. He looked at their confused faces. "If they settled somewhere, they would grow old so there wouldn't be suspicion. They would have had to fake their own deaths."

"Where are you going with this?" Selena asked.

"Well, if they had to fake their deaths for an illness or heart attack why couldn't they do the same for an arrow?" Morzan looked at all of them. "Well? Why not? Actually, it would have been easier to do that today than if they were old. Today they just burst into flames. It's fine with us because we're used to magic, but in a normal village? Magic? It would be hard for people to understand why an old person burnt suddenly for no reason, especially if that person has never been seen use magic. They would be buried, not burnt." He sighed. "It's a theory. After everything that's happened to them, I don't see why everything we said can't apply to them."

"So they could still be alive?"

"It's a theory, Andra, nothing else. We don't know if they are alive or not. We don't even know if what we said is vaguely true or not. We might be wrong by a long shot," Morzan stated.

"What about their forms?" Galbatorix asked. "They could turn into dragons and their size was of their age."

"Actually...they weren't," Luka interjected. "Murtagh was...supposedly...two years older. I mean, look at the difference between Thorn and Saphira. They're only a few months difference but Saphira is much bigger. Can you imagine the difference of two years? Yet both were more or less the same size."

The clearing was silent for a while. Twigs snapped. Everyone's head turned to the sound. Two weasels were scuffing over the dry leaves and twigs playfully swatting at each other. One of them suddenly turned and ran into the clearing, the other following. The first one looked around and it gaze settled on Luka. It stayed still for a second before suddenly climbing up her leg and onto her lap.

Luka screeched at its fast movements. It moved too fast for a weasel. The second one went to Selena, much more slowly and curled up in her lap. Brom stared at the weasel in Selena's lap and then at the one in Luka's. "Weasels don't act like that," he stated.

Selena hesitantly reached down and started to stroke the weasel's fur. It seemed to be enjoying it. The weasel in Luka's lap was staring at it curiously as it made a noise while Selena was stroking it.

"Why are they acting like that?" Galbatorix asked.

The weasel in Luka's lap suddenly looked up at Luka's eyes. Luka stayed transfixed as the weasel seemed to glow slightly. It placed its head on her abdomen and the glow went into her skin. Luka gasped as a strange warmth spread over it. The weasel removed its head slowly and looked up again. It squeaked. Luka stared at it for a long time. It looked, or acted rather, like something familiar. "Kali?" she whispered. It squeaked again and looked at the other weasel. It looked up at both of them and squeaked too.

"Kali can't change into a weasel," Andra stated. The weasel on Luka's lap looked at her. "But that is definitely a female. And that is a male," she pointed to the one in Selena's lap.

"Mates," Brom said.

"Like Kali and Murtagh," Luka insisted, "And weasels don't glow!"

"It didn't glow!" Morzan exclaimed.

"Yes it did!" Eragon shouted.

"Look, both of you, that weasel did not glow," Brom said rationally, "Why would they?"

Eragon and Luka looked at each other. They were sure the weasel had glowed and Luka was certain that it had done something to her. She was sure she had felt something when it had touched her abdomen. She looked at the weasel again and raised her hand to touch it. Instead, it placed it's nose in her hand.

She gasped as she saw a picture in her head. A female was playing with Marcie outside a small cottage. The cottage was at the edge of a forest with a stream and pond beside the house. The female looked around twenty with short brown curly hair. Her eyes were gold like Kali's with high cheekbones, light tan and her body was unscathed. She was wearing a loose brown shirt and trousers. Marcie wore more or less the same.

A man entered the scene from the forest and Marcie ran and jumped into his arms laughing. The woman kissed his lips lightly. The man had Murtagh's eyes but looked completely different. His hair was a dark blond bordering onto a light brown, with a slightly darker tan than the woman and his features were similar but not enough for someone to mistake him for Murtagh.

The weasel pulled away and the scene disappeared. Luka gasped and looked at the weasel in shock. It stared at her for a second before scrambling of her lap. The other one copied its actions. Both of them scurried into the forest. "Wait!" Luka called after them as she stood up to follow.

Fauna and Troy, she heard in her head.

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Everything in the camp had settled slightly after two weeks after the weasels had gone. Luka still didn't understand what the words 'Fauna and Troy' meant. She knew they were names, but of who? When she asked Okapi, Eragon and even Saphira and Thorn, they didn't understand what it meant either. Thorn had said it sounded familiar but couldn't remember why.

