Not mine. Paolini's
Chapter 2
Capture and Escape
'Twilly' I answered the guard currently blocking Terim 'I'm an orphan' I felt my nails lengthen in response to my impatience, the depths of my pockets not doing much to contain them.
"Orphan, eh?" He asked, slightly patronisingly, ''ow'd that happen?"
I scowled, my Blödhtsalick almost piercing though the thin material of my under-robe
"The bastard, Galbatorix, beat the shit out of them 'cos they shifted in front of him"
"Shifted?" He asked, his watery green eyes boring into mine "What do you mean, shifted?"
"We're werecats!" I half shouted in my frustration, "That's kind of what we do!"
The man froze with shock and I immediately realised I'd done something wrong.
"W...Werecats? He stuttered, his confusion plainly being the only thing keeping him from killing me on the spot.
I rolled my eyes and transfigured into my cat form as way of an answer. I was a knee-height black furred cat with blue eyes and sharp teeth - a panther
The effect on the man was comical. He leapt back a good 4 feet, yelling at the top of his lungs for his superior. I laughed and sidestepped him, then barrelled through the streets, knocking over several guards as I ran.
The previously impossible to bypass crowd parted like I had the plague, with the exception of a few dim-witted children whom I barely had enough time to dodge. I laughed in exultation, revelling in the first moment of true freedom I'd had since leaving Du Weldenvarden.
I chocked, mid laugh as I smashed headlong into something hard.
I transfigured, my nails now at least two metres in length.
"Are you okay?" I asked the man I'd hit, who was now covered in dust, his limbs splayed around him.
He stared at me for a few seconds, dark eyes blinking rapidly, before leaping up and pointing a sword at my chest, growling under his breath menacingly.
"Oh, please" I groaned, shortening my nails by a metre and pointing one at him, laughing as I did so.
"Drop the sword" I commanded, the humour disappearing from my voice.
He lowered it, but did not let go, his knuckles turning white from tension.
"Guess that'll do". I sighed, retracting the nails as I did so.
"Who are-" the man began, but was interrupted by the guard I'd scared before, who pointed at me and yelled 'It's her! The one with the black hair!"
I blanched, then turned slowly to face them, lengthening my nails as I spun
The guards charged me, their boots raising dust clouds that partially obscured some of their bodies.
I thought fast, I grew my nails into two bubble-like formations, one containing the man and the other myself. I also made sure that the substance would only burn on the outside, the man wasn't immune to the nails as I was.
I felt the guard's swords poke the bubble, melting on it's surface, doing nothing but destroying their weapons.
"Don't worry about the swords! Just push 'em" I heard a voice say in an oddly muffled tone, coaxing swearwords from my lips at the sound
I brought the mans bubble closer to mine, then merged them so he came, cursing, into my own sphere, where he attempted, rather unsuccessfully to get up, his feet sliding all over the smooth surface.
"Who are you?" he yelled at me, fear in his eyes for the first time.
"Twilly" I answered as I felt more swords jab at the globe, pushing us in the direction of the dungeons. "What about you?"
"Murtagh" He panted, exhausted from trying to get up so many times "Can you help me up?"
"Sure thing" I answered, sending a nail out and wrapping it around him before hoisting him in the air so his feet dangled above the ground.
We got closer to the dungeons every second, though I remained calm. Breaking out would be easy, and getting caught was an unavoidable part of the vardens mission, however degrading it might be.
There had been rumours that there was an egg hidden inside the dungeons of Terim, an egg like no other. The dragon within was stronger, smarter, and faster than any other dragon in existence.
But this was not what made it so special.
The dragon, should it hatch, would be able to control magic as no other dragon ever had before.
At will.
I felt the light change above us as we entered the prison, I immediately stopped the nails from burning so we didn't go through the floor, then retracted them, dismissing the bubble of protection, leaving us almost…exposed.
"Where are we?" Whispered Murtagh, his voce filled with apprehension.
"The dungeons" I managed to get out before a crimson haired man caught my attention. His skin was deathly pale, his eyes and hair were a livid crimson. He was quite obviously a shade.
"Shit" I swore, the varden had not anticipated this at all.
A man grabbed me roughly be the shirt and hauled me and Murtagh into a cell, scowling and holding me away from his body like I was something disgusting.
The shade followed, sliding the bolt home with magic and turning to face us.
"Your name?" He inquired, much more politely than I had anticipated.
"Twilly" I answered easily, folding my bare legs underneath me like a child.
"No," He said, his eyes growing into some of the potential anger they most defiantly could house "Not that name. Your other name, the one you don't use too often"
"How do you know I don't use it often?" I asked, smiling sweetly all the while as his temper visibly began to rise.
"Because then you would be so confined by vows that you would hardly be able to move a finger," He said confidently, crossing his arms like a child who'd just blackmailed his parents.
"And who says I'm not? Perhaps it is through some other person that I have performed today's deeds?"
"Impossible" He growled, getting even angrier as he saw the wide smirk on my face "If you were being controlled you wouldn't have told me"
"Maybe the puppeteer isn't to smart"
"He also wouldn't have insulted himself"
"Well, I said, scratching my foot absently "Maybe he was really smart and knows that you wont believe any story I tell you, no matter how truthful or false."
