I decided then, on the way to Furnost, that I was either crazy or insane, or possibly both. The Ra'zac and the Lethrblaka were probably still in town. Last time the Lethrblaka had underestimated me; if we met again, I didn't stand a chance. But I needed supplies, and the only place nearby was Furnost. Or I could go the long way around, from Petrovya to Cithri to Melian to Dras-Leona(turned out it wasn't Drat, Lona! after all) and then to the weird place that started with some sort of throat gurgle, but I was in a hurry.
Then there was the throat gurgle city itself. It was the Empire's capital, the place where Gabriel(or was it Gandrayda? I could never remember) and his black dragon, Shrew Can, lived. I was guessing that, since they had managed to take over Alagaesia with nothing but their twenty-six minions, all of which were now dead, that they were pretty strong. But the summons came from there, and I would go with the flow, throwing myself onto the doorstep of the two most powerful beings in the land in the process. Ah, the joy of getting myself killed.
I dropped into Tudosten and walked out on the shore. Everybody had already packed up and scrambled back to their houses by then, so no-one saw some random girl drag herself out of a really big lake in the evening.
Going to either the Fluffy Rock, the Black Dragon, or the Quacking Moose would be just plain stupid, since I'd been there before. I found a quiet little inn called the Silent Breeze(finally, a name that makes a bit of sense) at the north end of town.
After spending a few coins I'd "borrowed" from the Varden a few days back, I got a good night's rest and decent food. I bought a pack in the morning, stuffed a new black hooded cloak into it, and filled it with food, then slid it over my back in a way that wouldn't mess up my wings. Then I headed for Uru'baen.
I saw Uru'baen from two miles away, and I was forced to find the road and walk. The city was humongous. It was in a grid formation,with each building perfectly spaced from the others. A great black castle rose from a big hill in the center, looming over its neighbors like a storm cloud. Other, smaller citadels were scattered all over. A large wall, forty feet thick and a hundred and fifty feet high, encircled the ominous city, with archers prowling along all sides of it and places that jutted out from the top of the wall, probably to dump stuff down from. A moat surrounded the place. I didn't see any farms either, which probably meant that they were also in the wall. When I asked someone, he told me the city got its water from wells and springs inside(not the moat after all), and all the water sources were checked every few hours for poison. In short, the place made Teirm look like a dollhouse.
I put on a black cloak with a hood before I got back onto the road. Hey, what can I say? I like having an aura of clicheness.
I arrived at the only gate a half hour later. It was an arch, about seventy feet high, with a big black iron portcullis above it and about a billion murder holes above it and a barbican that made it harder to get in. Six soldiers stood at attention along the neck of the barbican, and two men in long purple robes with large daggers put into their identical gleaming golden belts stood guard by the entrance.
The guards let everybody pass by without questions or any of the things they did back at Teirm. I soon knew why. The men with purple robes seemed to be magicians; I could feel them probing at my mental wall. When neither of them could get past my barriers, they began a full-out assault. I gritted my teeth in concentration. I could easily handle just one of them, but the two of them together were quite strong.
When I had nearly gotten past the entrance, one of them shouted, "Halt! You, the one in the black cloak, stay where you are."
As if. I did the natural thing: I ran. Then the other magician yelled, "Letta!" My body froze in place. I growled and tried to move my legs, but they wouldn't respond. Stupid magicians, why did Galby have to be so paranoid?
I turned my head and saw four soldiers and one magician walking towards me. "I'm doomed," I muttered.
Then somebody from the city called out in a musical voice that was kind of like Arya's, but rougher, "Blahblahblah!" At least, that's what it sounded like. It was a bunch of gibberish, anyways.
My body started listening to me again and I ran for where the voice had come from, which was behind a house right next to the wall.
I found some guy perched on a crate behind the house. . He had short blonde hair and flashy green eyes, and his body was thin and graceful. His big noticable pointed ears told me he was an elf.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him. The pursuing soldiers soon got left way behind us as the elf led me through the city, jumping over things that were too high to be jumped over and running around through hidden back alleys. I had a feeling that he didn't leave the city very often
Twenty minutes later, we were on the southern side of the city, opposite the gate. I was panting from our run, since my legs weren't used to running anymore, but the elf stood silent and erect, his breathing normal and his face like a statue's.
Once I had recovered, I followed the elf into a small stone house that looked like just like all the others on the street. Even the inside of it was common and ordinary. A small stove stood in one corner with a pot on top, a table with two teacups and two chairs were in the center of the house, and a bed was by the door, which the elf quickly closed behind us. The only thing out of the ordinary was a black cloak like mine sprawled on the bed.
The elf waved a hand absentmindedly at the pot on the stove and said some more gibberish. The pot, which was suddenly filled with boiling tea, lifted into the air and poured the tea into the two cups on the table before setting itself back onto the stove. The elf sat down at one of the chairs and gestured for me to do the same. I sat.
"So, human, what did you do to provoke the guards?" the elf asked. He took a sip of the tea and frowned.
"I dunno," I said. I didn't bother asking why an elf was in Uru'baen. If he didn't tell me, I wouldn't ask.
"Ah," the elf said. "You are against the Empire?"
"I don't really care, actually," I said. I tried the tea and spat it out again. The guy may be an elf, but he made horrible tea.
"Does it taste bad?" asked the guy, almost sounding a bit worried.
"Like crap," I told him. He frowned and dumped all of the tea out of the window.
What are you called?" he asked, sitting down again.
"Dusk," I said. "You?"
The elf hesitated, then replied, "You may call me-" I didn't catch the last word, because it was completely unpronounceable.
"Can I call you Fritos?" I asked. "It's way easier to pronounce."
"If you must. If I may ask, what brings you here to Uru'baen?"
"Yeah, you may ask, seeing as you already did. As to why I came here, I haven't got the slightest clue."
"You...do not know?" Fritos asked curiously. He pieced the words together carefully, like English was his second language.
"Mm hmm," I answered. I would have given him some sarcastic reply, but he had just saved my life, so I decided to be nice to him. For now, anyways. "So, why did you decide to help me back there?"
"I was told to watch out for you," said Fritos.
"Really. Some guy told you to watch out for a really cliche kid?"
"...Something along those lines. Your clothes, they are lamarae," said the elf. "Elf-made, correct?"
"Yup. By the way, Galby will know you're here now if he didn't already," I told Fritos.
"Galby?" questioned Fritos.
"Gabriel, Genesis, whatever that guy in the castle's name is."
"Galbatorix," Fritos sighed. "Yes, he will, and that is most...unfortunate. But it can't be helped. He would have known soon even if I hadn't shown myself."
"Thanks for the help," I told him, standing up. "But I have to leave now."
"May I come with you?" he asked.
"Sure, why not? That's two people that Galby wants to catch, one of which is a conspicuous pointy-eared elf and the other one's got wings. What's not to like?" I said, shrugging.
"Nobody else can see your wings, is that not so?"
"How'd you know?"
"As I said, I was warned that you would come. Let us have lunch first," Fritos said. "Then we can leave."