A/N: Finally! It has arrived! Chapter five! Sorry it took so long ^^' but I guarantee you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter as I already have most of it written. I have been waiting to write chapter six since I first came up with the idea for this fic! And its almost here! Won't be exciting as the last couple chapters but it comes close! I'll shut my mouth for now so I don't spoil it though. R&R!!

Chapter Five: Ambush

After the failed recruiting mission in the village, her first time out with Murtagh, she began to travel with him much more. When he was sent on a mission out of the castle he would sneak her with him, though it didn't take much effort on his part. She was quite adept at sneaking out and moving around the palace unseen and unheard by everyone within. (That was what heightened senses were for, after all.) While out and about, she enjoyed playing games with the palace staff. She was never caught of course; for the most part she just followed them around and made a sport out of not getting caught. Of course, if Murtagh ever found out about this he would probably skin her alive. She only did things like that when he was either busy in the castle or when he couldn't take her with him, which admittedly didn't happen too often.

Actually, now that she thought about it, she found she was being left alone more often than she wished. Whenever he went out with Thorn she could not go with him, if only because he had no feasible way of taking her with him. She couldn't exactly ride in the saddle with him nor was she comfortable with the thought of being carried in the claws of the dragon. She would have to figure out a way around this.

As the wind blew through the trees to where she now hunted she caught a familiar scent; Murtagh. He had left the castle and was headed her way on horseback. Abandoning her hunt for the stag she ran towards him. It was mission time. When she found him, he was already at a gallop, though that was no problem for her. She was fast enough to easily keep up with the horse. Murtagh looked over at Raine as she fell into step beside his horse, matching its pace. She had no idea where they were heading or what they had to do, but she would find out eventually.

The trees to Raine's right sped by as they raced down an old horse path long ago trodden into the earth. Running was exhilarating and made her feel alive. There was almost nothing better than the sound of paws drumming against the earth and the feel of the wind in her fur as her heart thumped against her chest. Her tongue lolling out of her mouth, Raine felt like throwing her head back and howling. It would be a long, rich, beautiful, haunting sound that would ring through the forest. She was the strongest, proudest, and most beautiful being around and everyone would know it. She resisted the urge, however, preferring the secrecy that lay in silence.

They traveled at that pace for a while until they began to near their destination. Well, she assumed they were getting close, but she didn't know where they were going so she couldn't say for sure. All she knew was that they were slowing down. Murtagh brought his horse to a slow trot and Raine followed suit, somewhat disappointed in the fact that they no longer ran with the wind. She looked up at him inquisitively.

"We're almost there," he said, reading her look. "I'm only delivering a message to a Lord in the town up ahead but I figured you may like the run."

How thoughtful. She had indeed enjoyed the run, though she was slightly disappointed that there would be no fighting. Not that she enjoyed killing for the Empire, or killing humans for that matter – especially young ones – but she did enjoy fighting. It was like hunting with a challenge, and she enjoyed a good challenge.

"It would be best if you remained outside the city limits, out of the view of people," he told her. "Many people are not used to seeing wolves around their cities, especially not ones your size." He looked at the golden neckband that still shone at her throat. "Or ones with such expensive tastes," he said, smirking. He still had no idea what the engravings said or meant, though not for lack of trying. He had tried to use magic to decipher its meaning and when that failed he had gone to the castle libraries to search for what language it could have been but still found nothing. It remained a mystery. Eventually he had given up on trying to figure out it's meaning and concentrated on more important things instead; like his service to the King and his Empire.

Murtagh dismounted his horse and lead it into the city while Raine found a nice patch of soft earth and grass out of the way to lie in while she waited. She walked in a circle a couple of times before lying down and resting her head on her paws. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her back. Once or twice a rabbit wandered into her resting area but she made no effort towards it other than to raise her head and growl softly at it, which quickly sent it running, then returned to her all-important napping.

She wasn't sure of quite how long she rested but she finally awoke when Murtagh approached her. Lifting her head she looked up at him and yawned. "Come on Raine," he said to her. "It's best we be leaving this place." She rose swiftly and stretched before walking after him. Murtagh didn't mount his horse, instead he lead it by the reins down the path they had arrived on. Having just woken up, Raine had no qualms about walking instead of running.

A moment later Murtagh led his horse off the path and into the forest. They quickly found another small clearing. This wasn't an oddity; the forest was riddled with them. Gathering up his horse's reins, Murtagh tied them to a low hanging tree branch, leaving enough room to allow him to graze. He walked to the other side of the clearing, removing Zar'roc, still in its sheath, from his belt and sat down with his back against a tree.

Still on the other side of the clearing Raine looked at him quizzically. Usually they completed a mission he tried to get back to the castle as quickly as possible lest he anger King Galbatorix. She could understand that though. His presence alone was terrifying, not to mention the power he wielded. He also had a mental chokehold on Murtagh. She had heard that he had forced Murtagh to swear allegiance to him in the ancient language using his true name, binding him permanently to the King's will. Which begged the question, why was Murtagh taking his chances?

"I'm just taking a break," he explained when he saw her looking at him. "This was a simple task, though I was given a lengthy amount of time to complete it. I am taking that extra time to rest in peace and quite. In case you haven't noticed, I don't get much of that in the castle." He sat back and closed his eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet. Raine settled herself down to relax as well. There was no point arguing with him, even if she could effectively. She had learnt by now that he could be very stubborn when he wanted to be. She looked over at him and saw he was dozing, which is why he didn't sense the attack when it came.