That stumped him, he was forced to change the subject out of lack of things to say.
"Tell me your true name!" I could almost see the steam coming out his ears
"No"
"How about yes?" He snarled, I could feel him getting dangerously frustrated
"How about no?" I shot back, still perfectly calm.
He screamed in frustration and left the cell, coming back a few seconds later to lock the door, then leaving again.
"How did you do that?" Asked Murtagh, plainly in awe of my display "I've been trying to piss him off for years!"
"Years?"
"I live in the castle"
I stared at him, using the stare that usually made people spill their guts out of terror
"Y'know" I said, in the most suspicious tone I could muster "I believe I've heard your name before, It was the name of Morzans son"
He blushed and stuttered incoherently
"You can't choose your father" I said comfortingly, but was interrupted by the shade hurtling back through the door with a vial of water and a loaf of bread that so obviously contained a drug that would make us unable to use magic
"Ha," I said, quailing a bit on the inside "Nice try"
He ignored me, and instead addressed Murtagh.
"If she doesn't take the food, I'm going to have to kill you"
Murtagh started, then looked at me pleadingly.
"Oh, fine" I said, "gimmie the friggin drug"
"Sorry" Whispered Murtagh, bowing his head from shame.
The shade left, after saying "If the food's still there in five minutes…" He didn't bother finishing the threat.
"C'mon" I sighed to Murtagh "You wanna leave?"
"Um, can we?" He asked timidly, looking up at me from under his eyelashes.
I rolled my eyes and extended a nail, using it to scratch a message in the wall for the shade.
"What are you doing?" asked Murtagh, leaning closer to read the writing "That doesn't make any sense"
I rolled my eyes again and added another sentence.
"Oh" He said, then laughed "Think it'll work?"
"Let's hope so" I answered, giggling also.
I cut through the bars like butter, catching them so they made no sound when they fell
"C'arn" I called over my shoulder at Murtagh, who was inspecting the severed end of one of the bars "I've gotta get something, it might be safer if you stay with me"
"Okay" He answered and followed rather reluctantly, still clutching the metal bar
I rolled my eyes "Lawd, They've got bloody swords and we've got a piece of wire"
Murtagh grinned "And a set of nails that cut through any substance"
I laughed too, then turned a corner and unbolted a door, "Here, help me search, it'll be faster that way"
"Alright" he answered "But it would help if I knew what I was looking for"
"Oh" I answered, deliberating slightly "Um, a red rock, it's really valuable"
"You got me arrested for a rock?"
"Pretty much"
He sighed and began sifting through drawers
"How do you know it's here?"
"I'm a spy for the varden. I tend to hear a lot of things"
"Oh" He answered lamely as he unearthed something oval shaped and wrapped in cloth. "This it?"
"Dunno" I said, coming closer and inspecting it "Think so, move the cloth"
He did, and the iridescent red of the egg stunned us into silence
"Shit" He said "Well, actually, I reckon it could be worth it!"
I took the egg from him "Say that when we're safe and warm inside Ellesmera somewhere" I said wryly, "Now, Run!"
And we did, again knocking over several guards as we ran.
"I'm gonna transfigure!" I yelled to Murtagh "Get on my back!"
"You frigging crazy?" He answered back "You're not strong enough!"
I rolled my eyes for what seemed like the millionth time that day
"Just do it" I called, then dove headfirst into the air, coming out of the dive as a panther.
Thankfully, he obeyed me, and swung up onto my back with relative ease. I ran faster, my pads scraping the ground for the least amount of time possible and my strides lengthening, the result being that the city soon disappeared behind us, helped by the fact that a largish amount of dust had been stirred up in my wake.
"Never, ever, make me do that again" Said Murtagh, I noticed that he had gone an odd shade of green and that he was shaking like an aspen leaf.
"Are you okay?" I asked with concern as he sat down and put his head between his knees
"Gimmie a minute" He answered weakly, then rolled over on his back with his eyes closed.
Somewhere in Terim, a shade screamed.
Durza ran through the dungeons, stopping now and then to call insults to the men and women he had personally broken.
He waited rather impatiently, using the five minutes he'd given the werecat to locate his armour and sword, gleefully polishing them into perfection.
He looked at the clock. Seven minutes had passed, more than enough time for the girl to be sufficiently drugged.
Durza doubled back towards her cell, happily rubbing his hands together with a demented smile on his lips.
"Oh, Twilly" he called as he rounded the last bend "I hope you-"
He stopped, mouth gulping like a fish as he saw the remains of the door and the message on the wall. He went closer to read it.
This is this cat
This is is cat
This is how cat
This is to cat
This is keep cat
This is an cat
This is angry cat
This is shade cat
This is busy cat
This is while cat
This is an cat
This is extremely cat
This is sexy cat
This is werecat cat
This is and cat
This is her cat
This is friend cat
This is escape cat
This is with cat
This is a cat
This is red cat
This is dragon cat
This is egg cat
( Read every third word )
He screamed in out rage as soon as he got it, then stomped out of the dungeon, Intending to find the 'extremely sexy' werecat, her friend, and a red dragon egg.
A/N
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