Hello readers. I must say, I was a bit disappointed by the very few reviews the last chapter received. With 115 hits, I expected more, mainly because the chapter had 6.000 words and a lot happened in it. I know I usually update faster, but this time I have been busy working on my novel, so this chapter will have to do it. Sit back and enjoy.
The air in the small chamber was so tense that one could almost cut through it with a knife. Everyone around the table was silent; it was either the shock of fighting a being that was almost immortal or the fact that human beings, dwarves and Urgals alike were powerless against such mighty opponent.
However, the silence was not to last, for Roran Stronghammer slammed his fist against the table, breaking everyone's musings with in a jolt of surprise, "Are you saying that we should let Eragon fight Galbatorix alone, without anyone to aid him?"
Nasuada could very much understand his concern, but neither his frown, nor the power in his voice could convince her otherwise. As much as she did not like the prospect of this argument, repetition was the only thing which could keep Roran in check and not allow him to do anything stupid.
"Why is it so hard to accept the facts, Stronghammer? You heard what happens to us humans when we clench swords with Galbatorix: he obliterates us," she said through a sigh, hardly believing that she had to resort to cowardice to prevent further deaths.
Roran bowed his head in defeat, but he didn't look quite convinced. It was one of the surviving guards that dared to open his mouth and stutter, "Listen to her, S-stronghammer. You don't know what the mad king is capable of." Contrary to the desired reaction, the result was quite the opposite. After lifting his imposing stature from the table, Roran withdrew his hammer and pointed it towards the already terrified soldier.
"And Eragon knows? You forced him to fight against an opponent much stronger than him while you hide like scared animals in their den!" He bellowed, smashing the hammer against the table. With things running out of control, Nasuada prepared to interfere, but Orik swiftly grabbed Roran by his arm and said on a calm voice, "I know yer concerns, lad. Eragon is mine foster brother."
Like a crazed beast, Roran turned his menacing glare towards the short stature but muscular dwarf, but Orik's grip seemed to harden on his wrist as his arm began to shake due to the force exerted. " We are all aware of how powerful Galbatorix is, but we cannot risk distressing Eragon with our presence."
The firm approach of Orik was like a whip against Roran's anger. After glancing one last time at Nasuada, he threw his body into his chair, resting his chin against the hammer. With one problem sorted, Nasuada exhaled in relief and looked towards the unarmed guards that awaited for her to dismiss them. Their facial expressions were one of terror, and one particular one rose from the crowd.
Is this how my people feel? She questioned herself before she waved her hand at them to leave the room. There was nothing else they could provide her with, and the shock they suffered probably crippled their minds. As they made their way out of the house, a rough voice almost made her frame shudder.
"What we do, Lady Nightstalker?" The voice belonged to Nar Garzvhog, a tall, brutal yet wise Urgal among his kin. At his question, everyone in the room turned their gaze to her, but Nasuada held her composure as she replied, "All we can do is wait for Eragon to return in a glorious manner to us." She tried to sketch a smile to go along with the hope coated words, but the commanders did not seem to share the same optimism.
As if on cue, the dwarf known as Thorad shattered everything she tried to achieve with cold and irrational conviction, "That boy will not win the war for us! You heard what happened to Arya and them elves. They were more, and they all failed."
What happened next could only be described as rough argue, with each of the commanders joining in to the general ruckus with their own arguments and claims. Try as she might to overpower the crowd with her high pitched voiced, Nasuada could do little to calm everyone down. Fortunately, she didn't have to, because in the same moment, the door was slammed open and a jittery guard entered, silencing the annoying crowd.
"Lady Nasuada, your presence is requested immediately. It is…" the guard gazed downwards, much to everyone's astonishment. With this clear sign of a negative message, everyone rose from his seat and tried to make his way out, but Garzvhog blocked their every attempt to do so. Taking this opportunity to exit the room, Nasuada nodded in a friendly manner to the Urgal and fled the room, together with the guard.
"Quite a bunch of hot tempers in there, aye?" The guard smiled, but when Nasuada threw him an icy cold gaze, his face became dead serious before he gulped emptily.
