Free Riders
Author's Note: Eragon is not mine. Char, Blaster, and Saranya are. Comment as you see fit. Title is a nod to the "CSI" franchise.
Chapter 38: CSI: Varden
After a few more minutes of searching, Brom withdrew and Blaster swayed ever so slightly. "I'm done."
"And what did you find?" Orik grunted.
"He is not your enemy, nor will he ever be" Brom projected. There were sighs of relief.
Are you hurt? Sara asked.
Nothing I won't recover from, Blaster said. He began to think about what he had learned from the man.
"Now, your turn," the man said to Murtagh, who was now at sword-point.
Murtagh stiffened and shook his head, making the sword to cut into his neck slightly. "No," he said, defiantly.
"You will not be protected here if you refuse," the bald man replied.
"Blaster has been declared trustworthy, so you cannot threaten to kill him to influence me. And, since you can't do that, nothing you can say or do will convince me to open my mind."
"What of your own life?" the bald man asked, raising what was supposed to be an eyebrow. "I can still threaten it."
"Won't do you any good," Murtagh said. His tone suggested he was serious.
The bald man appeared to explode in fury. "You don't have a choice!" He stepped forward, grabbed Murtagh to keep him still and placed his other palm on Murtagh's forehead. Murtagh stiffened, face like iron, fighting back with all his strength, much to the bald man's displeasure. His fingers dug mercilessly into Murtagh.
Well, this just confirms it, Blaster muttered. Do not ever trust that man. He paused. Or his twin, because I found out through his mind that he has a twin. They are the traitors.
I wasn't planning on it, Sara replied.
As they watched, Orik scowled darkly with increasing anger. Finally, he muttered, "Ilf carnz orodüm." He leapt forward and shouted, "That's enough!" He grabbed the bald man's arm and wrenched it away from Murtagh with such strength, Blaster was astonished. However, the bald man wasn't thrilled.
"How dare you!" he shouted. "You questioned my leadership, opened the gates without permission, and now this! You've shown nothing but insolence and treachery. Do you think your king will protect you now?"
"And you would have let them die!" Orik replied. "If we had waited any longer, even with this one's blasting stick, they would have been killed by the Urgals." He pointed to Murtagh, who was breathing raggedly, like a runner who had just run a marathon. "We haven't the right to torture him for information! Ajihad won't sanction it. Not after Brom examined the Rider and found him free of fault. And they've brought us Arya."
So my suspicions and what I found out might be true, Blaster thought.
"Would you allow him to enter unchallenged?" the bald man roared. "Are you so great a fool as to put us all at risk?" He looked more like a feral beast that was ready to tear the dwarf to pieces.
"Can he use magic?"
"That is—"
"Can he use magic?!" Orik roared. The bald man's face suddenly grew expressionless. He clasped his hands behind his back.
"No," he said, simply.
"Then what do you fear?" Orik said, calmly. "It's impossible for him to escape, and he can't work any devilry with all of us here, especially if your powers are as great as you say. But don't listen to me. Go and as Ajihad what he wants done."
"Or, better yet, let someone who knows what they're doing do it," Brom protested. He shoved the bald man out of the way. "And I will not have you help me." He turned to Murtagh. "Now, Murtagh, will you lower the barriers around your mind for examination, please? I will do my best to keep the sanctity of your mind." The entire court let out a gasp at the name, which caused Blaster to groan.
"My mind has been my last sanctuary and no one has been able to, nor allowed to breech it, though they have tried," Murtagh breathed. "I will not allow any one in, least of all him," he added, pointing to the bald man.
"And you won't allow me in because I killed your father in combat?" Brom asked. There was a collective gasp.
"Barzûl," Orik shouted. "He's brought us the enemy." The bald man's lips curled into a sneer. Blaster noticed this and decided to tell Brom about it next chance he got. Finally, Murtagh spoke above the din of protesting soldiers.
"Silence!" he shouted. He got it a few seconds later. "I will allow Brom to access my mind. And only Brom."
The bald man nodded and muttered a promise in the Ancient Language. Relieved, Brom infiltrated Murtagh's mind. It was a tense few minutes. Finally, Brom removed himself from Murtagh. Murtagh looked worried, but Brom merely nodded.
"Though he had promised to aid Galbatorix when the time came in the common language, he has been careful to distance himself from the king," Brom announced. "He is not our enemy."
"Surely you jest," the bald man said. "What with his father's actions."
"But they were his father's actions," Brom countered. "Not his."
"He must have tricked you with his mind," the bald man said. "I shall remove the correct information myself."
Brom tried, but failed to keep the bald man away. Murtagh was once again under the onslaught from the man, but it only lasted a few seconds. Blaster had magically summoned his pistol, turned off the safety and fired right into the man's outstretched arm. It broke the man's concentration enough for Blaster to begin smothering the man's mind with his own.
