I do not own the Inheritance Cycle.
Edited 1/30/22
Enjoy,
Journey
Part 2
That night passed painfully slow.
It seemed that the darkness itself were creeping through the small woodlands, and into a dimly lit cave, hungrily carving to extinguish the feeble light that brightened its dark corners. Selena firmly believed that it would go on forever; that daybreak would never come.
There had been little for them to do but wait that night, and the wait was if anything worse than the battle that was about to take place. She wished that the Ra'zac would attack just to end the forbidding silence that had descended on her and Brom. There didn't, in truth, seem to be anything to say. Their situation was clear: they were trapped by a formidable foe, who had powers that they did not fully understand.
She had been heard once long ago, in some place she didn't reminder that the Ra'zac drew their strange powers from the darkness and their targets' fears and that they fed off both of these things, though she did not know if these were true or if they were simply rumors spread across the lands to scare off the King's enemies. She wondered if they would do that them now.
Pulling the blanket tighter around her body, she reached out her mind again, mindful of the dangers out there. She wasn't looking for the touch of their minds, she found out the dangers of doing such things many years ago, but for the sounds they made. She could still hear them out there in the same place they had been throughout the night. They hadn't moved.
Though Selena could not say that she did feel nervous about the Ra'zac being there, she had thought that they would have come for her much sooner, and an icy appetence had overtook her. For the majority of that night it had stayed there until it was melted by a flaming thought.
In a way she was glad that the Ra'zac had come after her. Her heart ached with the burning vengeance to make the beasts pay for pain they inflicted upon her brother and son. And though she had said that vengeance was not the answer to grief, it would be a favor to the world to kill the Ra'zac, to insure they cause no more pain, no more fear, no more suffering. And, a small part of her agreed, the simple act of repaying them for what they've done would feel so very good.
She shook herself, and looked into the fire. She could not afford such thoughts in times like this. Her mission now was to get the dragon egg safely to the Varden; far too many people had helped her get this far for her to fail because the Ra'zac. Gritting her teeth, she looked at the corner where she had placed the dragon egg, snuggly hidden within the enchanted bag. It was safe there.
Let them try, Selena decided. Let those murderers try to take the egg from her, and should they it would merely be her excuse to do them what they did to her brother.
With a frown she turned to Brom. After a moment he looked back at her grimly and then slowly stood up. He said nothing as he threw in the last of the logs into the fire, building it up so the flames leaped high. It was unbearably hot.
Then Brom cleared his throat. "I think that they're waiting for us to do something," he said slowly, his voice echoing off the stony walls. "For what, I do not know. We've waited them out for quite some time to see if they would make their move but now that it's nearing morning I have a feeling they may not continue on in this way. "
She nodded in agreement, folding the blanket and placing it into her bags. They had very few more hours left of night; she felt as Brom that if they were going to attack it would be very, very soon. "They are either waiting for us to come out or they know not that we are waiting for them as well."
"Both, I would think." Brom leaned back against the rocky wall. "Which means we have to figure what to do."
Selena shifted with a sigh. "What can we do? Remaining here in hiding will force them in and we shall have very little room to fight them off, and should we come out we know they will attack. It leaves us with little advantage."
Selena looked at Brom meaningfully, and he slowly shook his head. "I know," he said, his eyebrows drawn together. "They've done a mighty fine job trapping us. Until now there is little we can do now except to wait and see but I believe it is time to draw them out."
"Let the hunters become the hunted?" She smiled lightly, and shook her head. "That's a stupid plan," she said. "They'll turn whatever or whoever we send into a breathing quiver, at best."
"What else do you suggest we do then?" he grumbled in a steely voice. "Stay here and wait from them to attack or for us to eventually die from starvation?"
"Don't start this ridiculousness," said Selena, "we'll likely run out of water then we will food." She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, fighting back a yawn. "You cannot jump into this rashly, Brom. You'll get us both killed if you do. We need to think this through."
"It's been a long night. I've had plenty of time to think over it," he grumbled lowly. "We just need to smart about it."
Selena swept her hair back from her face and tied it back with a length of cloth. "That should not be too hard, we're smarter than they are," she said softly. "Had we been the ones ambushing we would not make so much careless noise. They're confident that they can take us."
