I think I've gone insane, Ronan thought, if one were to look at his predicament they would whole-heartily agree with the burly teenager.
Ronan was swaying precariously on a rooftop, the wind threatening to blow him off. The reason why he was on a rooftop in the middle of the night was simple, Surt had decided to see how good Ronan was by sending him on a job.
Ronan was a Rider, he was a skilled magician despite just having been thrown into the world of the Riders, he was a skilled blacksmith, he was a competent swordsman, he was not however a thief. Nor was he stealthy at all.
Well I guess there is a first time for everything, Ronan thought humorously, he was wearing his dark robes and hood, making him blend into the dark background.
He was currently looking down on a lavish manor, the owners were apparently the very snobbish and obnoxious type, the two heads of the family had come before the crew that Ronan had suddenly found himself in, they had asked the leader to get rid of some competition, which they did and the people instantly became rich.
The little snag in that deal was that the second the two were swimming in money they decided to not give the gang their cut, and had tried to get them arrested for good measure. So now it was time for some payback, and Ronan now found himself about to break into a manor.
The item Ronan was supposed to steal was the two backstabbers most prized possession, an ornate and priceless gem that was said to have been owned by King Palancar himself, according to the two it had been on his crown, so obviously the guild wanted that gem, not only to rub it in their faces but also get a pretty penny, and Ronan would gain the trust of the guild.
"Freohr," Ronan muttered under his breath, immediately he seemed to disappear, but it wasn't an invisibility spell. Ronan had instead focused the outline of his body to blend into the shadows, making him almost like a living and moving shadow.
The reason this was possible was because Ronan focused on the light that was surrounding him, he made the molecules surrounding him reflect away from him, when he blurred his outline it helped make it easier, with the light reflecting away from him no one could see him due to the fact no light was actually touching him.
This spell did have some major comeback, for one it could only be used in the dead of night, you can't use it in the day, and Ronan couldn't move to fast or a wary guard may see a flash of Ronan and come investigate.
Ronan managed to get past any guards who looked like they would rather be in their beds, he muttered a small spell that levitated him up to a window. He quickly channeled some magic into the lock and heard it click.
Ronan slowly opened the window.
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Eragon stood on a small hill looking at a very familiar structure. He was looking at the towering mountain known as Helgrind, meaning 'The Gates of Death' in the ancient language.
Inside were the most malevolent and feared creatures to walk in the shadowed parts of Alagäesia, the ones who had attacked his farm and brutally tortured his uncle. The Ra'zac. No one truly understood their malevolent nature, to think one would understand them was a fools wish. The Ra'zac were an unknown entity, even with Eragon gaining all the knowledge the Old Riders had found about the creatures, it was still a pitiful amount. The Riders weren't even sure what lands the Ra'zac had originated, they had assumed that they had come from the unknown continent where the humans had fled, followed by the Urgals. The Ra'zac preyed on the humans, their breath able to easily paralyze a full grown man with just a small whiff of their rancid breath. Thankfully their breath would have no effect on Eragon, thanks to his transformation during the Blood Oath Celebration.
The Ra'zac's appearance only added on to the mystery of the narrow-minded beasts. From a distance they appeared rather human, their humanoid shape allowing them to move without too much attention. But if one were to get closer that was the only thing about the Ra'zac that appeared normal. They wore long and ragged black cloaks, hiding their faces from any mortal foolish to get close enough to them. Underneath their hoods instead of a mouth was a beak that wouldn't look out of place on a insect or beetle, their beaks able to pierce through flesh and metal alike with relevant ease.
They wore no armor underneath their robes, and they didn't need too. For instead of soft and vulnerable flesh, there was only a hard like ebony exoskeleton capable of blocking the heaviest of blows with ease. Though this exoskeleton did have a weakness, due to the weight of the exoskeleton, while not too heavy to weigh down a Ra'zac, it wouldn't do well in water. The Ra'zac would no doubt sink like a stone by their own insect like flesh. Unfortunately but not surprisingly for Eragon, that weakness would do no help here, the Ra'zac knew of this weakness and made sure to stay away from any type of deep water, no doubt one of the reasons they chose Helgrind as their base of operations was because it was high up in the air, and far away from water. The closest water source was Lake Leona to the West, but it was far enough that Eragon couldn't use it to his advantage.
