Free Riders
Author's Note: Eragon is not mine. Char, Blaster, and Saranya are. Feel free to play Europe's "The Final Countdown" as it is the basis for this chapter's title. Comment as you see fit.
Chapter 50: The Final Countdown
The group all left the study and scattered: Jörmundur to the barracks, Eragon, Saphira, Sara (with Blaster's permission to help) and Brom down one of Tronjheim's four main halls, and Orik, Arya, Blaster, and Char down the stairs leading underground. Despite the early hour, the city-mountain swarmed like an anthill. People were running, shouting messages, and carrying bundles of belongings.
As Blaster descended with the others in his group, he remembered that they were fighting against tons of enemies. True, he had killed a thousand weak underlings, but fighting beings designed to kill was something entirely different. Thankfully for him, he knew that, based on the twenty minute fight he and Char had yesterday, the two of them could tackle quite a bit. Then the fact that they would be, initially, armorless hit Blaster just a few seconds before they reached the tunnels.
"Over here," Orik said. "Arya and Char, you'll be with this group. Blaster, follow me to the other group." Blaster followed Orik to a tunnel where a small group of dwarves were picking at the rock. Orik explained, in dwarvish, what Blaster was there to do. "He says they've got a tunnel about five yards directly below us."
"Tell them to clear the area," Blaster said, digging into his bag of grenades. Orik gave the order and the dwarves pulled back. Taking some C-4 in some cones out of his bag, he used magic to find the cracks they were trying to exploit and placed the shape-charges on the weaknesses where he believed they would do the most damage. As soon as the charges were in place, he backed off further than the dwarves.
"Where are you going?" Orik asked.
"Clear this tunnel, now," Blaster ordered. Orik did that, but he was getting as impatient as the other dwarves.
"What are you planning?" Orik demanded. Blaster slipped behind a wall at an intersection of tunnels. Orik reluctantly did the same. "We are trying to collapse the tunnels!"
"That's what I'm doing," Blaster said, tapping away at his wrist computer. "Those things I just place are explosions waiting to happen. All they need is a spark." He tapped one button, then put his hands to his mouth. "Clear the area! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!" He went back to his wrist computer. "You may want to cover your ears."
With just a tap, the charges exploded with a large boom, kicking up dust and caused the ground to shake for a fraction of a second. The dwarves were doing everything they could to keep from panicking. Blaster took one look around the corner to find a hole about seven yards across, the ground sliding inwards. Blaster heard the telltale signs of another explosion a few seconds later, thinking that Char had the same idea he had.
"All clear," Blaster shouted. He was rushed to the next area and, with a bit more difficulty, placed his charges and blew another tunnel. He continued, occasionally just using magic since he only had a limited supply of explosives, and he didn't fell like calling up Alice for more. After a few hours, he had collapsed over a dozen tunnels under Tronjehim. Orik ordered them all back up to the surface to prepare for battle.
Once in Tronjheim's center, Char approached, wearing her pistols, sword, a crossbow with bolts, and a sniper rifle on her back. The only thing different about her was that she was wearing a grey pauldron on her left shoulder with a blue gem on the inside. She smiled and held out a blue pauldron with a red gem to Blaster.
"I got in contact with Alice," Char said. "Managed to dig these out of storage and send them to us."
"Thanks," Blaster said. He looked at Char as she stood there, with most of her weapons on her. "You look like you're ready for battle."
"And you aren't?" she retorted, looking at Blaster's armaments. He strapped the pauldron to his arm. "You almost look like you're ready for war. Just put you behind an artillery cannon, and you'll be all set."
"My biggest fear is getting put in charge of a company of soldiers," he admitted. "Most Generals end up behind the front lines, directing forces from afar."
"But you're not like 'Most Generals,' are you?"
"True."
Blaster was interrupted by columns of dwarven soldiers rattling through Tronjheim. Each one had burnished steel hauberks that hung to their knees, and held thick round shields on their left arms, each one stamped with the crests of their clan. At their waists were sheathed at their waists since they wielded either mattocks or war axes in their right hands. Their legs were covered in extra-fine mail, brass-studded boots adorned their feet, and iron caps on their heads. Orik waved from the column and joined them.
"You are all done here," Orik said as he approached. "There are no more tunnels to collapse. Your methods were…intriguing to say the least." He motioned to one of two groups of dwarves carrying piles of plate armor. Sara joined them, having finished helping Brom.
There were a lot of tunnels to collapse, Sara said. I am getting hungry from all the strength I lent to Brom.
