Watching Saphira fly towards him worked wonders on his tired mind and body. If he felt safe when he saw Arya in the prison, he felt every emotion that was worth mentioning as good when he saw Saphira. He couldn't wait for her to reach him. He needed to touch her scales; the jewelled scales that made her more worthy than anything in Alagaesia-be it the Isidar mithrim that she repaired or the menoa tree of the elves-atleast for him. He could now feel her body-warmth on him. Oh, how much he missed it? And the wish to sleep under Saphira's wings took over him and he ran as fast as he could. His eyes started playing games with him by blurring Saphira out and soon his legs joined in by not responding to his will.
And Saphira was so close that he could touch her and so he extended his hands, the only things that would go by his will. Saphira made a distant rumbling noise and it took him moments to know that it was the mighty roar of hers and that his ears had joined the fray of failing parts of his body. Even in such a dismal state, he felt a burning anger in him. Anger to kill all who did it to him. He was confused. Why should he be angry now? And this anger was not something that he had had before. It was more intense than everything he had felt before. It was greater than the anger he felt towards Galbatorix, greater than the anger he felt on the man who had hurt Arya. It wasn't a kind of anger that he would feel. Yes. He was not feeling it. It was Saphira. Her anger was leaking to him through their link.
'But why should she be angry at seeing me? Is it something that I did?', he thought.
'What have they done to you?', he heard her voice in his head. Oh, how sweet her voice was? But the words.. He had heard them somewhere else before. They were like echoes of Arya's first words on seeing him. He understood now why she was angry. It was his physical state. He was thankful that Arya had healed many of his wounds. If she hadn't then nothing would have stopped Saphira from barging into the city of Uru'baen just to kill each and every one who had hurt him.
There his mind stopped working. Saphira was mere feet ahead of him. He knew it. But he couldn't reach to her. In the last few seconds he had, he tried his level best to touch her. And in the effort he nearly fell head first. But he never did and that was when he realised that there had been a shadow behind him all the while he ran. Arya's firm and soft hands caught him before he fell. Yet he was resting his head on something soft. And then he realised that Saphira had put the soft underside of her head under him simultaneously when Arya had caught him and he fell into a deep sleep after long in the presence of the two he had wanted to be with the most during his imprisonment.
When he opened his eyes again, he was securely in Saphira's saddle and they were flying. Behind him, he felt a slight disturbance and he turned to see Arya looking behind in a poised manner.
'Where are we Saphira?', he asked her wanting to know what all had happened after he fell unconscious.
'Oh!! Little one... Are you alright?', Saphira asked him concern and love emanating from her.
'Oh, Saphira... Don't worry about me. I am as well as I can be'
'Don't lie to me. I won't stop till I shred that usurper's heart to pieces. He has to pay for what he has done to you', said Saphira, the anger in her voice making Eragon shirk away from her mind a little. He realised only then that he hadn't got his actual question answered.
'Where are we Saphira?', he asked again to her.
"Try to go faster, Saphira", Arya's voice emanated intense urgency.
Eragon tensed and asked, "Will anybody tell me what is going on?", his frustration at not knowing what was it that made Arya this tense and Saphira exert herself this hard evident.
"We are not much farther from Uru'baen than before you fell unconscious, Eragon. Just minutes ago, Murtagh and Thorn showed up. They chased us for a while. But when it became apparent that Thorn was not going to keep up with Saphira, they went back towards Uru'baen", Arya said without any emotion as though stating some news about somebody. Eragon's head started spinning-he didn't know if it was because of his physical condition or because of the news he just had.
But then, Saphira's mind entered his and urged him to calm down. But it was also vast. Much vaster than Saphira. And its calming effect was so huge that Eragon felt all his insecurities and discomforts melt like snow before sun.
'Oh, Child!! I am so proud of you', a voice said and Eragon realised then that Glaedr had been connected to Saphira hence creating the vastness of her mind.
'Master. Thank you', Eragon said with a bow of his head even though Glaedr was not bodily present to see.
'We are there to help you this time, Eragon. This time those traitors can't hurt you. I will see to that', Saphira said heatedly although her mind exuded her love for Eragon.
