Before The Fall {An Eragon Fanfiction}

Chapter 33- Through Another's Eyes

'Talia, are you ready?' Oromis said within my mind.

'Yes, Master. Niro is safe and Vascar and I are prepared for anything the Ra'zac could throw at us,' I replied, glancing backwards at the young boy sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of Vascar. At my glance, he tilted his head in confusion and opened his mouth to ask a question, but Vascar rumbled softly to silence him.

'Good. Hopefully, there will not be a chance for you to use any of your preparations, but it's best to be ready just in case,' Oromis replied, and through my mental link with Atala and Galbatorix, I could sense that they also agreed with what he said.

'Yes, it is smart to be prepared.' I said simply, too anxious to carry an intellectual or interesting conversation. All I wanted was to get this over with, and quickly, for the longer they took, the longer I would have to worry about someone getting hurt.

Oromis did not say anything for a stretch of time, but I could sense that he and the other riders were finally landing at their destination, which appeared to be a large, black cathedral. Though I was looking through another's eyes, I could physically feel the eerie aura radiating from the barbed-looking cathedral that towered over the city. Its looming structure bathed the town in its shadow which only seemed to increase my sense of trepidation upon looking at the structure.

"Talia?" Niro said, momentarily drawing my attention away from the other riders. Blinking several times, I focused on my own surroundings once more and directed my gaze to the boy sitting on the ground, watching me intently with wide eyes.

"Yes Niro?" I responded, walking towards him and my dragon.

"What is it, exactly, you are protecting me from?"

I hesitated, not wanting to reveal to Niro the horrors that may have been lurking just outside the building. He was still so young and full of life, I refused to willing put that kind of burden on his shoulders.

"Nothing you need to worry about," I said, sliding down to sit next to the boy, my back pressed against Vascar's warm side.

"But what if it tries to attack me? I should know what I'm up against so I can defeat it," he said confidently. His eyes gleamed with a fiery passion that reminded me of a warrior's before they realized the horrors of war.

"Niro," I replied quietly, turning my head to look him in the eyes, "trust me when I say 'you do not want to know.' These creatures are monsters."

His brown eyes glinted with fear at my words. Feeling guilty, I quickly amended my actions, trying to reassure him with things I myself didn't believe. "Everything will be alright," I told him, along with "I'm sure nothing will go wrong."

He nodded along to each of my statements, all the while running a single finger across his egg, tracing the silvery veins that webbed their way across its surface. Finally, I ran out of reassuring things to say and turned my attention to what each of the riders wer seeing. It was strange, watching the world through their eyes, but it was effective.

The five of them had split up, Brom with Galbatorix, Morzan with Atala, and Oromis on his own. From what I could tell, they were scouting rooms in the cathedral, carefully searching for what I presumed to be evidence of the Ra'zac and their whereabouts. They hadn't found anything yet, but, through Galbatorix's eyes, I watched him and Brom open a cupboard to reveal something of extreme importance. At the sight of the contents in the closet, I had to take a moment to settle my stomach and push down the bile that had rose up my throat.

'Ebrithl,' Brom called to Oromis, 'come quickly.'

Oromis did not respond, but I sensed him dash from the room he was searching and run as fast as he could towards Brom and Galbatorix. With his elven speed, he reached the secluded room in less than a minute without even a hitch to his breath.