"What you wanted to tell me, guard?" After his previous failure at cheering the leader of the Varden, the man seemed to barely gather his words as he stuttered, "E…Eragon. He…" Nasuada raised one eyebrow, but the man in front of her seemed to have suffered a panic attack.
"Tell me what happened," Nasuada said calmly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her calm approach immediately released the man's tongue from its entangled state as he resumed on a frail tone, "In that building." His hand pointed towards one of the structures that suffered minimal damage.
"You may go," Nasuada replied shortly and ran towards the building, her heart pounding heavily like it was about to burst. The way towards the building on her left seemed to be the longest trip ever. Her temples bulged, her eyes blinked rapidly to maintain the clear image and a sickening feeling threatened to overwhelm her.
When she reached the door, Nasuada closed her eyes, murmuring some encouraging words to herself. She did not know what lay there. Her mind wanted hoped, almost begged that Eragon, although hurt, would summon her through that guard and inform her of the king's demise. Yet, her instincts told her different, tainting her good will and calmness.
With no means to resist this self torture any longer, Nasuada opened the door and entered the dark chamber, which was devoid of any source of light. She reluctantly closed the door to deny any other soldier to disturb her, even if this darkness greatly disturbed her. Unable to see even the faintest detail of where she was, Nasuada extended her arms and made an unsure first step.
"Brisingr," a voice commanded, and in the next moment, a few magical fires appeared around the room, providing enough light for the two beings to see each other. Fear immediately swept inside Nasuada's heart, as she could not recognize this sinister voice laced with power. She frantically glanced around the room, trying to determine his position, but she found it harder than expected.
"You are predictable, Nasuada. That's how I managed to get you here," the same voice came, but this time, she managed to track it. On her left, there was a man sitting on a chair, his head bowed and his finger running along the tip of the green blade that sat on his lap. With her mind almost blocked due to the sudden panic, Nasuada just couldn't guess who this presence was. Could it be one of Galbatorix's agents?
Noticing her lack of response, the man slowly sheathed his sword and raised to his feet, his eyes fixing into hers. Usually a powerful character, Nasuada wouldn't flinch before a simple man, but this one had something very different to him. The voice, his looks, his penetrating green eyes, they seemed to numb her limbs and almost drive her to the edge of fainting.
"Surely there are clues to my identity," the man smiled, scratching his beard impatiently as he waited for a response. Suddenly, a chilling realization struck Nasuada. She knew who this man was, and this knowledge returned the blood to her almost shaking limbs. Her mind, however, hadn't fully recovered from the shock, so all she could do was stutter, "Ga..gal…"
"Galbatorix," the man cut in sharply. Nasuada's jaw dropped in an instant, and she couldn't help but to bring a hand to her exposed awestruck expression.
"Pretend what you will, but in the dark corners of your mind, you knew that such moment will eventually come." Still shocked from the sudden revelation, Nasuada closed her eyes, gathering her faltering wits and courage. She was the leader of the Varden! How could she even expect her people to fight when she alone couldn't stand up for her ideals? With her mind recuperating slightly from the numbed state, Nasuada said on a frail tone, " If you were victorious, then Eragon… where is he?"
Galbatorix frowned slightly at her question, as if he expected a different answer from her, "You will see for yourself, but now is not the time." Nasuada clenched her fists together, but refrained for doing anything stupid. If Galbatorix truly defeated Eragon, then she was helpless as a lamb in front of him.
"I am surprised by how selfish you are, Nasuada" Galbatorix said while he looked around the room as if to give Nasuada a break from his piercing gaze. Before she could even reply, the King cut in abruptly, "You have been feeding that boy false promises of victory, when he was neither strong nor capable to live up to your expectations." His cold voice could freeze this room and turn it into a chilling abyss, but Nasuada didn't falter.
"Is it selfish to fight for a noble cause? You betrayed everyone, including your own kin!" she spat angrily.
Galbatorix seemed amused by her little attempt to fight back. "You call me betrayer, when in fact, it is I who was betrayed." Without giving him a chance to unleash his mind numbing words, Nasuada added pressure to her resolve, "You speak nonsense. The Riders were wise to deny you of another dragon, you ruthless abomination!"