Their appearance wasn't the only thing that helped bring fear to their enemies, they had acted as Galbatorix's personal dragon slayers, when any rumor of a Rider reached the capitol and Galbatorix he would send out his deadly servants to find this rumor, see if it was true, kill anyone who made up the rumor if it was false, all the while leaving a trail of death and bloodshed. It had been the Ra'zac who had discovered Eragon's new identity as the first Dragon Rider to emerge for nearly one hundred years. So much would have changed had not Sloan, the butcher and Katarina's father, betrayed his village and Eragon by telling the Ra'zac about Saphira's egg. They may not of discovered who the so called Rider was, they may have never gone to the farm, they may have never killed Garrow.
With their superior abilities compared to humans, the Ra'zac were as fast, nimble, and strong and could easily rival any elf. But their greatest strength were their mental shields. No one, not even elves, could detect their thoughts or signature, unless of course the Ra'zac allowed them too. This was one of the major reasons why they were the greatest assassins and Rider killers, they wouldn't have been detected until it was too late. Though thankfully the Ra'zac were not capable of using any type of magic, Eragon shuddered at the thought of the ghoulish monster having access to such power, even alone without magic they were one of the deadliest creatures on the map.
Luckily for the Rider, only two Ra'zac existed along with their parents, who acted as their mounts, the Lethrblaka. The word meant 'Leather Flapper', in the Ancient Language. And like their offspring they were intimidating and looked as though they had sprung from a nightmare.
Unlike their younger children, the parents resembled nothing like any creature in Alagäesia. The only creature that faintly resembled them were the dragons, a more twisted evil version of a dragon. Their scaly hides were a disgusting watery brown, like trampled mud, and their black insect like eyes bulged out of their reptilian heads, the beasts had no eyelids so they couldn't blink. Unlike the dragons the Lethrblaka had no jaws filled with razor sharp teeth, instead they shared the same beak as their offspring, though much bigger and even deadlier looking. They were around seven feet in length, their veiny wings resembling that of a bat.
Like the Ra'zac the Lethrblaka could not use magic, but with their ability to fly as well as their immense strength helped them overcome that weakness.
The reason Eragon and Saphira had chosen now to kill these monsters was simple, they couldn't afford to wait any more, the two knew that sooner or later King Galbatorix would send out the Ra'zac like hounds, searching every single location in Alagäesia, from the most populated city to the most remote location, looking for them. Eragon and Saphira no longer wished to be hunted by these creatures, the days spent hiding and fleeing from their enemies were behind them now. Now was the time to show the world that they had not seen the last of Eragon Shadeslayer and Saphira Bjartskular. They were coming back into the deadly and bloodthirsty fray, they were ready to fight to bring back peace to a war-torn land. They weren't foolish enough to fight Galbatorix, his infamous army, or even their fellow Rider and dragon, Murtagh and Thorn. They knew not to bit off more than they could chew.
Even though they had to destroy Galbatorix they wouldn't confront him yet, instead they would chip away at the base of the foundation Galbatorix had created. Slowly but surely the base would crack and crumble, and the entire towering building would come crumbling down.
And now the day of vengeance had finally come, Eragon and Saphira had planned it out perfectly.
The two waited until dawn to begin their move on Helgrind, the pale light allowing Eragon and Saphira's enhanced eyesight to see their path clearly, while any normal human would have trouble seeing them due to the darkness. But Eragon and Saphira weren't fighting humans.
Soon enough they reached the valley where Helgrind and its residents resided. Eragon and Saphira had stayed a couple miles away from the demonic rock formation just in case the Ra'zac had decided to go out and caught a stray thought that had escaped their shielded minds.
Eragon had donned his chain-link corset, as he put on the armor he couldn't help but wonder what Orik, his clan brother, was doing. He terribly missed the dwarf but he didn't know how he could communicate with him without any consequence. Underneath the chained links was his leather-backed shirt, so the metal would rub off against his skin as well as providing another layer of armor. Eragon had also attached his bracers on his forearms before putting on his greaves. He placed his padded arming cap, a mail coif, and a plain steel helmet. He had lost the helm Orik had given to him when he had been accepted into the clan of Durgrimst Ingeitum during the Battle of the Burning Plains as well as his shield. On his hands went mailed gauntlets.
