For Alagaesia: 64. Consequences of being closed

“Never lose sleep over your husband, Katrina. He has a knack to defy difficulties.”, Eragon said. Katrina had contacted him and explained about Galbatorix's counter attack. Eragon was embarrassed to have heard of the Varden's struggle and victory from Katrina. It was his duty to scry and learn about the happenings of the Varden on a day-to-day basis, since the Varden were in no position to contact him when need arose. But he had spend his time training Indra, making fairths and practising with Arya and had forgotten to keep an eye on the Varden for the past four-five days.

Katrina nodded as if to say 'I know' and said, “But Galbatorix grows desperate.”

It was a very true observation. It was, indeed, desperate of Galbatorix to send armies from three directions to recapture Teirm. And Eragon knew quite well that victory wouldn't have been this easy if the Varden were ignorant of the marching armies. Somehow they had been notified and they had won the battle.

It made him feel guilty. Although, he was aware of the importance of educating Indra, he could not force down the thought that he had abandoned the Varden.

“Then let us keep him desperate.”, Eragon replied, knowing with all his heart that it wasn't a good thing. He knew Galbatorix. He knew what the King would do when desperate. He had first-hand experience. The horrors of the strange combination of Elva's and Galbatorix's minds ravaging his own still remained fresh in the darkest corners of his being.

“You speak as if it is a good thing.”, Katrina said.

“We can not let him be rested.”, he replied to appease both his and Katrina's fears.

“At least then he could be predicted.”

Eragon had not considered Katrina to have such a sharp intelligence. He blamed Roran for sharing everything with Katrina. From Roran, Katrina had gleaned a lot about Galbatorix's workings. He also suspected that her stay at Helgrind with the Raz'ac must have given a lot of insight about Galbatorix and his way of working. Eragon had always wondered how Katrina had kept her sanity at the evil hill. But now he could see it – mental strength and intelligence hidden behind those kind and soft eyes.

“Nothing shall be easy as we near Uru'baen, Katrina”, Eragon said shortly willing his cousin to understand.

Katrina nodded again. “I don't expect to. Although I wish it were.”, she said.

Eragon smiled grimly. “So do we all.”

Saphira who had gone off to hunt alone – for Indra had accompanied her always ever since he had become strong enough to hunt on his own and she wished to hunt alone as she was used to – came back to their tree house at that instant.

The tree swayed slightly as she settled in her bed. She peered out from her position and looked into Eragon's mirror. 'Oh, Katrina? How are you?', she asked, using Eragon as her mouthpiece.

Katrina smiled slightly at the change in Eragon's voice and replied, “I am fine, Saphira.”

Not giving Eragon any more chance to speak for himself, Saphira continued speaking with Katrina. They spoke about everything from Galbatorix's attack on Teirm and Nasuada's informer in the empire to Katrina's health and life at Carvahall. At one stage, Eragon felt too tired and exhausted that he snapped at the two of them, “If you both need to speak all for yourself, find a doll to mimic you. Don't use me.”

Saphira nudged him playfully and said, 'Well, little one.... just pretend that you are a doll.'

Eragon glared at Saphira much to the amusement of Katrina. Saphira snorted and went back to taking control of his body to speak to Katrina. Eragon tried to free himself of her influence, but she was stubborn and strong. They ended up confusing Katrina with senseless words.

'Eragon.... if you insist on disrupting me while I talk, then I suggest you be more prepared.', Saphira said and applied even more pressure on his mind.

'Fine, have your way, you cruel, arrogant dragon.', Eragon said and let Saphira control him.

An angry dragon roar echoed all around the area. Eragon thought Saphira had taken offence at his words and sought to pacify her. He had only said them in irritation and he had not meant even a word of it. But something said that Saphira knew that already.

Confirming his doubt, Saphira pulled out of his mind just enough to give him control of his body and said, 'Did you hear that, Eragon?'

Katrina, it seemed, was unaffected by all this. She looked at the two of them questioningly.

“Didn't you hear it?”, Eragon asked Katrina.

“What?”, she asked back.

Yet again the roar tore through the area, this time alerting Katrina too. She stiffened at the sound. Eragon excused himself from Katrina with lame excuses(for she was not aware of Indra's hatching) and cut off their connection.

'Eragon!! Come fast.', Saphira said as she flew off into the night.

Eragon threw open the door that led into his tree house and descended the steep steps, climbing down two at a time.