"Don't say that Saphira. We will be gone a long way before they try to attack us", Arya said and Eragon realised that Saphira had allowed Arya to hear their conversation.
"So running off, Brother? Before he went, Galbatorix ordered me to not let you escape whatever the cost. And I am in no position to disobey his orders. Thorn may not be able to fly as fast as Saphira. But you will come to me. Do you know why?", Murtagh's magically magnified voice spoke with intent "Because I have the last dragon egg in my hand now", he said this part in the ancient language. "I know how much this means to you.... You will have to come back and fight me if you need it.", he continued. "And then, I can take you back to Uru'baen.", he said in an undertone.
A range of tumultuous emotions passed between Eragon and Saphira. Both were excited beyond control and both didn't know what to do. Arya seemed to be in deep thought. But her eyes betrayed her: she was in doubt too. Even Glaedr didn't say anything for a while. It was clear that Murtagh had touched a very sensitive issue. None of them wanted to miss the dragon egg. It was more than a symbol of hope. The rescue of the dragon egg was important because it would relieve the misery in which the dragon in the egg was in for a hundred years. If they failed to act and rescue the egg now, another dragon like Thorn would be created.
Having been close to the dragons Eragon didn't want that to happen. He knew Glaedr and Saphira would want to rescue the dragon egg. But it was being used as a bait. A bait to capture him again. And this time, he didn't have the resources to save Saphira if things went wrong.
"Let me fight him", Arya said bringing everybody out of their thoughts.
"What? No. You are not fighting them both alone.", Eragon said hastily ruing his inability to do the necessary: save the dragon egg.
'You have to rest, Eragon. You are in no position to be part of this fight. Further, Murtagh is not powerful now. His fight with the elves has drained him of his strength. We can take him on easily. There is still vast stores of energy in Naegling', Saphira said to him trying to calm him down.
"But... How? It is ... No.. I will fight.... I can't let you go there alone.", Eragon said both with his mind and voice.
"No, Eragon. You will only be a liability if you fight alongside us. You have to trust us to do the right thing. If not me, atleast trust Saphira's judgement.", Arya said confidently and authoritatively with a small fraction of pleading tone accompanying the harder tones. Eragon was not convinced. He didn't want to lose the people for whom he had wanted to earn his freedom so eagerly.
"I trust you. But I... I want to...", Eragon started but was cut off by Glaedr, 'Eragon... Don't argue. They have a point. I saw those hatchling's demeanor. They are severely depleted of energy reserves. The combined strength of me, Arya and Saphira not to mention Naegling will be more than enough to defeat them. Think. Why did Murtagh have to bring that egg as a bait?', Glaedr paused for a moment to see if Eagon would answer his question. But he remained silent. So Glaedr continued, 'Its because Thorn doesn't have enough strength to rival Saphira's flight. Murtagh could have stopped Saphira as he did when he ambushed us at Utgard. He didn't because he doesn't have enough energy to do so. It is our chance Eragon. As Arya said if you take part in this fight, it will only weaken us.'
"I understand master", Eragon said accepting the fact that he wouldn't be able to be part of this very important battle.
'Good', Saphira said and started descending fast. Eragon had a mild doubt that Arya and Saphira had already planned the attack. A doubt that was confirmed into certainty, when Saphira headed straight to a huge rock formation with a small opening in it giving the effect of a cave. As soon as she reached there, Arya got down and helped Eragon into the cave like structure.
"Rest here, Eragon.", Arya said in a strangely hushed voice and looked as if she wanted to say more but became silent when she met his eyes and went back outside to Saphira.
'Little one... I love you. Be safe', Saphira said her voice emanating a thrill that had nothing to do with her words. Eragon knew she was thrilled by the prospect of rescuing the final dragon egg from Galbatorix just as he was.
'I should be the one saying that to you, Saphira. Be careful. Remember, you are more important than the egg. If anything goes wrong just go away to our friends', Eragon said to her and after a brief gap added, 'Take care of Arya'
'I will Eragon. But I am not going to return without that egg. I won't let another dragon to suffer under that usurper. My life has no use if I can't do this', Saphira was very serious and Eragon didn't feel like contradicting her. He was of the same opinion as her in the matter although he wanted no harm to befall either Arya or Saphira on behalf of their quest.
