Erys: An Eragon Fanfiction - (Under Editing)

Chapter Fourteen

"Do you trust me now?"

Erys whipped around. Keilith leaned on a wall. He gave her a smile, though it held no warmth.

"Where-?"

"I saw you following me. When you took off on your own I followed you."

"You've...you've been...following me this whole time?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"You didn't trust me. Running after you wouldn't have helped."

Erys hoped the dark would hide her blush of embarrassment.

"You could've said something! I've been lost for..."

"Little less than an hour."

"Where's Eirdain?"

"How should I know? I've been following you."

"We have to find him. Before they do!"

"I assume you mean-"

"If you were following me then you heard them!  The soldiers! They army! They know! They know Eirdain isn't you! They know you're with us!"

"We'll just have to hope Eirdain gets back safely," he said. "We can't risk the surface."

"Hope? You're just going to leave him?"

"We're going to wait."

Erys' eyes narrowed. "I won't betray him!"

"We're not betraying him! We're just...taking precautions."

"Precautions? We're leaving him! He doesn't even know-"

"He knew the danger when he agreed to help you! He was always in danger. This was your plan, remember?"

"But-"

"He'll find your girl. And we'll get out."

Keilith turned away and stalked down the tunnels. Seething with anger, Erys hurried along, not wanting to become lost a second time. It didn't take long for Keilith to find the path again. When they'd returned, Eirdain already waited them.

"Where the hell have you been?" he demanded.

Erys rushed forward. "You're alive!"

"Of course I am!"

She gripped his arm and pulled him close. "Listen, you can't go back. They know it's you!"

"Doesn't matter," he grunted. He pulled away. "We have to move now. They've been torturing her. She won't last much longer."

"I thought they wouldn't kill her?" Erys asked.

"They're not killing her. They're breaking her. And tomorrow..."

Eirdain trailed off.

"Tomorrow what?"

He shook his head, unable to verbalise what horror he had learned. "We rescue her tonight."

"Tonight? We have no plan! We don't even know where she is!"

"I do," Eirdain said. "One thing the city's taught me: there's always more than one way in. We can get in and out if we're careful."

"We'll still be trapped," Erys objected.

"But they won't know where to look for us! We can still use the sewers to escape. We'll just have extra cargo."

Erys withered under the prospect. She was still too weak to be of much use. Her dragons were still too weak and too small to help regardless of their wound. But this was her plan and she'd stick to it till her dying breath.