The Riders, along with Brom, Galbatorix, Morzan, Selena and Andra went to Vroengard to clear the rubble left from the battle from the Foresworn. Eragon and Luka stayed to help with the mess in Alagaesia. With the Empire now without a king, things were on the verge of chaos. A new ruler had to be chosen.

Nasuada was chosen to take over the throne. The Empire settled and Surda was now an ally. Eragon and Luka went back and forth from Vroengard to Alagaesia sorting out problems. The elves and dwarves came out from hiding although they preferred to stay in the mountains and forests. Slavery was abolished and anyone caught selling illegal slaves were hanged. Nasuada had to show that slavery was not tolerated.

Eragon and Luka got married. It was a quiet ceremony with only the small group that had been in the forest, minus Morzan. Once they were pronounced husband and wife they had turned to the door and had seen two doves on the barred ceiling. They had flown out before the others could see but perched on the tree outside. Luka detached herself from everyone for a second and went to the tree. The doves had flown off but in their place was a silver necklace with a small diamond charm in the shape of two dragons intertwined and a small steal dagger. There was a note under the objects. Luka took them and showed them to Eragon. They opened the note and read:

Congratulations! We knew you would get together! Careful with your children!

Love M, K, M.

P.S. The dagger is can poison your enemies but to your loved one it will only cut them.

They passed the letter around. "M, K, M?" Brom asked.

"Marcie, Kali, Murtagh," Luka said quietly. "But we can't have children."

Two weeks had passed and Luka started to get sick. Andra and Selena instantly recognised the symptoms and told her she was pregnant. Both of them were shocked but happy and Luka was more than a little nervous. After the nine months, Eragon and Luka found themselves the parents of an adorable little girl. She had her mother's curly hair and face but Eragon's eyes. They named her Tayten which meant beautiful happiness.

Saphira had also mated and already had two clutches of eggs. Three of her eight had been given to the elves so they could be bound to their Riders. The other five were grown as wild dragons. Thorn was very proud of his sons and daughters. Okapi was by now very good friends with one of the females and would be her mate when she matured.

Five years passed. Tayten had grown into a kind little girl who absolutely loved animals. She seemed to have the ability to make animals follow or come to her. Luka and Eragon didn't really mind but the fact that they travelled back and forth was a problem. Thorn had become attached to Tayten and let her ride him instead of riding with her mother and father. Thorn would always go with Saphira somewhere even though he was now a free dragon.

Nasuada had called them to Uru'Baen to discus some matters with the Riders about the new dragons. They had all gone and Tayten had sneaked into the market while Eragon and Luka were in the meeting. Once they had realised their daughter had gone they had run to every place they could think of. Saphira, Thorn and Okapi had also been in the meeting so no one had taken care of her.

None of them found her in the grounds. Eragon was about to go and tell Nasuada to see if she could do something when a bird landed on the gate. "Marlon?"

Shadeslayer, Marlon replied. I have seen a certain curly haired five year old in the market. I don't know if that is of any interest to you. Marlon flew off before Eragon could say another word.

Eragon rushed to Luka and explained what he had said. Both of them ran into the market but they didn't know where to look; the market was huge. Luka went to the east to see if the street rats had seen anything. The street rats had gotten help in repairing the buildings and now everyone lived fairly well there, thanks to Luka and Eragon.

Eragon wandered around, searching for his daughter but finding her nowhere. He wasn't paying attention to where he was walking and crashed. "Oh, I am so...Marcie?" he asked shocked.

The ten year old girl smiled. She looked the same as Marcie only taller and older. "I'm sorry?" she replied, "I don't know what you are talking about. I'm Malia." She smiled and quickly walked away in the direction she had come.

"Hey, wait!" he called after her, trying to get through the crowd. The girl looked back at him with a smile but didn't stop. She walked quickly into an alley and waited as he was jostled around by the crowd. Once he was through and spotted her in the dark alley she giggled and carried on walking. Eragon followed as fast as he could in the darkness of the alley. They alley opened up into a small patio filled with light. The sun shone directly over it, showing it was midday. Tayten sat on the floor, surrounded but puppies. A dog, presumably the mother, was laying in the little shade the wall provided watching her pups play with her. The girl was nowhere in sight.

Tayten looked up as one of the puppies barked. "Daddy! Can I have one? Please?!" she asked holding onto the puppy she had been stroking.