"We will need food before this battle," Blaster said.
"Of course," Orik said. "But first, a gift from Hrothgar." He picked up a section of the plate armor and handed it to Blaster. It was polished metal, intricately wrought with engravings and golden filigree. In places, it was easily an inch thick and very heavy. Blaster couldn't imagine any man that could fight under such weight, not that it mattered because there were too many pieces to fit for one man. "They've lain so long among our other treasures that they were almost forgotten. They were forged in another age, before the fall of the Riders."
"It's obviously not made for man, nor dwarf," Blaster deduced.
"It's dragon armor," Orik explained. "You didn't think dragons went into battle unprotected, did you? Complete sets like these two are rare because they took so long to make and because dragons were always growing. Still, Saphira and Sara aren't too big yet, to they should fit them reasonably well."
Oooh, dragon armor, Sara said. She nosed a piece. Let's try it on.
With some work, Blaster and Char helped Sara into her armor. After some struggling, they stepped back to admire their work. Sara's entire neck, except for the spikes along its ridge, was covered in triangular scales of overlapping plates, with her chest and belly protected by the heaviest plates and her tail protected by the lightest ones. Her back and legs were encased completely, though her wings were left bare. A single molded plate lay atop her head, leaving her lower jaw free to bite and snap.
Sara arched her neck experimentally, causing the armor to flex smoothly with her movements. This will slow me down a bit, but it'll help stop the arrows. How do I look?
Intimidating, Blaster said, truthfully. It pleased her. Orik lifted some of the remaining pieces from the ground.
"I brought you some armor as well, Blaster, though it took a bit of searching to find your size," Orik said. "We rarely forge arms for men or elves. I don't know who this was made for, but it has been used slightly and should serve you well."
"I thank you, Orik," Blaster said. "And I extend my thanks and gratitude toward Hrothgar as well. However, for this gift, I must respectfully decline. Not because I feel like going into battle unarmored, but because I have my own armor."
"You do?" Orik asked. "You didn't have it when you entered, did you?"
"Yes," Char lied. "It was in my bag. This, is our armor." She pointed to the pauldron on her shoulder.
"That little bit of armor will not do you much good," Orik said.
"This little bit of armor is more than what you believe it to be," Blaster said. Taking his right hand, he slapped the jewel of the pauldron, causing it to flash for a second. Armor began to emerge from the pauldron down his left arm in large segments, much larger than the pauldron. As soon as his left arm was encased in the magical armor, it started working on his chest, working down the breastplate, down to plate legs, all the same colored blue. His right arm was covered next, followed by his back. His helmet was last, covering his entire face, including his eyes in a light-blue visor, with two short fins extending straight up roughly to the top of the helmet.
Orik looked amazed at the armor as Blaster began to flex and walk. "How is that possible?" he asked as Blaster twisted, bent, knelt, and back-flipped without any issues with mobility.
"A magical armor that Char and I came up with," Blaster said in a slightly muffled voice, knowing it was a partial lie. They had gotten their armor as a gift in one universe, then augmented it with materials in theirs. "It is just as strong, if not stronger than steel, resistant to almost anything, and it doesn't even hamper my mobility."
"How can you even see out of that helmet?" Orik asked.
"The visor is tinted," Blaster replied. "I can see out, but no one can see in. Char has one too. It's efficient, effective, and will never rust or age. At least, that's what I was told." He paused as his helmet retracted. "Could you set the other set aside for me, just in case?"
"I will," Orik said. "Now come, we must hurry, else we'll be sealed in."
The four of them ran out, the sound of metal hitting itself echoing through the hallway. They ran out into the flats around Tronjheim, with the women and children racing out with their supplies, clothing, and a few belongings. A small group of warriors accompanied them, mostly made up of boys and old men. At the base of Tronjheim, however was where the Varden were assembling their armies into three battalions. Each battalion bore the Varden's standard: a white dragon holding a rose above a downward-pointing sword on a purple field.
The men were silent, ironfisted. Hair hung loosely under their helmets. Many warriors had only a sword and a shield, but there were several ranks of spearmen and pikemen. Archers were at the rear, testing their bowstrings. Orik excused himself to go visit with Eragon and give him the other set of dragon armor.