Eragon had left the bow Queen Islanzadí had given to him before he had left Du Weldenvarden, as well as the quiver filled with twenty heavy oak arrows fletched with gray goose feathers, seeing as he didn't see the need for the long-range projectiles, as no doubt this death match would be inside caves.
Saphira was wearing some of the dragon armor that had been given to her before the battle of Farthern Dûr, though she was not wearing all of it, merely the armor plating that protected her broad chest, back, and neck. On top of her head was a plating of metal. The rest of the armor was back in the Hadarac Desert, either because some parts were still unusable due to any damage it had collected during the Battle of the Burning Plains, or because Saphira and Eragon didn't want to be weighed down. The second they had killed off their enemies they would have to leave immediately, no sense sticking around in the heart of the Empire.
On the horizon Eragon could see the vague and blurry outline of Dres Leona, the tallest building was one Eragon recognized. The cathedral where he had been attacked by the Ra'zac when he had visited the city with Brom. In a moments notice he had gone from the predator to prey, it was even more ironic that it was the Ra'zac he was hunting, and he had suddenly found himself being hunted by them.
Eragon knew that somewhere below them was the campsite he and Brom had set up before being ambushed by the Ra'zac, they had been captured easily and for an hour or so their hopes were crushed as they had no idea of how they would escape, if not for Murtagh's timely appearance than no doubt Eragon would be as trapped as Murtagh was now, a slave of Galbatorix. Who knows what would of happened had not the man arrived to save him, the Varden may have been crushed, the Dwarven cities discovered and pillaged, Du Weldenvarden burning, mass panic.
Eragon knew he had to return the favor, he wanted to save his brother from the cruel fate of being under Galbatorix's thumb. He couldn't help but wonder what it was like, to become enslaved by your own self, by your True Name.
Saphira quickly dived until they landed at the base of Helgrind. Like its name it looked like something you would see in Hell, the entire structure an inky black. No life was on the jagged mountain or even around it, it was as though the very air around it was filled with death, allowing no life to come near this demonic rock.
Eragon glanced around, he saw no entrance, no small hole, no hidden caves, nothing. "You think Galbatorix has put any spells on this place?" he asked Saphira.
"There is no doubt that Galbatorix knows of that the Ra'zac's greatest weakness besides water is magic, he would obviously put spells here to protect them, we just have to find out where." Saphira said as she suddenly shifted as some of the rocks underneath her broke due to her weight, the clip of her long blue wings headed for a certain jutted piece of the obsidian black rock. Her wing went through the rock as though there was nothing there.
"Saphira, did you see that?"
"I saw it."
Slowly she pushed her snout against the rock, like her wing it phased through the rock as though it was nothing more that mist, soon enough Eragon could only see the weird image of a headless Saphira. "It's an illusion!" Saphira declared as she suddenly surged forward and Eragon saw the rock coming at him, he didn't flinch as he suddenly hit the rock and phased through it like nothing was there.
The opening of the cave was an irregular oval, perhaps fifty feet high and sixty feet wide. From there the chamber expanded to twice that size before ending a good bowshot away in a pile of thick stone slaps that leaned against each other in a confusion of uncertain angles. A mat of scratches defaced the stone floor, no doubt cause by the sharp claws of the Lethrbraka as they took off and landed. Eragon was glad they had brought the armor. Five tunnels in total pierced the sides of the cave, they were low but Eragon was certain he could fit in it, though Saphira wouldn't be able too. Eragon tried to see through the tunnels, maybe hoping to see something or someone, but all he could see was the looming darkness.
Eragon held Undbitr at the ready as he dismounted Saphira. His and Saphira's breathing the only sounds in the cave. Eragon was unnerved by the sheer quietness of the area, not just the physical but also mental. He couldn't sense any stray thoughts of their foes, not even a small bug or mouse, it was as though the entire thing was dead. Eragon stayed calm, the comforting presence of both Saphira and the Eldunarí steeling his resolve.
Then there was a sound so faint Eragon didn't know if was real or his mind was playing tricks on him, then the sound grew louder and stronger, the sound of a multitude of clicks echoing through a certain tunnel. Eragon and Saphira faced the tunnel, ready.
A huge, twisted shape launched out of the tunnel. Black empty eyes bulging out of deformed and hideous head. Black wings flapping like a bat. The torso was a disgusting brown, hairless, and covered with webs of veins and muscle.