'Be safe and come back with the egg', Eragon said as a farewell although he was going to be connected to Saphira all through the fight. He turned a passive listener from then on seeing the events through Saphira's eyes.
The red-runt-thorn was hovering above in the sky. On his back Murtagh sat with a beautiful green egg in his hand. At seeing the egg her wish to demolish the traitors and take back the dragon in it to its rightful place became uncontrollable in her and she said to Arya, 'Be quick'
"Be calm Saphira. Don't get over excited. It won't help in our battle.", Arya said although she sounded a little excited too.
'Show me the egg, Saphira', Glaedr's mental voice said and she shared her vision with her master. Glaedr was calm for a moment before sounding excitedly, "Its him"
'Who master?', Saphira asked genuinely puzzled as to what would it take to surprise Glaedr.
'Him, Saphira.... The dragon.... He is crazy. He has been waiting for his rider to return for thousands of years. Rumour was that he has been in his egg for as long as the riders have been in existence. I had thought he was destroyed during the fall. I had no idea that he survived.', Glaedr sounded as surprised as he did when he saw the egg for the first time.
Saphira didn't know what to make out of this news. The retrieval of the egg was even more important now that the dragon in the egg had been famous even before hatching. But she was also concerned because she wasn't sure if the dragon would ever hatch. 'Maybe he is crazy as Glaedr says. Maybe he won't hatch atall. And why does he wait for his rider to return? Does that mean he came into contact with some person he chose to bond with but never had a chance to?', she asked Eragon.
Eragon too was dumbfounded by Glaedr's news and didn't know how to respond to Saphira. So he just said, 'We must hope, Saphira.... Don't think of these now. Concentrate on getting the egg in our control'
'Yes, little one. I too think that will be the best thing to do now', Saphira said content that having the egg in their control would be the best thing they could do in these circumstances.
'I am ready Saphira', Arya said as soon as she had secured herself in the saddle. And Saphia without any further thought flew straight towards Thorn. Murtagh placed the egg in a pouch and slung it across his back as soon as he saw Saphira climb from the ground and took Zar'roc in his hand.
Thorn looked tired when Saphira got a clear view of him and so did Murtagh. One look at them both gave her confidence. She knew they were here to fight only because they couldn't disobey Galbatorix's orders. Else she knew none would come to fight foes as strong as her, Arya and Glaedr in such a weakened state. She felt sorry for them both as she now saw how much they were out of their own control. But it escaped her why they stayed alive in such circumstances. She or Eragon would gladly end their own lives if they were forced to undergo such things.
'Even their lives won't be in their control, Saphira. Galbatorix is cruel. I think Eragon hasn't showed you all that he went through under that traitor-king. If he thought Thorn or Murtagh would commit suicide then he would order them not to', Glaedr said to her. Eragon's mind looked confused for a moment at hearing this but cleared up soon. Saphira decided that it wasn't the best time to confront Eragon about the matter and so concentrated on Thorn instead.
"Do you think it is best if I use magic now?", Arya asked to Saphira.
'No. Wait. Let me see what I can do first.'
"Fine. But remember Saphira, we can't take long. If we do then soldiers from the city are sure to reach here and it may become too difficult for us to escape", Arya warned.
'Don't say that to me. This runt is no match for me even when he is fully fit.', Saphira said confidently although Thorn was no longer small to be called a runt. He was now as large as Saphira and she knew he would be larger than her if they had to meet again. She roared her challenge to him by releasing a huge bout of fire from her mouth towards him. As she had expected the fire went around Thorn harmlessly.
Saphira gathered all her anger towards Thorn right from when Eragon was captured and brought it to the forefront of her mind. Her mind burned with the desire to crush the red dragon to dust. Without planning and on instinct she banged onto the tired-red-Thorn with all her force. The impact of the crash caused Arya who was on her back to be shaken and she let out a soft squeal of surprise.
'Sorry. I thought I was with Eragon', Saphira said to Arya in way of explaining why she hadn't warned Arya about what she was going to do. It even surprised her that she was as comfortable with having Arya around as she was with Eragon.