Hundreds of lanterns were fixed to the tops of poles stuck into the ground, providing enough light to be mistaken as the evening sun. Flames blazed atop of three tunnels that were supposed to funnel the Urgals inside, where huge cauldrons of pitch heating over them. It unnerved Blaster since he knew there were better ways for someone to die than that. Ahead of the battalions were rows of sharpened saplings, pounded into the ground to form a pointy barrier between the upcoming Urgals and the Varden. Men were digging trenches between the saplings. Far behind them, the archer's protective barrier was being erected. Blaster helped set the saplings in the trenches, while Sara helped dig the next trench. Char left to help build the archer's barrier, but returned with a wineskin, passing it around to the other soldiers.
"Ah, Char, Blaster, I see that Sara has been outfitted," Ajihad shouted. He approached, armed for battle with an ivory-handled sword and a breastplate. "Your armor is…interesting, to say the least, Blaster, and you don't seem to have any, Charlotte."
"I prefer to stay back and kill my enemies from afar," Char said. "But, all I need to do is press this blue jewel on my pauldron, and my armor will cover me as Blaster's armor covers him. It's…complicated, but we are still experimenting with armor that hides within itself magically."
"I see," Ajihad said. He leaned on his sword for a few seconds. "One of the Twins is staying in Tronjheim once it is sealed. He's going to watch the battle from the dragonhold and relay information through his brother to me. I am aware you can speak with your mind. I need you to tell the Twins anything you see that is unusual. Also, I'll relay orders to you through them. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Blaster said. He wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he knew he could keep the Twins out of the most important parts of his mind with ease.
"You are no foot soldier or horseman, nor any other type of warrior I am used to commanding," Ajihad continued. "Battle may prove differently, but I would advise that you and Sara stay on the ground. It is safer there, since, in the air, you'll be choice targets for Urgal archers. Will you fight from Sara's back?"
"I may," Blaster said, "but if I feel more comfortable fighting on foot, I will. On Sara, I'll be much too high to kill all but the Kull, which I am sure there are plenty of."
"I'm afraid you're correct," Ajihad said. He pulled his sword from the ground. "The only other bit of advice I can give you is to avoid unnecessary risks. The Varden can ill afford to lose either you or Eragon." Blaster nodded. "Speaking of, I need to see how well he's been outfitted."
Blaster, Char, and Sara joined Ajihad to where Saphira and Eragon were. Like Sara, Saphira was decked out in the silvery dragon armor in all but her wings. Nearby, but not as decked out as Blaster was armor-wise, was Eragon. He had on a shirt of leather-backed mail that fell to his knees, clinking whenever he moved. Zar'roc was belted over it, keeping the mail from swinging. A leather cap, mail coif, and a gold-and-silver helm protected his head, bracers and greaves protected his forearms and shins, and mail-backed gloves protected his hands. A broad shield with an oak tree emblazoned on it protected his left side.
Ajihad looked at Murtagh, wearing another set of armor. Murtagh looked a little nervous, but worry was still present on his face, as if he were wondering if the dwarf he rushed to Tronjheim would survive. Ajihad said the same message to Eragon. Once he was done, Blaster remained with Eragon while Ajihad left to continue inspecting his troops. Eragon took one look at Char and felt as if he couldn't contain himself.
"You will fight?" Eragon asked. It was obvious that he thought Char would be with the rest of the women and children.
"I will," Char said. "And don't tell me it's too dangerous. I've been in battles you wouldn't even begin to imagine. So, don't patronize me. You'll find I'm no distressed damsel in a fight."
Eragon settled down, looking around. He froze when he saw Arya, her bow in her lap, waiting for the battle to start. She caught him staring at her and, knowing what he was going to say, stared him down and said, "Don't even think about it."
"Why?" Eragon asked.
"Because," Arya said, "I was given the task of protecting Saphira's and Sara's eggs. A task which I failed. My breoal is dishonored and would be further shamed if I did not guard you, Blaster, Saphira, and Sara upon this field of battle. You forget that I am stronger with magic than any here, including you, but maybe excluding Blaster. If the Shade does come, who but us can defeat him? Who else has that right?"
"Good point," Eragon said, weighing the facts. "Just stay safe." He added, in desperation, "Wiol pömnuria ilian." For my happiness, which Blaster heard instead of the ancient language.
Arya turned away, uneasy, with the fringe of her hair obscuring her face. She ran her hand along her polished bow, and muttered, "It is my wyrd to be here. The debt must be paid."
"Kai fertuna drah hugan hus," Blaster said. Before he got weird looks, he added, "May good fortune wash over us."
Everyone slunk into a brooding silence, waiting for the battle to begin.
And so the waiting begins. Next up, the Battle for Farthen Dur. Stay tuned, the 5-part finale continues...