The words seemed to have touched a sensitive topic, for Galbatorix's previous smile vanished, only to be replaced by a dead serious face, "You dare to question my rationality, when you know close to nothing about the facts you vehemently defend." Without allowing her to reply, Galbatorix continued, "Your biased opinion about Oromis is to be commended, really."
Nasuada felt like a helpless puppet in front of Galbatorix. Never before has she stood against such defying presence. It was like her power was crumbled to nothingness. It was like…she wasn't good enough to be the leader of the Varden. Her eyes locked on one of the flickering flames, searching for the flame that would ignite her courage, but it just seemed to avoid her.
"What would you say if I tell you that it is because of Oromis that Eragon lost today?" His words snapped Nasuada out of her trance like state with thorny chains. If this was the way of Galbatorix to toy with his subjects, then she wouldn't offer him the satisfaction to dwarf her like a pitiful injured beast.
"You speak nonsense!"
"I speak the truth, Nasuada, but you are too stubborn and stuck up to understand it. This is why I will cut to what I came here for," Galbatorix concluded and headed towards his chair, beckoning her to approach him. Feeling powerless against his request, Nasuada merely obeyed.
"Contrary to what you believe, I don't like this war. Because of your pitiful rebellion, innocent men die to uphold your false ideals." Nasuada tried to speak, but words seemed to refuse to come out. Panicking because of this unnatural occurrence, she brought a hand to her neck and tried to scream, but no sounds came out.
Galbatorix chuckled at the sight in front of him, his still hand signaling Nasuada to stop and wait for his explanation. Without even questioning his reasons, Nasauda stop and gave him a look of terror and confusion.
"It's only a spell meant to keep your pitiful claims away for the time being. Didn't Eragon tell you that only fools use words to cast spells?" Nasuada shook her head and brought her arms along her body like two lifeless twigs. Her helplessness summoned another chuckle from Galbatorix, but this time, she frowned with all her hatred directed towards him.
"You aren't tough, Nasuada, even if you try to appear so. If it wasn't for Eragon, people wouldn't care about you." Such words shocked Nasuada. Without constraining her emotions, she lunged towards Galbatorix, but a strong force froze her in place.
"You hold powerful allies next to you; because they surround you, people cannot notice how weak you really are. Power blinds them, and they are denied of the truth," Galbatorix said with a voice full of satisfaction, proud of himself that he managed to subjugate the leader of the rebellion. Without even the possibility to move, all what Nasuada could do was wait and listen to whatever the king wanted to tell her.
Galbatorix clenched his hands together, adopting a more serious expression that could only mean one thing: He was done with games. "You are like a nail poking at my ribs. As tiny and insignificant as it is, the discomfort it produces can not go unnoticed." Even if she tried to understand his words, Nasuada just couldn't make it. The force exerted on her limbs and body was not lessening, and for a second, she wished she never listened to that guard in the first place.
"I warn you Nasuada. Stop your pitiful campaign, or I will be forced to unleash my full powers upon the Varden." As soon as he ended the words, the invisible grip on her body ended and a wild cough announced the ending of the spell Galbatorix used to mute her.
"You…monster!" She spat through a cough, but Galbatorix seemed not to be interested in her anymore. After picking the robe that rested on the seat he was standing on, he covered himself with it and shrouded with head with the hood. Nasuada could only watch as he pushed the door open and vanished into the city.
"She…awake… Bl..dgar… Arya….Arya" Was all what she could hear after the darkness faded from her eyes, revealing a hazy and almost impossible to comprehend image. A faint moan escaped her as she brought a hand to her throbbing head which was not faring any better since…
The realization of what happened and why she was in this state was like a bucket full of ice emptied on top of her. No matter her state, she had to know the outcome of the fight, and most important, how she ended up here.
After blinking several times to get adjusted to the light that perched through a single window, the first thing she saw were the concerned looks of Erian and Blodhgarm, who stared at her with compassion and happiness.
" Praise Blodhgarm for his fast intervention," Erian said as he bowed and withdrew from the cot to allow enough room for Arya to get up, should she wish to do so. Arya seemed not to care about him, as more important questions weighed on her mind.