A bow twanged within the trees and an arrow hissed through the air, aimed at Murtagh. Raine, who had smelled the attackers before they made their move, flung herself in the arrow's path, protecting Murtagh, as he had protected her. The arrow buried itself in her flank and she let out a whine of pain as she landed awkwardly on her side. Murtagh whipped his head around in surprise then flung himself to the side as another arrow flew by, thudding into the tree where he had been resting. How had he not sense their approach? Perhaps they had a magician with them capable of masking their presence.

Fortunately Raine had not been so disadvantaged. Her superior sense of smell and hearing had probably saved his life, though it may have been at the cost of her own. He had been careless. Because the mission had been a simple one – deliver a message and then return – he had not bothered to place wards around either of them.

Unsheathing Zar'roc Murtagh swept his hand in front of him, unleashing his magic. "Brisingr!" he shouted, setting the forest where he directed his will ablaze. He felt another mind touch upon his own and quickly assaulted the alien presence.

Several men came screaming from the burning forest. They had hoped to take the King's pet by surprise and had not expected him to survive. They were ill prepared to handle a situation such as this. They were mostly bow men with several sword wielders among them but they did not have much experience, save for one of them being a deadeye with the bow. Their magician specialized in shielding their presence from others and was not cut out for fighting. He couldn't withstand Murtagh's mental assault.

With practiced movements he attacked scared men as they attempted to flee for safety. He wouldn't let them leave alive. Fury at what they had done to Raine and what they had tried to do to him coursed through him. He wasn't going to let them get away with this.

The fight was over quickly, the would-be assassins scattered throughout the clearing. The magician had died quickly, the mental assault far more than he could handle. He used magic to put out the fire that he had started and stood still for a moment, his cold fury slowly dissipating.

A whine from behind him drew his attention. Raine lay on the ground, an arrow protruding from her side and blood seeping out, matting her silver fur. Murtagh rushed over to her and felt around the wound, drawing more pained whines from her. "Shh," he said softly, trying to calm her. "It's alright. I'll get this out." From the looks of it the arrow was fairly deep but the amount of blood suggested that it hadn't hit anything important. Thank goodness for that. It meant that he could heal her.

Gripping the arrow close to where it met her flesh he spoke to the injured wolf. "Brace yourself Raine. This is going to hurt." With a sharp tug he drew the arrow out of her side and she cried out in pain but resisted struggling. She knew that would just make it worse. "Hang in there Raine."

Raine shut her eyes tight and breathed heavily. She had to trust that Murtagh knew what he was doing, but it hurt so much! A soft whine escaped her again while she lay there on the ground, letting him examine her wound.

"You didn't have to do that," he said suddenly. "It was stupid." He sounded angry, but she didn't understand why. She had just saved him. He should be thankful. Instead he was getting mad at her. She looked up at his face through the veil of pain and saw worry in his eyes. No, he wasn't mad at her; he was mad at himself.

Why was he getting so angry? It didn't make any sense, even to himself. She was just a wolf, nothing more. She wasn't even human, but he was still irrationally worried about her. He hadn't worried about someone like this since he had traveled with his brother on good terms, and even then, he never let it show. So why did it matter this time?

He looked down at her anguished face, pain etched in her violet eyes and understood that it didn't matter whether she was a wolf or not; she was someone who sat and listened if he needed her too and who wouldn't judge or go running to someone else – like the King – with his private thoughts. He hadn't had someone like that in he couldn't remember how many years.

Looking down at her wound again he realized he had been too distracted to even remember to heal her using his magic. Placing his hand over the torn flesh he muttered the healing spell, repairing the damage done. He saw Raine visibly relax now, the pain slowly vanishing.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. Raising her head she licked Murtagh under the chin. It was her way of telling him not to worry, that she would live and it was not his fault that she had been injured. He smiled at him sadly and stood. "Are you fine to walk back to the castle?" he asked.

In response Raine stood. She did it rather gingerly, granted, but she stood none the less. "Let us return," he said as he undid the horse's reins and mounted. The trip was longer this time because of Raine's injury but they still managed to make it back before the sun set. Sneaking back to Murtagh's chambers she lay on the floor out of sight of the door to rest. Murtagh put his blade in its resting spot as Raine began to lick her wounds. Before much else could happen there came a knock at the door.

Murtagh walked to the door with what could have been described as a growl. He was out of patience for the day. As far as he was concerned it couldn't get much worse. He was proven wrong when he answered the door.

Waiting on the other side of the door two armed guards stood in a no nonsense manner. "Yes?" Murtagh asked, caution creeping into his voice.

"The King demands you meet with him immediately," the first said, his voice deep and severe.

Murtagh was about to protest when the other man cut in. "It is not a request." Cold gathered in a tight ball in his stomach and fear gripped him. Whatever the King wanted couldn't be good. Had he found out about Raine? Perhaps he had heard about the ambush. Or maybe it was something completely different, but either way, it wasn't good.

After a moments hesitation Murtagh followed the two escorts out of the room, closing the door behind him, and down the hall. When the door closed Raine emerged from hiding and stared at the wooden door. She agreed with Murtagh's unspoken sentiments. Whatever was going on couldn't be good.