Saphira quickly used her tail as a weapon and tried to slam it into the Lethrblaka, but with surprising speed and fury the Lethrblaka evaded the deadly tail and crashed into the blue dragoness with the fury of an avalanche.
Eragon quickly dodged a flaying wing that would have knocked him all the way across the cave, driven by pure instinct Eragon rushed towards the two gigantic beasts, his concern for Saphira burning within him.
"Saphira, move!" Eragon shouted in his mind as he raised his palm towards the Lethrblaka, Saphira knowing what he was going to do gave the beast a quick head butt, making the beast stagger backwards. "Brisingr!" Eragon yelled as a bolt of blue fire shot out of his lite Gedwëy Ignasia. The ball of pure flame crashed into the Lethrblaka's side. The beast gave out a pained screech that made Eragon's sensitive ears ring. A long and slightly burned scar was on the monster's side, despite the damage the Lethrblaka just seemed to be in an ever greater rage and leapt at Eragon, but before the thing could get near him Saphira tackled the winged beast.
And then as fast as a the eye could blink, the second and last Lethrblaka emerged from another tunnel, seeing it's mate in danger it screeched and launched itself into the deadly fray.
Eragon had to move quickly as he struggled to not get trampled by the three beasts fighting.
The hair on the back of Eragon's neck rose, his sixth sense screaming at him that he was in danger. Eragon quickly turned around, just in time to see the two remaining Ra'zac walk out of one of the tunnels. They seemed to hobble instead of walk, reminding Eragon of an insect. But he knew that despite the way they walk they were still dangerous in terms of speed. Eragon also noticed that even in the gloomy caves of Helgrind the Ra'zac still wore their long black cloaks.
Despite knowing beforehand, it was still eerie that Eragon could not sense their minds, nor the minds of their transformed parents.
Undbitr held at the ready, Eragon stared at his two foes that had taken everything from him, the ones who had made him flee from the only place he knew which was his home. The Ra'zac stared back, their bulging eyes hidden underneath their cowl.
"Brisingir flauga fram!" Eragon shouted as another ball of dark blue flame sprang from his hand and raced towards the two Ra'zac with impressive speed and precision.
With a couple clicks of what sounded like alarm the Ra'zac quickly jumped out of the way of the spell, the fire hit the rock, which instantly melted due to the sheer heat of the fire.
Eragon ran up to the shorter one, the one that had killed Brom. With a roar of vengeance he attacked the shorter Ra'zac with everything he had. Using all of his super enhanced strength and speed to try and get through the Ra'zac's guard. But the Ra'zac wasn't waiting around to get stabbed in the gut, with also impressive speed and strength the shorter of the two dodged Eragon's sword strikes and fought back with its own blackened blade that seemed to blend in the dark cave.
Saphira roared in pain as one of the Lethrblaka raked Saphira's side with its sharp and deadly claws. Eragon winced as Saphira's pain entered his consciousness and through their unbreakable bond.
With a snarl Eragon shouted out, "Fü!" A small ripple erupted from Eragon's body and slammed into the smaller Ra'zac, who was thrown across the entire cave and hit a wall with a sickening crack. Knowing he only had a couple of precious seconds to help the other half of his heart and soul, Eragon quickly yelled out a spell and directed it to the Lethrblaka that had dared harm his greatest friend and companion.
"Garjzla, letta!"
Immediately the Lethrblaka pupils dilated and turned from a dark black to a murky grey as the light entering the Lethrblaka's cornea stopped immediately, effectively blinding the winged demon who screeched loudly as it fumbled through the cave.
Eragon quickly blocked a sword aiming to cleave his head off his shoulders, the taller Ra'zac had decided to enter the fray. With a series of quick and deep clicks the Ra'zac quickly aimed his sword for Eragon's side, but was blocked by Undbitr.
With a quick twirl, Eragon disarmed the taller Ra'zac. He slammed the butt of the pommel against the Ra'zac's head. Causing a sickening crack as the enchanted metal crashed into the exoskeleton. Eragon quickly tried to cleave the Ra'zac's monstrous head off its shoulders, but the Ra'zac managed to dodge him.
Eragon decided that since the Ra'zac had the strength of numbers, he would need to use one of his greatest strengths and their greatest weakness, magic.
"Naina!"
