Chapter 2
Another chapter! This story has a pretty slow start, but don't worry as there will soon be much more meaningful dialogue and action(possibly romance!). I will also be trying to make my chapters longer and more detailed.
"I am very pissed off if you can't tell, Aatrox." Galbatorix stated the obvious.
"Do you want me to chase after them? I am certain I could catch up in a day." Aatrox put an armored hand on his sword, showing that he would be violent if need be.
"No, no. I shall have you wait until they have arrived back to the Varden, then you may go and have your fun. Show the Varden the true power of Aatrox the slayer!" He laughed, a cold harsh screech.
"What did they steal from you exactly, my lord?" Aatrox had a suspicion already.
"A very valuable resource that I was planning on using in the near future. I am sorry but I cannot tell you any more than that, just that you must return it. Those thieves will know what you want when you meet them." Maybe he didn't know what it was that was stolen.
I think I have an idea of what was stolen, I shall get back to you when I am able.
"I shall leave for the Varden in two weeks then, my lord." With that, Aatrox turned to leave.
"One more thing Aatrox, I'd just like to confirm that you are willing to kill Brom?" Aatrox only thought for a second, he is most likely my actual father, but he's abandoned me. "I will not hesitate if needed, I may kill him even if I don't need to."
"That's my boy. You are dismissed. Also, you may want to stay a while, Durza will be able to meet up with you there." He waved his hand with a grin.
The moment Thorn landed beside the lake by the entrance to Farthen Dur, Murtagh jumped down and inspected every inch of Thorn for any injuries.
I am fine Murtagh, you idiot. The magician did no damage to me thanks to Brom. You should check on him, he's still weak from just that one attack.
"That magician is one of the most powerful magicians I have ever witnessed!" Brom groaned as he slid down the side of Thorn, being helped down by Irelia.
Irelia stood taller than most humans, her six blades now floating in the air behind her, no connection to her visible. "Let us get back and report to Ajihad, he will no doubt be excited by what you have stolen. And again I thank you Murtagh for picking me up. You saved me days of running." Murtagh nodded his thanks and the four of them headed towards the waterfall.
Aatrox left after fourteen days of nothingness. Stepping outside of the estate he stayed in with nothing but a pack of food and a single change of clothes, he started walking towards the gate only to disappear into thin air. He reappeared a couple hundred feet ahead of him a second later, only to disappear once again. If I move like this, I'll be there in roughly two days.
So this is where the Varden resides. Aatrox stood before the waterfall that he knew led to the place they called Farthen Dur. He walked straight at the wall and disappeared. He didn't even bother hiding himself as he blinked through the ranks of the Varden, nobody would bother him. Sensing the same elf he had just let go, he made his way to a small hut nestled away from the main city. The hut wasn't anything special, just a small wooden hut with one bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Aatrox let himself in by simply blinking through the warded door, allowing the wards to trigger.
As he leaned against the kitchen counter looking around, a blade was placed against his armored neck. "How did you get in here?" She didn't angrily, rather genuinely curious as to how he moved seemingly just as fast as a dragon.
"I simply walked. It took me a couple days to complete the journey, but I've come for what Murtagh and Brom stole. If you would kindly bring me to the Varden's leader, we can sort this whole thing out." He pushed the blade away, making sure to put pressure on the blade to test its sharpness. It actually did cut into his armor a little bit. Interesting, very interesting indeed.
"First of all, there is absolutely no feasible way that you can get here from Uru'Baen in two days. Secondly, I do believe that it is best for everyone if you simply head back." She stepped back, seemingly comfortable despite being in the dark presence of Aatrox.
"How about I just head over there and you can just meet up?" He suggested with a smirk in his voice. "You can't really stop me anyways. You better tell the man that he's got company. Oh, and don't worry, I mean no harm to anyone of the Varden." As he said this in the ancient language, the elf visibly relaxed a little more. He turned around and disappeared.
"Wait… w-what?" She walked around the whole hut, scanning with magic to find him, but he was indeed gone. She sent a mental message to Ajihad warning him. How is that physically possible? He didn't use an invisibility spell, and he spoke no words. Completely confused, she opened her door and ran towards Ajihad's study.
A dark skinned man sat behind a desk, one could only assume he was a man of power simply because of the way he sat with confidence and thoughtfulness. He was reading through a detailed guide on the newest training exercises when he received a hurried warning from Irelia about some 'Dark knight that wanted stolen valor' whatever that meant. He brushed it off until said dark knight literally appeared in front of him, leaning against a column. He looked around the room as if searching for something, "Am I right in presuming that you are Ajihad?" Ajihad nodded, gulping. "Well, I believe that we have a lot to talk about." He stood up and walked over to sit in a chair across from Ajihad's desk.
"H-how exactly did you get in here?" Ajihad asked, a look of shock still on his face.
"Doesn't matter. I believe that a friend of yours, Brom, has stolen something from the king. He wants it back real bad, so if you want to just hand it back to me, I can be on my way."
