A/N: ok, i know i havent posted for ages, put this chapter has been a pain in the backside. Writer's block, lost drafts, etc, etc... but i'm happy with the result.
Thorn landed a few seconds later on a flat outcropping of grey rock, about twenty metres from where Lyroxia and the dragon lay sleeping. Murtagh silently dismounted and prepared to jump the few feet onto the sand below. However, a shrill squeak split the air, and he lost balance and nearly fell.
Careful, warned Thorn, The hatchling was awake all along.
Cursing, Murtagh leapt quickly off the rock, down onto the sandy shore of the lake. He looked over towards the camp in front of him. Lyroxia had already got to her feet, woken by her dragon's cry, and pulling daggers from her belt. Murtagh ran his hand over Zar'roc's hilt, though didn't draw his sword.
Thorn stayed put on the ragged ledge, silently observing the scene as his rider slowly advanced towards the girl and her young dragon, which had flown up to her shoulder. Thorn had felt all his tiredness chased away by the sight of another of his kind, but the thought that it must now share his fate suppressed his euphoria.
Lyroxia stood her ground as Murtagh approached her, and clenched her fists around her daggers. She glared straight into his eyes, daring him, taunting him to come any closer. Murtagh glared straight back, impressed. He paused a few feet away and studied her. Everything about her was feral and tense; her stance, her expression, and the gleam in her eyes as she looked from Murtagh to Thorn.
A snake, Murtagh thought, she's a threatened snake, ready to strike.
That's right, chided a voice inside his head, a pretty little snake... don't let her bite.
Murtagh went rigid. That was Galbatorix.
I know you're reluctant to bring her to me, Murtagh, the King continued,it looks like she's already sunk her fangs into you. Will the venom reach your heart? Will you let her escape?... Or will you bring her to me?... If the girl doesn't reach Uru'baen, Murtagh, I promise that I won't let you blink without screaming in agony.
Murtagh shivered where he stood as the King withdrew from his mind. He knew the King would keep his promise, he had tortured him to near death before, when he had been returned to the castle after his capture from Tronjheim.
Now we really have no choice... if the king knows... Thorn muttered. Murtagh sighed, and returned his gaze to Lyroxia and the silver dragon on her shoulder, who gave another shrill cry.
"Who are you?" Said Lyroxia, still glaring at Murtagh with hard defiance.
"Murtagh", He replied. But before he could say anything else, Lyroxia's eyes widened, and she hissed;
"You're the king's right hand!", she looked up again at the hulking, shadowy figure of Thorn up on the rock, and Murtagh thought he spotted a flicker of fear cross her face for the first time. "You're a dragon rider, that's how i was found so quickly...", she said, in a whisper Murtagh could barely hear. Then she gasped. " But... but how? How did you know?"
"I learnt everything I needed to know from your old master. He didn't mean to tell me anything, of course, but I have different ways than the usual question-and-answer tactic."
"What's happened to him now, where is he?"
"Dead", he said, simply. "We were ordered to torch the manor and everybody in it once we had gleaned the information we needed about you and the egg."
Lyroxia groaned in dismay. "... so now you're going to take me to the king, aren't you?"
"Unfortunately, yes, that's what i was told to do, much against my will."
"And you're expecting me to go quietly?" She asked. "You haven't even drawn your sword yet."
Murtagh ran his fingers over Zar'roc's pommel, but, like before, didn't draw it. "No. I'm not expecting you to go quietly, but i'm not expecting to have to use my sword, either."
Don't push it, Murtagh, Thorn snapped.
"Well then", Lyroxia said. "You're right".
Without warning, she bounded across the sandy bank and slipped between the dark trees on the eastern shoreline of the lake, the hatchling still on her shoulder.
Murtagh cursed and ran into the forest after her, whilst Thorn took to the air once again and proceeded to glide over the darkened trees.
Murtagh tried to find lyroxia using the same trick he had been using all day: trying to locate her through her mind. After a few seconds searching, he found her leaping away about fifty feet from him. Without hesitation, he shot after her.
Lyroxia sprinted between the trees in the darkness, with the comfortable weight of her dragon on her left shoulder. The trees were widely spaced at first, but then grew closer together. Within minutes, she had to stop running to avoid tripping on tree roots or banging into trunks when she looked over her shoulder. The dragon hopped down from her shoulder, then flew upwards into a tree, following her from above. Lyroxia barely noticed. Instead she concentrated on putting as much distance between herself and Murtagh as possible. A few seconds later, though, she could hear pounding footsteps, quickly gaining on her. Alarmed, she put on a burst of speed, but couldn't keep it up for long, and had to jog again. She suddenly found herself infront of a large but shallow stream. Breathing hard, she looked left and right, but the stream continued both ways without any visible crossing. It was about five feet wide, but she had to jump it- the bank was to wide and deep to step across and she could hear Murtagh's footsteps again. She quickly walked backwards a few metres, took a deep breath then sprinted back towards the stream.
She was a foot away when a vast amount of shock and pain bounded into her through the link she shared with her dragon. It distacted her enough to send her tumbling into the shallow water below. She yelled out when she landed hard on a jutting rock in the middle of the stream, heard a crack, and winced as pain erupted up her elbow. Her vision blurred and she tried with difficulty to sit up in the flowing water. Then she faintly heard Murtagh shout sarcastically; "Brilliant, Thorn, absolute genius! Lets try and kill the new rider and her dragon while we're at it, eh, why not?" Murtagh came into view a few seconds later, and roughly dragged her out of the stream. Lyroxia saw Thorn land a few metres away, then cried out, struggling against Murtagh's grip when she saw that Thorn had her silver dragon between his jaws.
Murtagh, scowling, put his hand on her brow and muttered "Slytha".
Lyroxia felt herself being thrust into darkness, and knew no more.