Immediately there was a flash of light as suddenly the area of the cave Eragon and the two Ra'zac were fighting was lighted up by magic. The Ra'zac screeched in pain and fear as the once dark cave was now light up by bright lights. They stumbled away as they tried to cover their sensitive eyes, their cowls not helping them at all.
Saphira suddenly roared in triumph as she raked her deadly claws into the chest of the blinded Lethrblaka, a sickening metallic greenish blue blood splattered to the grimy ground as the Lethrablaka gave one last painful and hateful shriek before falling to the ground with a low thud. The remaining Lethrblaka screeched in pain and loss as it saw it's mate die before its very eyes. The two Ra'zac screeched as well as they saw one of its parents on the floor bleeding deeply, it's murky grey eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
The lone Lethrblaka rammed into Saphira's scaly side with pure fury in its eyes, with the strength and power of one submerged in dark hatred it attacked Saphira with a score of deadly strikes. Had not Saphira been so protected by Eragon's protective wards as well as her iron hard scales, Saphira may not have managed to survive from the onslaught.
The shorter Ra'zac had gotten used to the bright light, the taller one was still trying to get used to it and was thus unable to helps its hatch mate. With a series of loud and angry clicks it raced towards Eragon, it's black sword poised ready to stab Eragon in the heart.
Eragon quickly dodged the barrage of deadly strikes, he swung his sword upwards and the tip of Undbitr got caught at the tip of the smaller Ra'zac's hood. It fell backwards onto the back. Eragon stumbled back in shock and fear as he saw for the first time the full appearance of a Ra'zac.
It was as though a nightmare had taken a physical form of its own. Black as coal and the most darkest onyx, its skin was jagged and riddled with little niches in its hardened flesh. The flesh itself was glinting in the light, making it almost appeared as though it was some sort of well polish stone or some oily substance. The flesh itself was like the Riders reports had said, an exoskeleton no doubt strengthened by Chitin. The rigid exoskeleton wrapped around the Ra'zac's head but slowly stopped around where the Ra'zac's forehead was located. Pale blackish grey skin was the flesh on its face. The grey flesh was pocketed with small holes, as though insects had made little burrows in the Ra'zac's face. The thing looked as though it was diseased and rotten. It's pupil-less eyes stared at him, it didn't have any eyelids so it's two coal black eyes just gazed at him with fury. And the most alarming feature was the mouth. Instead of a mouth like a humans, there was merely a thick and long beak that protruded out of the Ra'zacs face. The beak looked as though it would belong on some carnivorous insect, it seemed to glint eerily in the light.
With a short amount of clicks from the beak, the Ra'zac lunged its head forward and tried to take a chunk out of Eragon's shoulder. Eragon quickly dodged the bite and kicked the shorter Ra'zac in the chest, making it stumble backwards due to the force of the blow. Eragon quickly used that to his advantage.
Shink
The shorter Ra'zac stared down, almost dumbly, as the sword of Brom embedded itself into it's protected and armored chest. The light seemed to reflect off the polished metal eerily. It glanced up at the victorious Eragon with a dumbfounded and surprised expression on its monstrous face. Purplish metallic blood dripped onto the stone floor, seeing as everyone in the large cave had enhanced hearing they could hear every single drip, drip, drip.
With a cry Eragon tore Undbitr out of the Ra'zac's chest and as the Ra'zac fell to its knees he jabbed the sword directly into the Ra'zac's head with a sickening and wet shink.
Eragon quickly retracted Undbitr and the dead Ra'zac crashed to the stone floor. A small pool of purple blood soon formed. The Ra'zac's black eyes were dimmed now more of a murky mix of grey and black.
The taller Ra'zac shrieked again in pain and loss, the shriek was so loud that Eragon had to fight the instinct to cover his ears, before Eragon could do anything the last Ra'zac turned around and fled into the tunnels. With a curse Eragon was ready to following him, except that he decided it would be best to wait for Saphira, who had flown out of the cave in the pursuit of the last Lethrblaka.
Loud vibrations echoed throughout the cavern and soon enough the massive body of Saphira flew back into the cave covered in the Lethrblaka's blood as well, to Eragon's horror, some of her own. With impressive speed Eragon raced to his friend and immediately started to look for any life threatening wounds, whenever he found a wound he would quickly heal her, thanks to the Eldunarí he could heal all of her wounds without fear of being too tired to fight the remaining Ra'zac that was no doubt lurking around somewhere.