"What makes you think that we'd just give you something like that?"
"The fact that I could kill every single person within a ten mile radius within an hour. That includes your elf, what is her name by the way? I've been trying to get it but she's stubborn. You may call me Aatrox by the way." Aatrox leaned back in his chair, he did look like he could kill all of Ajihad's men easily.
Just then, the door to the study opened and Irelia walked in, looking at Aatrox with a frustrated look.
"Ir-" Ajihad began before she cut him off.
"Ahah! Your name starts with an I." Aatrox sounded proud of himself. "I would suggest that you guys call Brom in here, although I am not certain that I could contain myself from killing him. I have a certain grudge against him."
"Aatrox, why exactly are you fetching things for the king if you don't even like him? Ajihad, this is Aatrox if he hasn't already said, he was the one who saved me after my capture." Irelia stepped closer to Aatrox, her blades swirling around behind her as if examining Aatrox.
"What? Do you expect me to just leave the man and join the Varden or something?" He laughed then, a harsh grating sound, as if he hadn't laughed in years. "You don't know me at all elf."
"Take off the helmet Aatrox, and I will tell you my name." She took another step towards him, she stood directly in front of him, face to face.
"I will not in front of Ajihad here. Is there someplace private place where we may go for this?"
Irelia scrunched her brow, "You're just going to show off the identity that you've been hiding for a decade, just to know my name?"
"You interest me, and you won't be able to share it with anyone else. Now where shall we meet, say your library?"
"That is the closest place, yes. I will show you the way." She headed to the door. Aatrox turned and disappeared into thin air, leaving a completely stunned Ajihad alone, mouth wide open and completely bewildered.
Aatrox found himself a cozy little cubby in the depths of the library with a table and a couple couch-like chairs around it. After a couple minutes of him sitting there alone with his thoughts, the elf sat down across from him. He proceeded to place down dozens of wards to prevent any noise or people in or out. "So, what is your name elf?" He reached up to grab onto his helmet.
"My name is Irelia, The Ionian Blade Dancer." Her blades behind her moved around her like a snake when she said that. "Take off the helmet."
"It is nice to know your name Irelia, could you please promise that not a soul will be aware that you have even seen my face?" After she promised, he slowly took the helmet off. Underneath was a young man, pale skinned with dark blonde hair. Scars ran all over his face, down his face and down his neck, the largest one stretching from his left temple down to his chin. The most terrifying thing about the young man was his eyes, they were a deep blood red with barely any white at all showing. Sighing, "My real name is Connor."
"Are you a human?" She made no comment on any of his physical properties.
"It's… complicated. Just know that I was human, then I was a rider, and then I was something else. I was insane for a little bit, but that was after my dragon died."
"I'm sorry about your loss, it's a great tragedy to the whole world that your dragon is no longer with us." She leaned forward, looking him straight in the eyes, her own diamond eyes practically glowing, "Why don't you join the Varden? You're clearly powerful enough to resist the king for a long time."
"I've thought about it many times, but unfortunately I have a few problems that only the king has been able to fix."
"Maybe we can help with those problems." She suggested with a smile.
"There are demons in my head, Irelia. Demons that even I don't know how to get out. Demons that the king put there, so he's the only one who can calm them. Unless you elves have another ancient rider or spellcaster that works with spirits."
"What if I told you that we did?"
"I might consider joining the Varden then." He stood up, putting his helmet back on. "If what you say is true, then I shall talk to Ajihad." He proceeded to disappear.
"You've got to stop doing that!" Irelia took off running towards Ajihad's office.
Ajihad sat, waiting. He knew that Aatrox and Irelia would be coming back soon. After half an hour of reading through his maps and strategies once more, Aatrox appeared, once again leaning against the same column. "Irelia has a way with words." He moved to sit down across from Ajihad. As soon as he sat down, the door opened and Irelia walked in.
"I believe that I might want to join the Varden."
Ajihad looked at him in disbelief, "So you came from threatening to kill every one of us, to wanting to join us, all within half an hour?"
He hesitated, "Yes, I did."
"Wow, well that is something." Looking out of the single window, it was starting to become dark. "Would you like to continue this discussion tomorrow Aatrox?"
"I am alright with that, is there a place I may stay? Preferably away from as many people as possible."
"He can stay the night with me!" Irelia pushed the suggestion forward. "You can stay the night on my couch C- Aatrox. As you already know my hut is away from society. Walk with me this time please though."
Thanks again for reading everyone! Already working on the next chapter, it's going to be a lot of meaningful dialogue between our now named MC's(Warning, some darker tones, but we're going to learn a lot about our two MC's). If you have any questions or concerns about the story so far, let me know! If you have any suggestions/edits about the story as well, let me know. Cya next time! PS: Don't expect chapters to come out every day, I have 9 prewritten, but I'm planning on spacing them out to keep a somewhat consistent posting schedule.