"You deny the truth?" Blaster demanded, his eyes beginning to glow a light red. "Even after you were told in the Ancient Language that what we said was true? I'm sure Ajihad will hear about this. Don't make it into a full blown confrontation, because I will if you don't stop." The whole room was quiet until the bolt to the door was drawn back and said doors opened. Half a dozen guards all ran in, their swords bare. "Will you stand down?" The bald man started to speak in the Ancient Language, but Blaster cut him off with another shot, imbedding the bullet into one of the wooden chairs that were on the sides. "I suggest you do, or else the next one is going right between the eyeballs."
Reluctantly, the bald man bowed and Blaster lowered his pistol and ended his onslaught on the man's mind. Finally, the man said, "You will stay here overnight while we decide the next best course of action."
Blaster nodded, then watched as everyone except himself, Sara, and Murtagh began to leave. Brom halted for a second and turned around. Any message you wish to relay to Char if I can reach her?
Yes, Blaster answered. Tell her to suppress her memories of our universe to others that do not already know. If anyone asks, she came from the north, found a way to teleport herself, ended up with Arya when she got ambushed, and had no idea what she had found one day was a dragon egg. He paused. Also, keep an eye on that man and his twin. They might have it in for Murtagh for fleeing the king.
Brom smirked, bowed slightly, then left the room. The heavy wooden doors were moved back into place, and locked from the outside. Not that it mattered much with Blaster's magic. Plus, if he was pressed, he could summon his blade in a shower of sparks and a flash of light and use it to unlock the door if he aimed the tip of the blade right. Even so, without that, the blade, he assumed, would probably be sharp enough to slice through the lock like butter. Even though he could escape, Blaster decided against it in favor of not giving the Varden a worse impression than he had already given.
"So, Murtagh," Blaster finally said. "Might I have a look at your past myself? I would ask you to tell me the whole story, but, even if I am able to read it from your mind, you're still basically telling me."
"Normally, I would say no," Murtagh said. "I have given my life to protect my mind from outside invasion. As I have said before, it is my last sanctuary that I have, and no one will take it away."
"I never said I would be using it for evil intent," Blaster said. "I promise I will only read what you have memory-wise and try not to cause you undue pain if I can avoid it."
Murtagh thought for a moment. "Okay. But I'm going to give you the abridged version of my history. There are some things that I really don't think you need to know, like when I lost my first tooth or how bad my grades were being home-schooled."
Blaster nodded, then extended a tendril of thought towards Murtagh's mind. He skimmed Murtagh's mind and found himself in an intense story, starting with what he was told about his birth. He'd been given to a nursemaid because his mother, Morzan's wife, was the notorious Black Hand. At three, his back was torn open by Zar'roc, and his father died soon after. His mother arrived just as news came that Morzan was dead, ill, and she died within a fortnight.
Then, Blaster felt a skip, because Murtagh really didn't have many important things between when his mother died and when he was called by Galbatorix to find a way to restore the Riders to their former glory. Few weeks past that, the King was fuming, having lost three brigades in the south, and he ordered Murtagh to destroy Cantos, including those who were innocent. Murtagh then tried to escape, and was ambushed. That ambush killed his mentor and faithful servant, Tornac. After that, Murtagh layed low and listened in until he heard news of a couple of targets for the Ra'zac to take care of, which is how Murtagh found Blaster in the first place.
Being sure to not dive or press for any more information, Blaster withdrew, now knowing the whole story. He didn't need to search for more info anyway. He'd gotten what he wanted to know, and that was a better understanding of Murtagh. The trials he'd been through, the tribulations he had overcome, all played out in the man now before him.
"I have to say that your future must be looking up for you," Blaster said. "I doubt anyone other than yourself has actively escaped Galbatorix from right under his nose. An accomplishment that deserves much praise, in my opinion. I should commend you."
"You just did," Murtagh deadpanned. Blaster just smirked and healed Sara's punctured snout. Murtagh sighed, then asked, "Was it just me, or did that bald guy look familiar."
"To you, maybe," Blaster admitted. "Did he ever work for Galbatorix?"
"I do vaguely remember someone," Murtagh said. "Actually two someones that looked exactly alike."
"Twins," Blaster said. "And no, it isn't just you. They are familiar to you because they are those men. I have seen it, and I hope to inform Ajihad about their trust here as soon as I get the chance. But, for now, let's just get some rest. I'm sure we'll need it."
Murtagh agreed, and, after they had a small meal that was served to them through the door, the three of them were fast asleep.
The secret is out. Will the Twins be disciplined? Or will they be driven out? Will Murtagh be safe with the Varden? Where has Eragon disappeared to in all of this? Find out the answers to these and more in the next Free Riders. Coming next.