Once Eragon knew that Saphira was in no danger of bleeding out, any wounds that could maim her, or anything that could get infected, he finally stopped pouring his magical energy into her wounds to seal them up. Saphira nudged him with her snout, her bright blue eyes staring at him looking for any wounds that had been caused by the Ra'zac that had managed to get through both Eragon's protective wards and his own guard. Once she saw that aside from a couple cuts and bruises and being slightly out of breath, she knew that Eragon was fine if not a bit weary.
Saphira turned her massive head to the dead Ra'zac. So you've managed to kill one of them. She said through their mental connection.
Aye, and what of the Lethrblaka? Eragon asked his companion as he tried to calm his beating heart that was still pulsing with adrenaline from the death match between the Ra'zac and himself.
Currently floating belly-up on Lake Leona, I'm surprised you asked. No beast can beat a dragon when they are in the sky, Saphira said smugly before turning serious, I'm afraid a couple of fishermen may have seen our battle, not exactly something that can be hidden well, no doubt they've headed back to the city and warn the officials, we must hurry Little One.
Once we've killed the final Ra'zac… and if my suspicions were correct.
Saphira turned her head sharply at him, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Are you sure that Katrina and her father are here in Helgrind?
I'm more sure than anything, despite the fact I never had a chance to properly talk to Roran due to the fact we were in the middle of a battle, I managed to catch some of his stray thoughts when we were talking mentally. The Ra'zac kidnapped Katrina and Sloan, no doubt they would keep them close by. They would be great for a hostage situation, well Katrina at least. Eragon said as the thought of Sloan's betrayal to the people of Carvahall left a bitter taste in his mouth.
What are you going to do with the betrayer? Saphira asked her Rider curiously.
I-I don't know. Eragon admitted. I know that Sloan betrayed the villagers as well as myself, but he did it out of his love for Katrina. I don't know if I should respect the strength of his love to his daughter or be angered on how blinded he was by it. If he hadn't made a deal with the Ra'zac to protect Katrina they may not have been taken to this place, who knows how the situation at Carvahall would have ended?
I'm afraid we will never know Little One, the past had passed by us. No need for us to think of 'what if' and instead focus on the present and the future.
Aye, you're right Saphira, as always. Eragon said with a small shake of his head but couldn't help but smile slightly as Saphira hummed in agreement.
Will you free the two from their cells, or will you try and kill the last of the human eaters? We can't sense the Ra'zac, it could hide in this cave until the end of time and we would be none the wiser on its location. Saphira said.
I will search for the remaining Ra'zac. No doubt its blood boils of the thought of us, we have killed the rest of its family and species in the course of a couple hours. If I were to challenge it alone I don't doubt that he will show himself. You should explore one of the tunnels you can fight in, perhaps you can find anything that we can use.
Saphira nodded her head, though she didn't seem to be happy at the thought of her reckless Rider challenging the last Ra'zac without her to protect him. She finally left to explore after threating Eragon that if he got hurt than she would use the strongest magic possible to glue Eragon to her back, so that no one would dare try to harm him without being shredded and burned to a nice crisp.
Eragon headed down the tunnel the last Ra'zac had fled in, the darkness seemed to be trying to suffocate him. He dared not use any spells that brought forth any light. With him being in a narrow tunnel it would be hard to dodge any arrows seeing as the Ra'zac would know where he was instantly even if he was half a mile away. Hopefully the remaining Ra'zac didn't have a bow that could fire a projectile that far.
He wasn't exactly happy that he was heading down a tunnel where the Ra'zac, a creature that excelled in its tasks in the dark, had fled down after Eragon had killed its hatch mate. His breath was long and barely making any sound as he was wary of missing any slight sound. He knew that the probability of the last Ra'zac using a ranged weapon was very high. Which was why he always internally flinched every time he stepped forward, the loose gravel underneath his feet seemed to squeal as they grinded against one another.
For what seemed like an eternity, though Eragon knew that only ten minutes or so had passed, Eragon could faintly see through the dark that the winding tunnel was opening up to another cavern, it was times like this he was extremely grateful to the dead dragons that had transformed him into something greater than his previous and crippled form.
