Redemption

Aftermath

A/N
Hi guys, thank you for sticking with this fic! I know that in IF Xaden turns venin and it's a major turning point in the Empyrean series, but in Redemption I thought it would be better if Aifos actually saved him.
Let me know what you think of this!

Ronny's Pov
The first thing I felt was Aifos' mind overwhelming the sky and everyone in it but me, only because we were the same being.
And then, pain.
Everywhere.
It was so intense and so sudden it stunned me, and my wingbeats faltered up to the point I went careening against a wyvern, and didn't feel its talons deep in my armour.
I could distantly hear a roar, perhaps Tairn's.
It took me a couple of seconds to understand that this pain wasn't mine, but rather it came from Aifos' side of the bond.
My muzzle twisted in rage.
Without a second's notice, I spun around, and sank my claws behind the wyvern's horns and at the start of its neck. With a heave and a pull and a guttural scream, I curled my talons and cleaved the head neatly off the neck. Black blood splattered all over my armour.
At the periphery of my sight, I spotted a flash of navy blue.
I chucked the head at the wyvern closest to Sgaeyl, and it wasn't fast enough to duck in time. It was still finding its balance when I hurled myself on its back, and my claws reached out to rip out its chest and snatch its core, its equivalent of Heart of Hearts, and it would be mine to command, mine to break, mine, mine!
Black streaked my vision when Tairn barrelled against another grey reptile with its throat glowing cherry-red.
-They are mine!- I screamed, pushing away the grey corpse and breathing fire to another, -All mine!-
-The Alagaesyan is your priority right now!- Tairn swung his snout and held my eyes with his own, -Go. Go!-
My thoughts drifted to Aifos, and my anger shifted to desperation, and fear.
I dove down so fast that the sky was nothing but a grey blur; I announced myself with a roar and a copper firetongue which sizzled around my neck much like a flaming mane, and splayed my wings to hover on the battleground.
My Aifos was laying on the ground, and looked so small and fragile I remembered that afternoon of many years ago, when Eragon had rushed up to their paralysed body and I abandoned them for too long a week.
And when I guiltily sought them out, I swore in the Ancient Language I'd never leave their side.
And no oath pronounced in said language was to be broken.
My heartbeat thrummed in my temples and my eyes dragged away from Aifos to a laughing Sage, "See? Your precious rider's going to die in a matter of hours. That's the price to pay when you snatch away from me my plaything!"
-For a general, you're terribly short-sighted.-
My mind sharpened into claws, and my voice thundered his Name of Names, which had been so easy to find it was almost pitiful.
The Sage screamed and thrashed, but I ordered him to stay still, and it was my time to gloat at how much his obedience was unwilling.
Then, the air shifted, and we looked up to see all of the wyverns falling, their energy suddenly sucked away and leaving behind grey dull scales.
-The wards are raised,- said Tairn, but his voice was subdued, almost shaking with tiredness.
I looked at the Sage again, and had him following the lines of his prominent webs with his dagger, his eyes void of any emotion.
As he choked in his blood, I gently cradled Aifos with my claw, then turned around and flew to Basgiath. Tairn followed me to the tents of the healers, and many of them shuffled away upon my landing.
The bravest were slowly approaching me with a cartwheel over which hoist Aifos, when a cry rattled my skull and claws slashed my armour.
-You promised you'd keep them safe! You fucking promised me!-
Chex attacked me again, and I didn't move.
The golden of his eyes was ablaze with fury and disappointment, and for a moment I thought he was about to fire me up.
The healers hesitated, and Chex saw them and swung his tail at them, -None comes near my mate! None!-
-They're healers, Chex, it's their/-
-You don't get to say a single word, Ronny!- He shoved me so hard I stumbled back, and had to flare my wings open so as not to fall, -You promised me, and you failed me! You don't get to be near them, ever again! Not you, not anybody, not anymore!-
Tairn took a step forward, forcefully keeping Chex away from me and the healers, who after a moment of hesitation scurried to Aifos and hastily brought them to the nearest tent.
-It's his fault! Just like it's Marbh's that Naolin died to/-
Tairn's roar rattled everyone's skull, and his morningstartail lashed dangerously.