"Aye, they are but be careful when they attack," Brom said, "and I'm fairly certain they will. When they do remember that they are stronger and faster than we are, and watch out for their breath at all costs. Your mental spells won't work against them, they have shields on their minds, and they have some sort of armor on their body." He paused and looked down at his sword. "Their blades are probably poisoned."
"Of course they are."
"Galbatorix had probably set some sort of wards around them, too," he continued to warn. "Stay as close to the fire as you can, they don't like bright lights. That won't stop them from coming for us though."
Selena looked at the blinding fire with sudden realization and smiled. "What else?"
Brom looked at her and for a moment firmly held her gaze. "Stay alive," he said gravely.
"I can take quite a liking to that plan," she said and then paused. Her smile fell and a deep frown replaced it. "It sounds as if you have had a run in with them before."
Brom nodded, and stood up, well, he stood up as best as he could with the low ceiling of the overhang. "I have."
"What happened?"
He didn't move but stared ahead in silence as he tried to listen. His face was hard and unreadable, his sword held firmly at his side. His eyes were closed.
Poking at a long branch that stuck out from the fire, she frowned. "Brom?" she said.
"Hmm?" he replied not moving in the least.
"What happened when you ran into them?"
Brom huffed and leaned against the stony shelf wall. "They caught me off guard," he said. "It was just before Garrow died, not long after they had arrived in Carvahall. I was trying to find out why they had come to Carvahall. At first I thought that Galbatorix had found out where I was hiding and had come repay me for all the trouble I've caused." He shook his head and opened his eyes slowly, almost lazily, then looked at ground as if studying it. "They had come after Eragon, or Saphira's egg is what I should say. So, I was sneaking around and they caught me off guard and attacked me. Neediness to say I thought I could handle them and keep them away from Eragon but they were stronger than I was. I should have known better."
Selena narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head. "And you call me conceited."
"That's because you are," Brom said with a small shake of his head. He stood up and began to shuffle through the bags, apparently looking for something of use.
"What do you think the chances are of them just simply leaving?" she asked after a time of watching him.
"Not likely at all."
She sighed, and looked down at her hands. "That was perhaps hoping for too much," she sighed. "What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing of much use." He looked out into the night with a frown. "I have a vague plan, but you're not going to like it."
"If it is one of your ideas we both know I shan't enjoy the outcome," said Selena rather seriously. She looked at him with a frown and then sighed; she could tell what he planning. "Don't you dare try to tell me that your plan is to go out there-"
"Selena," Brom began softly.
"And play the part of the hero," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Heroes do not return."
"Do you have any other ideas?" he grumbled, his head falling into his hands. "If you do I'd love to hear them."
There was a short, charged silence. Selena didn't look at him as she stared out the small opening. "This hangover is low enough to protect us fairly well from their arrows," she said after a moment, "but I can shoot my arrows out. You said they do not like light, and we have a fire or the ability to magic a fire. We could use that and the fatty oil we have to set up a raging fire outside. It's worked for me before, though not with the Ra'zac but it's an option that does not involve you being an escape goat."
Brom sighed forcibly, and looked out of the opening. He was quiet for a long time.
Selena turned away and watched the light throw harsh fractures of shadow across the stone wall. As she watched her mind began to wander; hadn't she been told once that she would had she would die should she ever be ambushed? Morzan had gotten quite a laugh out of it, once, long ago. Even as she grew under Morzan, and he told her of her culpabilities more and more often, the subject of her being ambushed seemed be a blaze spot in her weaknesses. And it seemed to her, as if he took some sort pleasure from watching her face fall and her struggle as she tried to correct it during his trainings. No matter how hard she worked at strengthening herself, it was never enough. Even now, after all these years, it was a weakness she could not overcome.
Selena knew what he would have said, had he been alive when she had been ambushed on her journey back from Carvahall, and the mere thought made her grit her teeth. She didn't even want to think about what he would have said if he knew what had happened at Spine Pass and the events afterward. It was ridiculous that she had thought of them so often; normally she could push such thoughts away but these hung heavily in the back of her mind. She had been thinking of Morzan too much lately, it seemed. She wondered what started it; why she was thinking about a man she had worked so hard to forget.
"Can you hit that died brushweed?" Brom said suddenly, startling her.