Then he heard cloth flutter against each other, he heard a faint yet pronounced twang, and he heard something coming towards him at a fast pace. Eragon threw himself to the ground as the deadly arrow struck the wall, causing a spark or two to form from the contact.
"Kveykva!" Eragon shouted.
Red light, bright as the sun at midday, flared into existence. Unlike Nainia, this light had no source whereas Nainia's source came from a large light high above the one who cast the spell. Since it had no source, it thus illuminated every surface evenly and without a hint of shadows. The fact of no shadows made that ragged rock appear rather flat. The sudden blaze dazzled Eragon, but it had much more of an effect of the Ra'zac in front of him. The creature dropped its bow and quickly tried to cover its deformed face with its cowl, all the while giving a high and shrill scream.
With a battle cry on Eragon's lips he charged forward towards the still dazed Ra'zac. The Ra'zac seemed to sense the danger it was no doubt in and tried to stumble back but Eragon's elven speed allowed him to get closer to the robed figure.
"This is for Garrow!" Eragon cried as he disarmed the sword the Ra'zac had unsheathed in hopes of wounding Eragon, the sword fell to the rocky ground with a sharp clang. Eragon gave a quick yet powerful punch to the Ra'zac's face, he felt his hand crack the ebony exoskeleton. "For Brom!" he stabbed Undbitr into the Ra'zac's gut, the Ra'zac chirped in pain. "For Carvahall!" he cried as he pulled of the sword from the Ra'zac's gut and hit the Ra'zac in the temple with the pommel of Undbitr making the head crack even more, bits of the exoskeleton falling from the hooded face. "For the Riders!" Eragon screamed as he stabbed Undbitr into the Ra'zac's chest, exactly where a human heart would have been beating.
The Ra'zac crumbled to the floor, Eragon fell down as well and only sheer instinct allowed his hands to stop his fall. Eragon felt faint all of a sudden as he struggled for breath. He could hear the rattled and faint breath of the Ra'zac, now on death's doorstep.
"You have defeated usss," The Ra'zac rasped out as it struggled for breath, Eragon slowly stood back up and stared at his defeated foe with an unreadable expression.
"It was high time your race meet its fate," Eragon responded honestly.
The clatter of clicks and clacks almost sounded amused, "perhapssss. You have become stronger Shadeslayer. No longer the foolissssh boy who dared to hunt usss with no strength or power."
"It was become strong or die. I have a destiny on this land," Eragon told its defeated foe, "I will be the one who brings peace and stability to this war torn land, or to die trying."
"Will you make a pact with me, Shadeslayer?" The Ra'zac asked its defeater, Eragon could see its bulging black eyes staring at him with a burning fire in its slowly dimming eyes.
"What kind of pact?" Eragon asked the last Ra'zac warily.
"I am the lassst of my race, Shadeslayer." The Ra'zac almost sounded mournful. "We are an ancient race, we have been here since the very beginning, even though we no longer will be here at the end. I will not have our glorioussss race be forgotten, a myth told to little children to not play in the dark, merely a fairytale…. Thisss will not do. Would you, in your songsss and in your historiesss, remind your foolissssh fellow humans of the terror we inspired in your kind… Remember us as fear!"
"Why should I do this for you, we aren't exactly the best of friends. I can easily ignore your last words and leave you here to rot, your race will be forgotten, perhaps it best if my race does forget about you and the fear you have placed into the humans," Eragon countered.
Tucking its beak against its barrel-shaped chest, the Ra'zac seemed to talk to itself. The random clicks and chitters the only sound in the cavern. "Because," it said as it seemed to make up it's mind, " I will tell you sssomething secret, yesss I will."
"Tell me then, what secret is so great you will only tell me, your enemy, at your final moments and last attempts to leave an imprint on this land?" Eragon asked curiously, wondering if this information would help him and his cause to defeat Galbatorix.
"Give me your word, firssst."
"No, tell me and then I will decide whether or not to agree to your terms."
A minute passed by slowly, the only sounds were the rattled breathing of the Ra'zac. After another series of sharp clicks the Ra'zac said. "He had almossst found the name."
"Who has? Galbatorix?"
"Yessss."
