Free Riders
Author's Note: Eragon is not mine. Char, Blaster, and Saranya are. Comment as you see fit.
Chapter 37: Guns Akimbo
I really want to know your opinion, Blaster said as Sara flew high above the advancing hoard.
If we left, then tried to return for Murtagh, they wouldn't let us, Sara said. For all they know, we might be returning to inform the Urgals about their hiding place.
Yeah, we aren't exactly arriving at the best of circumstances, Blaster said. I suppose we just tell them the truth and hope they believe us.
Then what happens if the Kull attack Murtagh?
We won't let them, Blaster said. We will attack first.
I hardly believe we would kill that many Urgals without getting ourselves killed, Sara said.
Not unless we bomb them, Blaster said. Weren't you listening to me before? Pick up some boulders, and we'll drop some of them on the Kull. They should scatter, assuming that they don't have iron for skulls, and steel for muscles.
Sara banked right and dropped to the Beartooth. Picking up a mid-sized boulder, Blaster pulled out his sword, dulled the blade, then, with a swish and a flick, tested another magic he knew. "Wingardium Leviosa." To his, and Sara's surprise, another, slightly smaller boulder rose from the ground. Well, I guess that magic works as well. Blaster pulled out a grenade from his bag.
Once at altitude, Blaster adjusted his computer to show a bomber's view. Once they were overtop of the Kull, they dropped the boulders. Seconds later, Blaster pulled the pin on the grenade. He threw it over with the boulders. Muffled cracks were heard as the missiles fell to the ground, cracking branches as they went. A second later, howls were heard through the valley. As they went to get more ammo, Blaster's grenade exploded, causing more of the Kull to howl in pain.
It was impossible to stop the Kull's pace with their attacks, but they were able to slow them down considerably. They were nearly invisible, and well out of reach of any arrows that might have been fired at them. As the sun began to set, it became increasingly harder to find the Kull, yet Blaster kept dropping grenades, hoping that the horses and Murtagh were well out of the way.
When true darkness fell, not even the dragons were able to sense where the Urgals were. They began to listen for the sound of falling water. They finally saw a streak of white ahead.
We should get back to Murtagh, Blaster said. If the Varden know we are coming, we might get someone to come out to help us, assuming they know if we are a friend.
Blaster looked in his bag of explosives and found that he had used almost a third of the remaining grenades in the bombardment. When they landed, Blaster loosened Cratona from its sheath. Sara crouched, ready to take off again. The sound of pounding hooves soon fell upon their ears.
Within seconds, Murtagh and the horses appeared. Blaster jumped off Sara. He began to run after Murtagh, soon keeping pace. Sara went to the riverbed so that they could run with them without taking out half of the forest with her. Before either Rider could say a word, Murtagh said, "I saw you dropping rocks…and those grenades. It's rather ambitious, if you ask me. Have the Kull stopped or turned back?"
"Negative," Blaster said. "They've slowed, though, so that's good. Plus, we've nearly made it to the end of the valley. How are they?"
"They haven't died," Murtagh said, his breath coming in short bursts. "That blue stuff really helped them out. Their fevers have gone down a bit, but not all the way." His next words were deceptively calm, with undertones of someone with a terrible passion. "Is there a valley or gorge by which I might be able to escape?"
Even though they were in the air, Blaster hadn't thought about trying to find a side valley by which Murtagh could escape. His plight hadn't occurred to him. He dodged a low branch, then said, "It's dark, and we could have missed something, but…no."
"Alright," Murtagh said with a sigh, still running. "I guess I should humor Brom. But I will not let anyone into my mind unless I say so, and I don't say so."
"Brom, I am sure, will want to search your mind and make sure you are telling the truth," Blaster said. "If you ask, I will bet that he'll be extra careful to not desecrate your last true sanctuary."
"That is fine by me," Murtagh said. "But, knowing them, they'll want me locked up."
"Because you were born to a man who was no more a beast as a bear?" Blaster asked. "I will not allow you to trouble yourself with that. Forge your own path. You are not your father, so don't pretend that you are."
"Thanks, but I don't need a pep-talk right now," Murtagh said. Within a few minutes, the roar of a waterfall grew until they appeared in a clearing. In front of them was the lake. "What now?"