Selena blinked and took a deep breath, before looking out where he pointing. She could see nothing but shadows in the darkness. "Where? All I see is shadows," she said. "Your eyesight is better than mine, remember?"
"Just straight ahead."
Selena blinked into the darkness. "Oh, I shoot straight no problem," she muttered lowly. "Where is straight ahead exactly, Brom? You're going to have be a little more detailed than that."
Brom sighed, and pointed out into the darkness. "Aim there," he said and as notched an arrow battered in fat he gave her further instructions. Selena pulled back and said a silent prayer to the gods before she released the arrow into the night, and then released a spell.
It was as if Selena had just singled the monsters of their whereabouts, and by doing so, signed the warrants of their deaths. Perhaps so, if the Ra'zac had not already known their location. She backed away from the entrance as she watched the arrow sail from the shallow opening and into the dark air, its tip glowing bright like a flare. The flaming arrow hit the brush of the wood, setting its dead limbs crackling and spurting as fire quickly took it over. And if they had not known, well, they certain knew now, she thought, this blaze is more than efficient at giving us away.
She felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw the man seated beside her give a slight nod, and silently she began to move, crawling over the deadened coals and past him to the bag. She began packing what they needed as quickly as she could, cursing herself for not thinking to do this beforehand- it was a waste of precious moments to have to pack after setting ablaze the distraction.
"The spare horses need to be released," Brom hissed from somewhere behind her. "It pains me to say it but we will be faster without them."
Selena nodded, pulling out the cooking pot from within the food bag. "Where's the egg?"
"In a bag with that instrument. It seemed like a good place as any to hide it." His voice was flat and orderly, now like a commander on the battlefield. "There is a swift river a third of a mile east of here, at the base of a cliff. Should anything happen, we should be able to lose them there by swimming under the current. If they catch you, kill them. They have a weak spot, here." His fingers trailing lightly under her neck. She shifted under his touch, moving away. "You ready?"
"No," she muttered, shouldering her packs, "but let's go."
It was like an old practice; Brom placed his hand lightly on hers pointing towards her sword, silently telling her to be ready for a fight, before shuffling out the hallow. She scoffed at him and followed, the burlap sack bouncing across her back. We are equal, Brom had once told her. He may have spent more years fighting, but she had been in the midst of just as many battles. They were the same in so many ways, and that was perhaps why they worked so well together.
Selena wondered as she often had when she was younger, that if fate had been different and the Riders hadn't have fallen whether they still would have met on different terms, kinder ones. How different would their story be then? She shook her head, chasing the thought away. Wondering about such things was worthless- they were never to be no matter how many she wished for it.
Selena squinted into the night, trying to see past the huge winged shadows from the fire. Its heat burned her face even from the distance. To her right the horses could be whinnying and scuttling and stomping their hoofs against the ground in fear. She could hear them better than she could see them, having made the mistake of looking at the blazing fire and now being blinded from its glare. She ducked her head she walked blindly towards the horses, cursing the same noise that led her toward them. If she could hear surely them, surely the Ra'zac could as well.
As she reached Arvid and placed her hand against his golden flank, she muttered a calming spell. It worked almost instantly, the horse stilled and his ears relaxed forward, as he allowed her set the baggage down beside him as she went about saddling him. After she finished tying the bags, she made her way over to Snowfire, patting Starshine on the snout as she walked past. She kicked aside the blankets from Brom's saddle, as she reached out her mind and sought the Ra'zac in the shadowy world. They were easy to find; wavering in the blankness, strange twisting lights exactly where they were before. They seemed to her the very thing of unlife, of creatures neither died nor alive but caught in the tormenting void between, condemned to envy and hate everything that took joy in existence…
At last she heard something, but so slight she hardly knew if it was the wind. The slightest sound of slow flapping whispered through the night. Wings from a creature that she could only imagine, taloned and heavy and completely without feathers, and then a long ticking click. Something hard scuffled through the grass, coming closer and closer. Instinctively she looked up, straining her eyes, her hand going for her bow. The saddle she had been supporting fell to the ground forgotten.
"They're close," stated Brom, dropping the last of the bags at her feet. He moved beside her and after picking up the saddle he began to finish strapping Snowfire.
Selena frowned. "I do not believe that fire will hold them off for long."
Brom nodded grimly and picked up his packs. "Be ready for anything."