A loud cursing from Murtagh told that he was shaken up much more badly than Arya during the impact because it was Thorn who was on the receiving end of the crash. The pack holding the egg which was strung to Murtagh's back swayed dangerously. Before Thorn could get back his momentum, Saphira prepared for the next attack, so that she could finish off the battle soon and take the egg, Arya and Eragon to safety.
'Hold tight Arya', she said and banged on Thorn's sides again. Arya tightened her grip on Saphira's neck spikes. Thorn who was already wobbling started falling freely towards the ground. Saphira followed him with a steep dive and caught his tail firmly.
"Hold him, there. I have a thing to do.", Arya shouted above the roars of pain emanating from Thorn.
'What is it?', Saphira asked annoyed because she wanted to hurt Thorn who was the reason why Eragon suffered so much.
'Ask Eragon to be ready to retrieve the egg', Arya said in Saphira's mind.
Saphira was a bit confused and asked, 'What? I don't understand...' She was cut-off by Arya who said, 'The pack carrying the egg has no wards while the egg itself is protected. I could easily cut the straps holding it with magic'
Eragon found Arya's plan to be perfect. He was too eager to get some part in the fight and so spoke to Arya through Saphira's ,mind, 'Do it Arya. It is the safest way'. Saphira obliged and so did Glaedr. Arya wasted no more time and raising her hand towards Murtagh said, "Jierda"
Eragon continued watching the happenings of the battle in the air through Saphira's eyes. Murtagh was too occupied with Thorn to notice Arya casting the spell and so offered no resistance. A streak of green light flew from Arya's hand and hit the straps around Murtagh's shoulder. The strap gave away easily. The bag swayed dangerously ready to fall to the ground anytime. Murtagh became aware of it only then and he shouted, "Curse you, curse you elf..... I will never let this egg and my brother go. If I do then Galbatorix will shred me to pieces. Even if I can stand it, I can't stand the sight of Thorn suffering because of my incompetency. Why can't you just let me take in Eragon and leave?"
"You have no right to call Eragon, your brother, Morzan's son. Know this: Eragon wasn't fathered by that traitor Morzan. He is Brom's son and he will continue Brom's legacy", Arya replied to Murtagh in the ancient language even as she prepared for the next strike.
'Be quick, Arya. We are about to hit the ground.', Saphira warned Arya and she entered into action at once.
Saphira expected Murtagh to retaliate this time but yet again, he failed to provide any resistance. His face held a look of disbelief: a look of one who had lost everything in his life. The bag started falling to the ground which was now about two hundred metres below. Murtagh turned towards the bag with the same unseeing and disbelieving look in his eyes. But he loosened the saddle straps from around his legs and patted Thorn on his flanks twice even as Thorn's roaring increased many-fold which Saphira knew somehow was not because of his wounds. All the while Murtagh's eyes never left the falling bag.
Eragon ran out of the little cavern in which he hid so that he could get the egg before it hit the ground. He looked up at the skies once he was outside. A horrifying sight greeted him. The pouch containing the egg was falling towards him as he had expected, but against all of his expectations Murtagh was also falling right behind the pouch trying to get his hands on the pouch.
Driven by instinct, Eragon raised his right hand towards the sky and shouted, "Seinn" Instantly he felt much of his energy leave him, but he didn't let the spell go. Murtagh's speed of descend slowly reduced and simultaneously the low reserves of energy Eragon had too dissipated alarmingly. He started to wobble.
'Little One!!', Saphira roared in his mind and a steady stream of energy from her entered him, rendering him steady. The pouch containing the egg had reached near him by then and Eragon caught it as softly as he could while negating its speed of fall.
In seconds Murtagh fell to the ground with a loud thump. Although Eragon had considerably slowed down his fall, Murtagh fell on the ground with force enough to break his bones. He made a croaking noise and fell silent his eyes locked with Eragon's.
"You are not my brother.", Murtagh stated more than asked. Eragon was not able to give any answer to him and he just said, "I am Brom's son"
Murtagh laughed forlornly and spit out blood from his mouth. "So again, I have to bear Morzan's name alone", he muttered more to himself. Eragon felt pity for his half-brother. "Selena was our mother", he said cradling the egg-pouch in his hands. He wasn't sure why he said that but it was something on Murtagh's face that made him tell it: it was pained and drained of all light.