There was only one other being in all of Ellesmera that could make such a noise other than Saphira: Indra. And there was no reason for him to be as angry as he sounded. It was just.... wrong. And it was scary. He forced himself not to think of the reasons behind Indra's roar. They were too unnerving to even consider. He realised only then, how much he cared for the safety of Arya and Indra. It was as if without them, he could not even imagine a life. He had felt protective of them earlier, but he had not realised that he feared for them as much as he did.

He silently prayed that nothing bad should have happened to the two of them as he ran through the desolate streets of Ellesmera. Saphira, in her hurry, had left Eragon behind and had flown off to Tialdari hall. His heart beat so hard against his ribs that he feared that it might burst out of his body at any moment.

He slowed down only when he reached Tialdari hall. Elves surrounded the hall but none had ventured inside. Saphira was circling the hall, trying to find a way into it. When the elves noticed Eragon, they parted letting him in.

The reaction of the elves at seeing him made him uncomfortable. They were staring at him as if he had fallen out of the sky. Getting self-conscious, he turned down to have a look at himself. His hair fell over his face in a disoriented fashion and he was wearing an old worn-out tunic that he used only at night. He saw himself and he had a mild sensation that he should be embarrassed. But that was that. He felt nothing else other than concern for Arya and Indra. He cared not how he looked nor what the elves thought of his appearance. If Arya and Indra were safe he would be happy.

He ran inside without wasting time. Niduen, the lady of Ellesmera in Queen Islanzadi's absence tried to stop him but he dodged her and dashed towards Arya's quarters. Time was not to be wasted in idle conversation when Indra was keening in anger and sorrow. As he neared Arya's home, he could feel the vibrations and thoughts in the air. Never had he found a dragons thoughts as fearful as he felt now. Only Glaedr's anger at Oromis's death rivalled this.

He knocked on Arya's door. When there was no response after two-three knocks, he broke the door open. The door was surprisingly strong for its soft looks and he had to devote a lot of energy into it before it gave way. All the while, he grappled with the door, there was no response from inside except for Indra's constant roaring.

The sight that greeted him when he finally succeeded in opening the door threw him off balance. The whole house was in tatters. Pieces of wood and cloth littered the ground. Indra was scraping the floor with his sharp claws even as hot smoke roiled from his nostrils. Arya was there too – in her nightgown, with her hair undone and trying to calm Indra down.

Eragon advanced forward, albeit cautiously for he was wary of Indra. The dragon or his rider didn't seem to realise that there was another in the house beside them.

'What has happened, Eragon?', Saphira's panicked voice tore through Eragon's mind.

'I am not sure.', Eragon replied.

“Arya”, he called.

The elven princess turned around sharply towards him. She looked troubled. “Eragon”, she acknowledged him in a strained voice.

“What is going on?”, Eragon asked.

'How could she?', Indra's angry voice reverberated through his skull making him flinch. 'What made her? How? How dare he!!!! That slimy, evil.... Kill him!!! I will kill him...!!'

The incoherent words made Eragon shiver. He had heard of a dragon's anger. He had read about wild dragons that burnt down whole villages in their rage. But hearing and seeing a dragon's anger in real was infinitely more scary than he would admit. He hated to admit it but he feared to go anywhere near Indra.

'Shred him!! Eat him.... Eragon, I will eat him alive!!!', Indra said. Eragon felt a cold wave pass through the entire length of his body. He had faced Galbatorix and had refuted the king defiantly. But he couldn't bear to stand before Indra's anger and be addressed by the dragon.

Yet, he surprised himself, by moving a step closer to the green dragon. 'Saphira!!', he screamed in his mind. But Saphira simply influenced him to move another step closer.

“Blue-free-sky and brown-neat-sand, Indra. Think of them and calm yourselves down.”, Saphira made him say.

'I want to tear him down, Saphira. How could you leave him? Why did you leave his body intact? Why? Don't you love her?', Indra said, speaking to Saphira directly.

Eragon, this time out of his own volition, advanced towards Arya who swayed dangerously and looked set to fall. With quick steps, he reached her and held her hands. Arya made a surprised whimper and then to his surprise, sank her face into his shoulder and wept.

Eragon was stunned for a moment. Arya was not one to let herself be comforted by others. She considered it an vulnerability. But it only seemed right to him that she sought comfort in him. He was thankful that she chose to do so rather than face whatever it was alone. Eragon encircled his hand around Arya and held her close to him.

Indra looked down on Arya and said, this time to Eragon, 'You made a mistake, Eragon.' His voice was hard and although he had calmed down a fair bit, it still held vestiges of the wild anger that had made Eragon fear him.