"I am," she stated climbing onto Arvid's back.
Brom tied off the last of the packs and lifted himself onto Snowfire. "Let's go," he said as he steadied himself and then commanded his horse forward, slashing the blade of his sword through the ties that held Starshine and Cadoc. He muttered something low under his breath and then the horses took off in a fury, kicking up clouds of dust and whinnying into the darkness. He turned around to look at her and then nodded as she jumped onto Arvid's back.
Not a moment later they took off onto the night toward a trail they both knew was there, or at least they tried to. Even with Brom's sharpened vision leading them, the brush and stone and trees proved a hindrance. Not long after they set down the path that something shifted in the darkness. A dark, misshaped shadow fragmented the shifting light of the fire. Selena pulled a knife from her belt and tipped the flagon over it. Then as she turned around, she thrust it at the creature with all her might, muttering a single spell under her breath. Selena supposed it hit true because the creature wheeled away and there was a loud thump as it crashed into a tree. The tree shuttered, its leaves whishing in the air before crushing the creature. The tree fell to the ground with an earth shuttering crash.
Turning away, she wordlessly urged on Arvid. She doubted the beast would be down for long, and when it did get up, she did not wish to be anywhere near it.
Suddenly a cold chill ran down her spine causing her to shiver as the air shifted. Selena huffed and lounged forward as a sharp gust of wind cut above her. The chestnut horse let out a panicked a squeal, her ears flat to his head and reared- knocking her from his back. She tumbled onto the path, and felt her body jolt again into the air before hitting the rocks a second time. Dazed she lay, gasping for air that would not come, as a large, beak-faced creature leapt out of nowhere. It stood over her, a wicked blade in its hands as she lay there, watching, though not completely comprehending what it was that she was seeing, as the light flickered off the blade the Ra'zac was rising higher into the air.
"Don't kill it," hissed a voice as light as air from somewhere in the distance. It sounded pained. "The King wantsss them alive!"
As the words were spoken, a blade slashed down through the darkness viciously towards the Ra'zac over her like a hatchet. With a hiss the creature swirled around and lifted its hooked blade, colliding with Brom's with a reverberating cling! The Ra'zac turned away, forgetting her as Brom swung a blade at its head. She closed her eyes, taking deep clearing breathes. She was aware of Brom to her right, slashing and hewing, beset by the creature.
Slowly as her head cleared, Selena sat up and reached for her sword. Her throat stung, and a sickly sweet smell she had not notice before faded from the air. She looked through the darkness for the other Ra'zac but not seeing him she bolted towards Brom. He and the Ra'zac were in a vicious combat, but neither of them had yet gained the upper. Brom was knocked head over heels by the force of a sword stroke, but he sprang back to his feet like an acrobat. His right arm was bleeding, and the Ra'zac was unscratched.
An earsplitting screech cut through the night, with the sound of ripping and tearing as the wood from the fallen tree was torn apart. Something was trying to free the other beast trapped beneath its weight.
The Ra'zac was fighting him back, step by step, toward the fiery wall. In the flickering light she saw him almost disarm the Ra'zac which righted itself, spring back, and slash its blade into Brom. It made a crackling sound like a laugh as Brom fell forward, gripping his side with both hands. His sword lay forgotten at his feet. The Ra'zac raised its blade, and as it did, Selena reached toward her belt, pulling to small knives which she threw at it. The daggers hit the Ra'zac at the base of its neck, and it froze, swaying slightly, before turning itself toward her. It clicked its beak angrily as if cursing her, as it pulled the knives from its hard flesh. As it tossed the knives aside, Brom shakenly stood up and swung his sword at the creature. The Ra'zac's arm severed the same moment its head toppled to the ground. Brom, breathing heavily, and fell heavily onto his knees, growling out curses profusely as he looked towards her.
A crashed sounded from where the tree had fallen. Selena resisted the urge to look towards the sound as she ran towards Brom. She fell onto her knees beside him and studied his pale face. "You look about as bad as feel," said Brom hoarsely.
"As long as I'm the better looking one," she replied softly with a frown. "Let me see your wounds."
Brom let out a breathy laugh and slowly struggled to his feet, his hands clenching his side. "Stop worrying and find the horses. Do not give me that look, we need to leave. Now. Before they figure out what happened," he said, patting her shoulder. "I'll be fine."