"The name to what? A spell?" Eragon asked before his blood turned cold, "are you talking about my True Name? Has he discovered it like he had done with Murtagh and Thorn's True Names?" Eragon's heartbeat was going a mile an hour, he was thinking back to his training with Oromis and how the crippled Rider told Eragon of how Galbatorix had a very unique talent of discovering someone's True Name. If Galbatorix discovered his True Name, his dreams and ambitions would end, his feats all for naught. Not only was he in danger but so was his student Ronan, Galbatorix would discover his younger student and Bjartkoü. He would have three Riders under his rule, and soon enough more Riders and dragons if Bjartkoü were to mate with Saphira, which would result in the first dragon eggs to be brought into this world after a hundred years or so.
"No…"
Eragon immediately sighed in weary relief, he started to thank all the gods, both known and unknown, as he knew he still had a chance.
"If it is not my True Name, then what it is the name of?" He asked the Ra'zac.
The Ra'zac hissed in frustration. "I cannot tell you! The name! The True Name."
"You have to give me more information than that!" Eragon protested.
"I cannot!"
Eragon sighed as he knew the matter was closed, what made it even more annoying was the fact he couldn't just enter the weakened Ra'zac's mind and learn the information himself.
"Very well, since you have given me this information, albeit it is very vague, I will honor the pact between us, Rider and Ra'zac." Eragon finally said as he looked down on the Ra'zac.
For one wild second Eragon thought he saw gratitude flash in the Ra'zac's dark eyes. But it left so suddenly he didn't know if he had imagined it or not.
"Thank you."
With one last rattled breath the Ra'zac stopped moving, its big black eyes dimming to a murky grey as it stared towards the ceiling. The last of the nightmarish Ra'zac was dead.
The Ra'zac were dead!
Finally the monsters who had ruined his life had been brought to justice. The beings that had killed and tortured his uncle and latter returning to Carvahall to kill its residents and burning the village to the ground were now cold and lifeless. The creatures that had killed Eragon's fellow Riders as well as their dragons had been avenged. The Ra'zac had taken so much from him, his home, his people, his family, and even his first mentor and father figure Brom, and now the Ra'zac were dead.
But for some reason he didn't feel complete. Whenever he thought of killing the Ra'zac back when he and Brom were chasing them Eragon had thought he would be burning with triumph, pleased with the feats he had accomplish. But here he was staring at the dead body of his mortal foe and all he felt was slight melancholy. He was proud of himself, in fact he was very proud of defeating the Ra'zac, but he felt empty. How much had changed? How much had he changed?
Was it good that he had taken down the Ra'zac without any help or showed any mercy? The Ra'zac had deserved death, anyone would agree to that. The Ra'zac were monsters that preyed on the weaker race that was the humans. He felt no regret in dealing the killing blow, but it shocked and even scared him slightly when he realized how much he had grown since last time.
The last time he had seen the Ra'zac was only around a year ago and he had seen with his very own eyes the gapping power difference between him and the cloaked figures. They had defeated him easily all the while getting the jump on Brom, who had been much stronger and wiser than he had been back then.
But here he was looking down on his defeated opponent, he had killed them easily enough though the Ra'zac definitely deserved their title of dragon hunters as they were no light weights.
A year ago he wouldn't have even been able to scratch them, he had grown during his time with the Varden and the elves. He had grown even more during his time in the desert, who knew that teaching a curious and adventurous teenager would give Eragon patience? He chuckled slightly as he now knew how much he had annoyed Brom with his own curiosity and adventurousness. The Eldunarí had given him access to their memories, allowing him to learn more than he had ever deemed possible.
But now as he saw the proof of how much he had changed so abruptly it made him pause. Had it just been his strength that had changed? No, he had changed as well. He was no longer ignorant of the world. He knew things now. Both from the Varden and during the time he had fled. While he was happy he still had some innocence as well as his honor, as seen when he had agreed to the dying Ra'zac to have its race be remembered for ages to come, he was glad to know that war as well as the betrayal of the Varden hadn't corrupted his heart and turned it dark and spiteful. If that had happened he would be just like Galbatorix.
"Good bye, Eater of Man's Flesh," he told the corpse, "may you find whatever afterlife your kind believes in." he then turned his back on the dead Ra'zac and headed back down the tunnel to the main cavern.
Ancient Language
"Brisingir flauga fram!" – Fire fly forward
"Fü!" – Force
"Garjzla, letta!" – Stop, light!
"Naina!" – Make bright!