"We head to the right," Blaster said over the din. "The entrance is near the waterfall."
"Okay, let's go," Murtagh said. They walked along the right bank, which was only wide enough for one person to travel at a time. Sara burst out of the lake, trying to surprise them, but it agitated them more than anything. She slid under the surface again with the plan to strike at the Urgals before they had the chance to attack Blaster and Murtagh. They were almost at the waterfall when the shouts of the Urgals alerted them to the clearing they had just emerged from.
Blaster raced to the end of the waterfall. Here the path widened, allowing some maneuverability. The Urgals split in half, each going down one side, blocking their exit. Thankfully they were forced single-file along the banks, and with nothing behind them but a sheer rock face, they were easy prey for when Sara darted out and ripped the first few off of the line heading directly towards them. She slipped back under the water to avoid taking a hit and emerged on the other side, stopping that line from advancing.
"Now what?!" Murtagh shouted over the din.
Blaster picked up a large rock and shouted, "Aí varden abr du Shur'tugalar gata vanta." He banged on the wall and repeated the phrase. Nothing happened. Blaster tried again, but got no response. He turned around and saw Sara getting stabbed in the snout by spears thrown by the Urgals. She slipped back under the surface and both lines continued forward. Finally, Blaster had had enough.
"What are you doing?!" Murtagh asked.
"I'm trying to save our lives!" Blaster replied. He ripped open his saddlebag and pulled out his shotgun, since his AK and his sniper rifle were still with Samson. Making sure the shotgun was loaded with the necessary six rounds, he cocked the gun, aimed it at the advancing Urgals and fired. One Kull fell to the ground, but the ones behind him trampled over him, ignoring the new obstacle on their path. Blaster reloaded with a pump of the shotgun and fired again. This time, two went down at once. Another shot and the kill count was at four. By the time he had used all six cartridges, he had slain eight Kull. Quickly reloading the gun from his ammo pouch, he fired six more, killing an additional seven Kull.
Reloading again took a little time, but he had enough to start taking out some of the two dozen on the other side with his slugs since he knew the grape pellets wouldn't work that well at far range. Of the battalion of almost fifty Kull, only ten on each side remained, but they were approaching fast. Sara erupted out of the water again, taking three out in one surprise strike on the far side. Blaster reloaded one last time and fired six more shots, taking out six on the near side.
Once the Kull on the near side were within fifty yards, Blaster turned to his pistol, dropping his shotgun to the ground. By the end of the first clip, three more were dead. Three bullets of the next clip were emptied into the last one on the near side, with the remaining seven dropping three more on the other side. In another surprise attack, Sara took out two, leaving only two on the far side. Blaster could easily take them out, but they were retreating back to the clearing, where another four dozen had appeared an started to march towards them.
"Man, times like this I wish I had my AK," Blaster muttered. He reloaded his pistol and picked up his shotgun. Just as the next round of Kull began their march towards them, he heard a low rumble. Behind him, a door inlayed in the stone opened up. On the other side was Brom, holding Blaster's machine gun.
"Everyone inside," Brom said. With amazing skills having not wielded the weapon before, Brom squeezed off bursts of fire, from the machine gun. However, Blaster knew that he had all the bullets for it, so it astonished him that his gun was firing without ammunition. Then it hit him. Brom must have known that the clip was empty and used some form of magic to fill the clip with projectiles. And each one hit their mark.
Sara, fall back, Blaster said. Sara erupted from the lake and led the procession into the doors. Murtagh and the horses were next, followed by Blaster and Brom. Just as the magically filled clip was expended, arrows black as night erupted from the walls. The Kull were taken by surprise when foot soldiers attacked from behind, attempting to kill any their blade could reach.
Once inside, Blaster turned around to see a dwarf, muttering, "What the hell was he thinking?" The dwarf was no more than four feet tall, and had a long braided beard. He wore a sleeveless chain-mail jacket, showing off his large muscles, and he would need them if he were to wield the war axe hanging from his leather belt. He looked at the fighting longingly and said, "Barzul, but I wish I could join them!"