Selena gave him a doubtful look, and reached out her mind for the horses. She found them without much trouble and called them forth. "The horses are coming," she said. "You should let me look at your wounds, Brom, they look serious."
"You took a nasty whack to your head. It's bleeding quite a lot," the man growled, "and you don't see me bellyaching over that. I know that you'll live and I'll be fine, I promise. Worry about me when there's a chance we won't die in a few minutes."
Selena reached her hand towards her head and found that it was slick with blood and tender. As she found the wound, she felt like she was spinning, and pulled her hand way quickly. She shrugged. She had been through worse. Slowly she stood on unsteady feet and looked out for the horses, calling out to them again with her mind. They came within moments, though rather jittery and with ears flat against their skull. After helping Brom onto Snowfire, she struggled onto her own horse, and wordlessly they urged the horses into a gallop, leaving, hopefully the two injured beasts and the remaining living Ra'zac behind.
Dawn broke the cold night in a haze of pale grey. The earth lay silent and still in the early hours that the sun remained hidden behind morning cloud, until slowly as the pearly dimness faded and gradually the world filled with color as the sun broke through the clouds, wildlife began to awaken and chatter. The squats and squabbles from the birdsong were enough to startle Selena to a stop. She pulled harshly on Arvid's reigns and peered around, looking, though it seemed as if she peering through fogged glass, for the first at where exactly they were for the first time in hours. Silently she prayed that she hadn't fallen asleep, she had no memory of riding through the leafy cave behind thim. "That's far enough, Brom," she called out, rubbing her head. The man turned his head to leer at her over his shoulder, giving no signs of stopping anywhere, anytime soon. She rubbed her head again, starching slightly at the dried blood. "We have gone more than far enough without looking at your injuries."
The man turned his head away. "I'm fine," he said.
Selena sighed and instantly wished she had not. "We're covered in blood," she said breathlessly, "and people could very well be traveling these trails."
Brom scoffed. "No one travels through this area."
Closing her eyes, Selena took a deep breath to steady herself. She was very tired and wished more than anything for a rest even if it were for a short time. Looking again at Brom's hutched form, she saw the dried blood clinging to his boots and trousers and the grey of his skin, and called him again to a halt. "I need to rest," she told him steely. "You may be able to go day in and out with no break but I cannot. I must rest, Brom, if for only a short time."
The man nodded, and with her help slide from the horse's back and lay on a small patch of grass. He stared at her for a short moment before he closed his eyes. "If you want to heal me go on ahead. I know it's the only reason you wanted to stop," he told her. Without a word of agreement, Selena sorted through her bags and after pulling out a bag of finely crushed herbs she poured as much as she dared into a flagon and brought it to him. He looked at it and shook his head but grabbed out of her grasp nonetheless and drank deeply. After he had his fill, he closed his eyes once more. She pulled off her jerkin and lay it under his head, and as she did, he opened an eye long enough to see what she was doing before closing it again. "It looks worse than what it is," he mumbled as she peeled away his long shirt. "The blade didn't hit anything vital, and it wasn't poisoned either. I'd likely be died by now, or raging with fever, if it were. By the gods' mercy, it's a clean wound. I'll live."
Though the blade did not go deep enough into his side to hit anything that would kill him it did go deep, and after a moment of prodding the split, bloodied skin, she lay her hands gently onto of the wound. He cringed beneath her but said nothing. Moving her fingers so that they did not go into the laceration, she began to murmur spelling of healing and to ward off infection, and as she did a radiance of colored light gathered, glowing intensely.
She did not feel the crushing exhaustion until she finished and looked down at the wound. With a frown, she ran her fingers beside the angry gash. In the least it stopped bleeding when the skin was moved. As she studied the wound she wondered briefly how he had kept riding for so many hours, unless Brom had taken the time out to mutter a spell he should have bled to death.
"It feels better," he muttered.
Selena's frown deepened. "It certainly doesn't look any better."
Brom placed his hand over hers though his remained closed. "You worry too much," he said slowly, his voice thick.
Selena watched him as he fell into a slumber. As his breathing evened out, she pulled her hand away from his grip and set it in her lap. "You don't worry enough," she said before turning her gaze to the woodland about her.