Above him, he heard the roars of two dragons: Saphira and Thorn. He looked up to see that Saphira had released Thorn. 'Probably because of my actions', thought Eragon. Saphira was descending fast towards the ground whereas Thorn was trying to attain altitude. Eragon guessed it was Murtagh's plan to save Thorn from further harm. He could guess because he would do the same for Saphira if they were caught in such a situation.
"Are you going to fight us alone and that too in this state?", Eragon asked to Murtagh.
"Did you think I will let you kill Thorn? Maybe I have no choice than to die Eragon. But Thorn hasn't seen enough of this world. Galbatorix ordered me to do everything possible to stop you from escaping and I am doing it. Thorn isn't bound by my obligation.", Murtagh said and paused for a while. Then he sighed heavily and asked, "But tell me, why did you not let me die by falling? Why did you risk your life to save a traitor like me?"
Eragon didn't answer Murtagh. He just kept staring at the broken form of Murtagh lying on the ground. He didn't know for himself why he saved Murtagh. It was as if he couldn't stand the sight of Murtagh dying before his eyes when he was capable of saving him.
Eragon stood there, outside the cave like rock, not speaking anything, cradling the egg pouch in his hand and looking at Murtagh considering what to tell him. A loud crash was heard and sharp pain exploded through his face. He turned to see Arya standing before him and he realised that she had slapped him. It didn't anger or annoy him because he knew exactly why she did that and felt as though he deserved it.
"You risked your life to save this traitor. Have you no common-sense?", she shouted. Eragon didn't reply to her either. He stood rooted to the ground, his eyes on his own feet.
'It is okay, little one. But we have to talk about this some other time', Saphira said to him and then she told Arya who was glaring at him, 'We have to go.'
'Calm down children. We have what we came for. Let us go before soldiers show up', Glaedr said bringing a measure of peace in their minds. Saphira extended her head towards the egg pouch in Eragon's hand.
"Don't touch the egg. You will die.", Murtagh's weak voice came from behind them. All three sharply turned towards him. "Galbatorix cast a spell on it", Murtagh explained.
'Let us take the egg to the Varden first. Then we can break the spell.', Glaedr said to them. So Eragon and Arya started to walk towards Saphira to mount her saddle.
"Letta", Murtagh said and Eragon was rendered motionless. "I can't let you or the egg go Eragon, even if I have to die"
Arya unsheathed Brisingr and walked towards Murtagh who still lay on the ground trembling because of the energy needed to sustain the spell. Eragon did nothing to stop her. Arya raised the blue sword to stab Murtagh through his heart. A huge roar was heard from the skies. Eragon instinctively took his eyes off Arya and looked at the sky.
Thorn was flying fast towards the ground, his mouth open. A stream of reddish fire erupted from his mouth and came towards Arya.
"Skölir nosu fra brisingr!", Arya cried and the fire went harmlessly around her. But by then Thorn had reached near the ground and Eragon ran towards Arya in case she needed protection. Saphira did the same flapping her wings twice and hopping through the ground like a giant cat. Arya stumbled a few steps backwards and Thorn picked Murtagh in his legs and flew back towards the sky.
"Let us go", Arya said after a period of silence in which nobody spoke anything watching the red dragon fly towards the dark city of Uru'baen. Eragon kept the egg securely in his hands and got on Saphira with some difficulty. Arya followed him gracefully and soon Saphira was in the air flying towards the Varden.
Eragon thought back the event of the last few hours. He was free of the prison. He had Saphira and Arya with him. And they had the last dragon egg of Alagaesia in their control. It was all surreal. He breathed freely and it felt that a life time had passed since he did so the last time.
'Little one....', Saphira said for no particular reason but he felt as if it was a necessity.
Author's note:
Ah, at last I have finished it. It has taken me 9 days to write this chapter. But it had nothing to do with the difficulty of the chapter. It was just that my life has changed a lot in this period and I found myself having less time to write this. Another part of the story has started from this chapter. Hasn't it?
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