"What happened?" She asked quickly in a low voice while pushing herself to the side of the cot, as if she prepared to storm out of the room as soon as possible. Blodhgarm bowed his head in an apologetic way, " After Galbatorix killed our brethren, I used my remaining strength to pick you up and flee to a safe location."
Arya fixed her lustrous green eyes on him, looking at him intently. Realizing what she wanted, Blodhgarm continued, "That's how you got here." His confession didn't please Arya. She wanted to hear something else, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She felt the urge to know the missing information prodding at her mind, yet she just couldn't understand what it was. Erian was the one to make her jump on her feet and sheath her sword with haste.
"I did inform Shadeslayer, but the outcome of the battle is still a mystery to us." In her agitation, Arya forgot about her weakened body, sore head, and everything else that could stop her from finding out what happened to Eragon. What if… she thought, but quickly dismissed the negative possibilities. If something bad happened to Eragon, it was because she was too weak to aid him fight the dark king.
"Erian, Blodhgarm, follow me," she commanded, and the two elves followed her out of the room without even questioning her reasons. The three elves quickly climbed down the stairs, their leather boots barely making a noise on the wooden boards.
"Arya, I don't know where Eragon is," Erian said, his eyes meeting with Arya's, but she said nothing before they exited the building. The dying sun of dusk greeted the three elves with its orange and warm rays. Unlike before, the streets seemed so serene, like the storm that engulfed the land had all but dissipated.
"Let's search for someone who does," Arya completed and ran down the street, mentally contacting Nasuada. Her mind encountered rock hard barriers around her mind, as if she was protecting from some unwanted presence.
What is it Arya? I'm relieved to find out you are alright, but what do you want? Arya was slightly surprised by how nervous Nasuada was. Still, she put the blame on some political matter and investigated it no further.
Where is Eragon? She asked, sidestepping right to reach a crowded street with people and guards blocking her path. No fast answer came, and for a second Arya felt a tinge of powerlessness creeping inside her. However, Nasuada quickly gathered herself and replied swiftly before she ended the connection, somewhere around the gate of Feinster.
When the elves approached the desired location, Arya tried to contact Eragon, but he was apparently oblivious to the rest of the world. She suddenly stopped, an invisible wall of worry blocking her right on that spot. What if the worst happened? What if… Arya violently shook her head, dismissing every ounce of doubt from her head. Blodhgarm and Erian looked at her in a most curious way, but a piercing gaze was enough to stop them from asking anything before they continued.
Even Saphira had closed her mind from everyone, adding even more pressure to her search. If motivation alone was enough to find Eragon, then why wasn't she succeeding? Before falling prey to her negative thoughts, Arya headed towards the destroyed gate, where she suddenly stopped. Not far from her location, there was a circular patch of incinerated ground and trees that was enough to summon anyone's attention.
Arya ran past the gate and headed towards that area when a faint choke summoned her attention. After turning her head left towards the source of the noise, she almost froze on that spot when her eyes met the silhouette of brown haired boy and a sapphire sword resting next to him.
"Eragon!" She shouted with surprise and fear. In the next moment, she kneeled next to his bloodied body, her eyes scanning his wounds with great fear. "Erian, Blodhgarm, use whatever it takes to heal him," she cried while her mind carefully scouted for any trace of magical energy that might help her tend his wounds.
Fortunately, there was still a magical supply in his ring, and Arya was grateful for it. "Kill whatever plant and animal if it helps us save his life," she ordered and the two elves nodded with slight reluctance. If she was not in need of their help, Arya would most likely snap at them for such lack of respect for one who almost sacrificed his life to save them.
In unison, the three elves chanted the healing spell, and in the following moment, a surge of healing energy enveloped the fallen Rider. The death of the surrounding wildlife breathed life energy into Eragon, who began to cough wildly as his most prominent wounds stitched together.
Without enough energy to heal his remaining wounds, the elves stopped, all of them panting heavily. Blodhgarm and Erian were the most affected, because they were forced to put a lot more energy for the healing ritual.
Eragon was still in a bad state due to the blood loss, but with his most prominent wounds healed, Arya had no doubts that he would survive. An immense relief washed over her when Eragon's irregular breath stabilized, and for the first time since this war started, she felt like she just accomplished a miracle by saving a friend.
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