“I don't understand, Indra.”, Eragon said tentatively. He didn't know how the dragon would take his ignorance of the situation.

'When you said, you killed him, I thought he had got his due. But no, you shouldn't have killed him as you did.', Indra replied, yet again sounding cryptic.

But Eragon and Saphira now had a fair idea about the situation. Eragon had not killed a lot of people who could make Indra as angry as he was.

'Indra, whom are you talking about?', Saphira asked although she and Eragon suspected that it was about a certain shade.

'Durza!!!', Indra roared and the hate and anger that spilled out of his mind made even Saphira shirk away a little.

“Good gods!!”, Eragon swore. How a dead shade elicited such panic in Ellesmera, he would never know. “But he is already dead.”, he exclaimed.

'Yes and I blame you for killing him easily.', Indra shot back.

“Indra...”, Eragon began to say but was interrupted by the green dragon, 'Do you have any idea what he did to my Arya, Eragon? You both say that you are friends of her but still you do not acknowledge that shade's cruelty. If it were up to me.... I will tear away that silly excuse for a shade muscle by muscle. I will draw every drop of blood from his body before he dies. I will.... How? How Saphira? How did she go through all that? I...I will... I will.... smash him into a pulp. I will... I will...'

'Indra!!! Blood lust is not the way. Control yourself!', Saphira chided although her mind shifted from being panicked to being angry on Arya.

To Eragon, she said privately, 'I warned that elf. Arya made a mistake by hiding Durza's torture from Indra.'

'Don't you understand?', Indra thundered, 'It is not about blood lust, Saphira. It is about being fair. All I said are not enough punishment for what that shade did!!'

Arya extricated herself from Eragon. Eragon let her raise, although he never let go of her hand and Arya didn't try to break contact. Her body shook with tremors from her crying.

Eragon felt a sudden surge of protectiveness for Arya. “You are only hurting Arya with your anger, Indra. Can't you see that? Durza is dead.”, Eragon said emphatically to the dragon. He didn't want to let Saphira blame Arya further on the matter and he couldn't bear to see Arya crying. He would protect Arya whatever the consequence.

Arya held his hand tighter and he squeezed her hand reassuringly.

The green dragon growled at Eragon. But he stood his ground and stared back at Indra. He was the master, not Indra. 'You know nothing of what he did to Arya.', Indra said flatly.

“I don't know? Oh, I do, Indra. I have been tortured by a mad man too and I know how hard it is to think and talk about it later. It is better to just forget it and move ahead. I suggest you understand that.”

'But.... he... I can't. No...', Indra spoke stuttering to find words to echo his thoughts.

“I know exactly how you feel, Indra. Arya did a mistake by not sharing her torture under Durza with you. But don't you think that her torture itself is enough punishment for her mistake? Should you punish her further by bringing up thoughts about Durza again? Understand this Indra: the matter of Durza is over and done with. If you pursue it further, it will only bring pain to Arya.”, Eragon said calmly trying to sound like Oromis although he didn't feel that much confident. All he wanted was to protect Arya from the horrifying thoughts about Durza. He wanted that because he knew how much he hated to think about his own tortures under Galbatorix.

'Eragon is right. You will have to forgo of your anger for you have not the object to vent it. It will only lead to frustration and pain.', Saphira said sounding more like Glaedr than herself. But then her emotions turned accusatory and she continued, 'I warned your rider that this day would come. But she would not listen to me.' Her emotions changed again, this time emanating determination. 'Store all your anger in you Indra for a day would come – sooner or later – on which you will have to vent it all on the cause for these troubles. The day on which you and I will have to shred Galbatorix off his limbs.'

The mention of Galbatorix and the suggestion that it was he who was causing pain to Arya had the effect Eragon and Saphira intended on Indra. He dropped his head and stood calmly although the anger and sorrow that emanated from his mind were still on the verge of being fearful.

'Come out and join me for a flight.', Saphira invited Indra.

The green dragon lifted his head and eyed Arya whose attention was entirely on him. Dragon and rider stared at each other for a long while. Then Indra blinked and his eyes shifted. He craned his neck forward and touched Arya on her brow. Arya hugged him close and Indra hummed deep in his throat.

'I am sorry.', Indra said.

Arya stroked his face lovingly and said, “No, Indra. The mistake is mine. I should not have hidden it from you.”

Again, their eyes met and a small smile appeared in the corners of Arya's lips.