Chex roared straight back, but staggered back when Tairn's teeth closed an inch away from his neck.
-Easy, Tairn,- I said, -He has every right to be angry. I failed him.-
-You didn't. It's a war, and you did what you could.-
Old whispers hissed in the corner of my mind, and my mind immediately opened up to smooth them out; it reached the corners of the battlefield and felt minds of greed and power and with a single aim: to kill as many as possible, and retrieve the youngest Sorrengail.
I sank my talons in the mud.
I might've failed those whom my heart held dearest, but I'd never failed in slaughtering my enemies.
Today would not be the first day.
With a powerful sweep of my wings, I propelled myself upward and veered to Basgiath.
Then, I clung to its stones, and my muscles ached under the strain of delving them. Unfortunately, they didn't budge, and with an annoyed holler I pushed myself away and in front of the main entrance.
The three Sorrengail siblings staggered out of the Academy, all pale and sorrowful, and I swept my forelegs past them and with a roar spewed fire through the door.
Simultaneously, my mind hurtled in the other rooms, seeking and probing and clawing, until it held control of so many dark wielder's screams the voices all merged as one.
Just like the Eldunaris back in Uru'Baen.
A dull throbbing in my temples told me a headache would soon come in if I didn't silence all those pleas and cries at once.
-Waise Neiat.-
Be not.
And indeed, they ceased existing, as if they'd never existed at all, as if it couldn't have been any easier killing them.
I turned around, and lifted myself off the ground, though somehow tiredly. As I flew, however, I came to the terrible realisation I didn't know where to go.
Chex was most probably watching over Aifos, who was still unconscious, and made it clear he didn't want to have anything to do with me for the time being; should I reach Tairn, or look for somewhere to be on my own?
But apparently, Andarna decided it for me, by appearing by my side with her usual black scales, -Follow me, Ronny.-
I did, and we landed next to the ridgeline where Tairn and Sgaeyl were waiting for us.
Andarna stepped next to her Rider, her trembling wing tucked in tightly.
"You two need to catch up. Right now," said Sorrengail to both of her dragons.
Tairn focused his attention on his eldest ward, and Sorrengail walked towards Sgaeyl, who was guarding over Riorson.
She couched down, "What happened?"
Riorson hesitated, then abruptly turned towards her and yanked her in a hug.
Tairn widened his eyes, and Sgaeyl stiffened. Andarna bared her teeth, while Tairn sharply addressed me, -For how long have you known?-
I didn't bother pretending I didn't understand his question.
-A couple of weeks. Chex told us when the failed wards got raised in Aretia.-
Sgaeyl growled and snapped her fangs, but didn't move away from Riorson.
Tairn tilted his head down and narrowed his eyes, but Andarna bristled before stomping away from us.
Tairn shifted, ready to run after her, but I stopped him, -It's been a long day.-
-They've been hiding the truth for far too long! They need to be aware of the mistake of their ways.-
-I know. They'll understand, both of them. But right now, Andarna is tired, and Chex...-
We all fell quiet.
Riorson stepped away from his hug with Sorrengail, and timidly looked at me. His face was pale, and his cheeks were streaked with tears.
"How... How are they?"
-The Sage poisoned them. We don't know when they'll wake up.-
"It should've been me."
-How so?-
Sgaeyl's voice was tight, -When he was at the mercy of the Sage, he would've turned, hadn't it been for the Alagaesyan.-
My claws sank, and I closed my eyes with a long sigh.
-They didn't do it for you.-
"I don't care who they did it for. They're my friend, why must all my friends die?"
Such a childish question; it was like a hatchling asking their mother why the sun had to go down, saying that they missed it whenever the moon would come up.
-Because this is a time of war.-
"No! No, you don't understand! I've already lost my best friend, I don't want to lose another!"
-Your want is meaningless. Do you think I don't share your pain? They may be your friend, Riorson, but they're my partner of heart and mind.-
Sgaeyl rumbled when I took a step forward, but I ignored her.