Blaster looked at his surroundings and saw he was in a tunnel thirty feet tall that bored into the mountain. Twelve-foot-thick doors separated them from the fighting. A line of flameless lamps filled the hallway with a pale sapphire light that spilled out to the lake. Sara and Murtagh were by the tunnel, surrounded by dwarves and men alike. A bald, beardless man stood at Murtagh's elbow, taller than the other humans, wearing purple and golden robes, and he had a dagger to Murtagh's throat.
"What is the meaning of this?" Brom demanded.
"They must be examined," the bald man said. "If this one doesn't submit, then he will die. Especially since we need to know how a battalion of Kull is at our front doorstep. They could have led them here and were going to attack us when possible."
"How about this," Blaster said. "You ask me. For this matter, we did not lead the Kull here, nor did we have any wish to harm the Varden or those who ally with them. We have sworn these in the ancient language." He sighed and began to dive into his vocabulary in the ancient language. "Vel eïnradhin iet ai Shur'tugal, thornessa er du ilumëo."
"See, and that means you can let him go," Brom said.
"Your words are still meaningless until you've been examined," the bald man said.
"Then let me," Brom said. The bald man looked shocked. "Or would you rather explain to Ajihad that you refused to let a former Rider, who is more versed in magic and mind infiltration than you'll ever be, was denied the ability to scan for motives? I already have you for nearly getting these two killed by the Kull in the first place."
"Do what you wish," the bald man said. "However, we must do the ceremony proper."
"Of course," Brom said. "But you will release him." The bald man agreed. "And, take these two to the healers." He thumbed Char and Arya. "They've been rescued from Gil'ead and should be in one hell of a state."
"They need Tunivor's Nectar to save their lives," Blaster said. "And you will do well to heed Brom's advice for the one is the egg-courier Arya, and the other is my future wife. If either were allowed to die, you'd get one hell of an earful from me."
"Very well," the bald man said. "Take them to the healers, but allow no one else until the ceremony is complete."
Some of the soldiers went to the horses and led them along the tunnel. The bald man beaconed and, dragging Murtagh with him, followed the soldiers. Thankfully, he had lowered the knife, which comforted Blaster a bit. The oversized doors closed behind Brom, sealing them in the tunnel and the Kull out. The bald man led them down a side tunnel, past sculptures of animals Blaster had never seen before.
Finally, after taking many side corridors, the group entered a large white marble room, filled with the light from the flameless lanterns. The heavy wooden doors boomed closed behind them and the scraping of a bolt being thrown could be heard. Brom walked over to where the bald man stood with Murtagh.
"Alright, Blaster," Brom said, "as a precaution, you will need to relinquish your weapons and step away from Sara so that I can see into your mind without much interference."
Reluctantly, Blaster turned on the safety on all his weapons and tossed them over to Brom. He thought he was done, but he quickly removed Cratona from his belt and tossed it on top of his guns. He took two steps forward.
Before we begin, I want you to let me know when you are being read by that one and read that one for me for his mind defenses are strong, Brom said, silently.
"I am ready," Blaster said. As soon as he said that, he felt Brom slowly worm his way through his mind. He sifted through the fake memories, finding nothing important, but another tendril of thought pierced through and took hold of one of the fake memories. Instantly, Blaster threw up his strongest mind defense and he barely nodded his head to Brom, who withdrew.
"I thought I said that I would scan him," Brom said. "If you do not stop this incessant act for superiority, you're going on report! I am stronger than you will ever be alone, and both of these guys will be as well, only moreso."
The bald man was furious. "And you think you can come in and take over what we have done for the longest time?"
"I know what I am doing," Brom countered.
At this point, Blaster didn't care. He extended a tendril of thought into the bald man's mind, and one that the bald man couldn't counter unless he had extreme training like Blaster had. As he sifted through the bald man's thoughts, Brom began sifting through Blaster's again. Finally, Blaster found something in the mind of the bald man that he didn't want to see.
He picked up a memory of the bald man and one that looked just like him. Twins. And the man before them, shaking their hands in turn for volunteering for a mission to infiltrate and destroy the Varden, must have been Galbatorix himself. With one thought that he put in the back of his mind, easy for Brom to find, he knew what they were. Traitors.
Will the duo be accepted? Did they get to the Varden in time? What will become of the bald man and his twin? Find out in the next chapter of Free Riders. Special TRIPLE chapter edition continues next.