'Take care of her.', Indra said to Eragon and launched himself from the room in two mighty hops. He jumped out from the tree through the magicked opening in it – his wingspan was too large to fit in – and looked like falling for seconds before he was seen flying out towards Saphira. Arya stared at the partner-of-her-mind-and-heart as Saphira put the rider-dragon relationship until he became a speck in the sky.

Eragon could feel the waves of thoughts flowing from Saphira to Indra as the older dragon tried to calm the younger one down. Soon even those whiskers of thought were hidden from him and from Arya as the two dragons involved themselves in dragon-lore to calm their minds.

Eragon looked around the room. It was a mess. The miniature trees grown to represent the glyphs for peace, strength and wisdom that had sat on the windowsill were on the floor alongside a lot of other utensils. He walked up to the window and picked the trees from the floor and placed them back on the windowsill. Then he continued to reorganise the room. Arya came over to help. When he caught her eye, she mouthed, “Thank you.” He nodded his head slightly in acceptance and continued helping her in rearranging her home.

Once the room looked fit enough to live, Eragon went to sit on the curvaceous chair that grew out of the floor. It had carvings that captivated him and he found himself thinking how fortunate it was that the chair had remained undamaged in Indra's wild aggression. The wood in most places had splintered and broken.

“It looks like Indra has outgrown your home. Soon he will need a new one. I suggest you to shift to my tree house.”, he said looking at the magicked opening for Indra and the difficulty with which Indra had flown off from the house.

Arya seemed surprised at the choice of his subject. She might have expected him to bring up the matter of Durza. But he was in no mood to cause further pain to Arya. She relaxed after a few seconds and nodded.

“But what will you and Saphira do?”, she asked.

“We have been considering moving to the Crags of Telnair.”, he said and thought he saw surprise in Arya's eyes, “If its acceptable to the elves that is.” he added.

“Its perfectly fine, Eragon.”, Arya replied.

“We have been worried that Oromis's dwelling would go untended in his absence. It is a relief for us that you and Saphira – who are his students – have decided to live in his home.”, she said. After a brief pause, she said, “But you will be away from the city.”

“It is just a half-hour's walk.”, Eragon dismissed her concern. It was his and Saphira's long time idea to give Indra and Arya control of their tree house. Further, they didn't want to leave Glaedr alone in Oromis's hut. The elder dragon, although recovered, was prone to occasional bouts of grief that were strong enough to challenge his sanity. And if their carelessness led to Glaedr losing his sanity then he would never ever forgive himself.

Eragon looked out of the home through a window. The elves were still gathered outside, probably wanting to know what was wrong with their princess and her dragon. Eragon didn't want Arya to face them under the circumstances. So he thought it better to deal with them himself.

“You will be fine. Wouldn't you be?”, Eragon asked.

The look Arya gave him made him regret his choice of words. But when Arya responded, the hardness in her face did not reflect in it. “Of course, I will be Eragon.”, said she softly.

Glad that Arya had not taken his words in the wrong sense, he excused himself and left her home. Outside, Niduen met him and enquired after the situation.

“There is not much to say, Lady Niduen. It was a issue pertaining to the riders and it is not wise to discuss it in the open. If it is of any relief to you, know that it is now resolved.”, he said shortly, curtly and confidently.

The elves looked stunned at his reply. They wouldn't have expected such authority and assertiveness to flow from him. It wasn't much of a surprise that they were stunned for he himself couldn't believe that he was as self-confident as he sounded. Ever since he knew his true name, he had had several such moments where he surprised even himself with the surety that he displayed. Gone was the young man who was searching for his footing in the vast world. Knowing and accepting each and every one of his flaws and strengths certainly had an effect, even if subtle.

Niduen had no other choice but to accept his explanation and she did so with no effort at all, another indication of her fine training and character. The lady was in every way capable of being the leader of Ellesmera in Islanzadi's absence. He appreciated Arya's move to leave Ellesmera under Niduen's care even in her presence in the city. It gave Arya her leisure to train and also prevented unnecessary friction between the ruling elite of the city. Niduen was a very popular figure among the elves of Ellesmera, respected as much as Arya.

Eragon waited till the elves began to disperse and then he left too, feeling satisfied with the way he and Saphira had handled the situation. He felt as if he knew a lot better about Arya and Indra now than he did an hour ago.

Authors Note:

Sorry for the late update. My laptop broke down and I had to beg my friend for his computer. Anyway, I have completed half of the next chapter too and I will update whenever I can borrow my friend's computer. Hope you liked this chapter. This was a part of my original plan, done a year ago and giving words to my thoughts was a nice experience. Please tell me what you thought in the comments section.