"Tayten! Come here now! Do you know how worried your mother and I have been? Why did you sneak out?!" Eragon demanded. He had never really shouted at her.

Tayten's eyes watered, "There was no one to play with," she said quietly. "I heard one of the maids say that a lady had a dog that had had puppies and I came." She sniffed and looked at the floor ashamedly.

Eragon bent down beside her, carefully avoiding bumping into one of the pups. "I'm not angry at you," he whispered, "I'm angry at me. I should have known you would run off," he said playfully as he started to tickle her. Tayten shrieked with laughter. The puppy in her hands barked happily. It was a dark brown colour with a white tummy.

"It's a boy," she stated happily, "And he's a good boy."

"Tayten," he sighed, "I don't mind that you want the puppy, neither would your mother but we can't. We are always travelling. And what about his mummy?" he asked as he pointed to the dog in the shadows.

"But the lady said that I could take one if I wanted to," she insisted, "She said Dunne doesn't mind as long as we take care of her puppy! Daddy, please, please, please! I'll take care of him! Please! I promise!"

"What about the flying?"

"I put him in my cloak," Tayten replied. "If we get him as a puppy he will get used to it when he is older."

"Alright." She stood, still clutching the brown puppy. It barked happily in her arms. Eragon took her hand and led her back to the alley. Before they could go another puppy barked and started to follow them.

"Oh, no! I'm only letting you take one," Eragon stated as Tayten bent down and pick it up too. The puppy was the same as the other only it had a small white patch under its chin.

"Daddy, please." She looked at him with overly wide eyes, the only eyes that he can succumb to. And they were his own! The pups whined in her hands and looked at him with their brown eyes. They looked really adorable.

Eragon sighed and waved his hand helplessly. She yelled in delight and followed her father into the crowded streets. "You need to think of a name for them," he said.

"Can you hold him?" she asked as she held out the male puppy. He took it and she turned to the other one. "This one is a girl," she stated. She looked thoughtful for a second. "What about Murtagh and Kali?" she asked.

"What?!" Eragon stopped walking and looked at her. The crowd past in front of them harmlessly. "Where did you hear those names?" Eragon and Luka had made sure never to say those names in front of her.

"Fauna and Troy told me you knew someone who had been your friends and they were called Murtagh and Kali," she said innocently. "I liked the names."

Luka rushed up to them, panting. "Where have you been?!" she shouted, "Do you know how worried we were?" Tayten looked at the floor, ashamed. She had always been more of a daddy's girl. "Where did you get those puppies?"

"Daddy let me keep them," Tayten said suddenly brightly, "The lady told me I could take them."

Luka looked up at her husband. "Eragon, what's wrong?"

"How does she know of Murtagh and Kali?" he asked. Luka looked at him, confused. "I asked her what names she was going to call them and she said those because she liked them. She heard it from someone called Troy and Fauna. They told her a story about us."

"Tayten, where-?"

"Luka, maybe we shouldn't discus this here," Eragon stated. They were starting to get funny looks from people. Luka took them through the crowd into another alley and sat down in a small square. No one was around and there was a beautiful fountain in the centre of the square.

"Tayten," Luka sat her daughter down on the edge of the fountain and bent down to be level with her. Both of the puppies clambered to the floor and sat, waggling their tails, looking at the little girl. "Where did you hear those name? When did these people tell you the story?"

"Today," she replied simply. "I found the puppies and they were talking to the lady that told me I could take them if I wanted to. They turned and saw me. We played with the puppies while Troy asked me if I wanted to hear a story. I said yes so they started to tell me how daddy and auntie Saphira had come to Uru'Baen with Murtagh and Kali. Daddy met you when uncle Oki hatched and you were all friends. They told me about how both of you liked to go into the gardens and talk, how you liked to watch the pretty sunsets. It was really nice."

"What else did they tell you?" Eragon asked as he stood behind Luka.

"That Murtagh and Kali went away and that you helped Nasuada make Alagaesia better. Is it true?" she asked excitedly. Luka and Eragon looked at each other. They had never told her the stories. Eragon nodded slowly. "Can you tell me more stories?"

"Wait. Just one more question," Luka said. "Where are Troy and Fauna? Where did they go?"

"They left a few minutes before daddy came. They said to stay there because daddy was coming."

"And where did they go?" Eragon asked.

"I don't know. They disappeared," Tayten answered. "But they're over there," she stated, pointing looked over her mother's shoulder.

N/A: Review please! I want to know how badly I sucked at writing this chapter!!