-You may be one of the strongest Rider of your generation, but it doesn't change the fact that you're just a boy, and I am a dragon of a hundred and eighteen. I've fought countless of battles, and my Rider That Was Not Meant To Be has never been in the brink of dying. Not even once. But now, now that I'm fond of my Rider, they may be taken away from me at a wingbeat's notice! So, no, you don't get to mourn as I do. You don't!-
"But I do! I've had my share of fights! I have lost everyone, Ronny, everyone! Right in front of my eyes! And when Liam died, when Violet got poisoned, I promised, I swore I wouldn't let my friends, and the woman I love, die again! That I'd die in their place, if that were the case."
He tugged at the collar of his tunic, and showed me a single, tiny scar right across his heart.
I laughed.
It was a bitter sound, and my head jerked and smoke twisted into tiny spirals from my nostrils.
-An oath! An oath. Oh, how foolish we all have been.-
Then, I retreated, splayed my wings and took off.
I flew past Basgiath, and the flight field, and went into the Vale, flinging myself in the first cave I saw.
My claws skidded on the stone floor, and the cave was barely large enough for myself; my spikes brushed the low ceilings. As I lowered my wings, a sudden tiredness swept over me, so I promptly laid down and curled around myself. But, despite the ache through my body and the now unbearable weight of my armour, my mind was painfully alert, and kept threading its way to Aifos (whose mind was as still as death) and, therefore, to Chex (who was where I'd left him, with thoughts full of fear and resentment to the whole world). The golden dragon's words started circling in my mind, fast and harsh, until I couldn't
breathe.
I could see Aifos' pale face, their skin contrasting with the whiteness of their room back in Vaeta, how the stillness of their body spoke of death, and the red lines across both of their wrists and their throat spoke of self-loathing.
They'd been fourteen, and it wasn't me calling for help; Elsie and Tina did, flying as fast as they could and desperately calling for Eragon and Saphira.
I was already far away when Eragon managed to wake Aifos up; but Tina told me that the first thing they'd said was that they were a bastard and a freak.
All that I felt was anger and resentment, instead of the guilt and worry that were eating the pairs of the white dragon and the one-eyed girl and of the two Ebrithils.
Perhaps Chex was right.
Perhaps I should just... Leave Aifos, set them free. As long as they were alive, so would I, and they'd still have Chex's bond to live for.
He would take care of them like I couldn't, he would remained steadfast in his love for them. He would be the rock they'd always needed and that I could've never been.
Gushes of wind rushed in the cave.
-I know you aren't sleeping, Ronny.-
-Fuck off.-
-I want to talk to you.-
-I don't.-
Tairn sighed, -You've been streaming your rather senseless thoughts all over the place, and I could do nothing but pick them up.-
-You can ignore them.-
-I can, but I mustn't.-
-Leave me the fuck alone.-
-It never occured me to think of you as a coward before.-
-You were mistaken, then.-
-My judgment never lapses. The others', perhaps, but not mine.-
I let out a slow sigh, -So self-assured.-
-It's life.-
After a while, since I didn't hear any wingbeats, I asked, -Still here?-
-Yes. I'm patient.-
-There's no way for me to convince you to simply leave me be, is there?-
-You're correct.-
With a chuff and a grumble, I got up on my feet and glanced outside. Tairn was difficult to miss, and he swivelled his head and met my eyes. He was laying on the meadow right below my cave, and I reached him with lazy circles.
The shining waters of a lake caught my eyes, and I came back to the black dragon only after I gulped buckets of its fresh water.
From my muzzle were dripping drops of water, and I licked a couple of them off my lips.
Tairn looked at the looming Academy, and I did so too, and thought about Aifos, and felt my flank cold and lonely.
I only wished to have them around, either silent or chatty, I couldn't care less.
-I lost my first rider some time ago,- murmured Tairn, slowly, -But for a dragon, six years are nothing. I can still see his eyes sometimes, or catch his laugh in the wind. Sometimes, when Silver One and I take to the sky, I remember the way he used to sit on me, the way he loved when I fell into a sharp dive without warning. He said there wasn't anything more exciting than flight, because it was enough a small mistake and we would be dead. He said he knew I'd never make us splatter on the ground.-
A couple of vultures shrieked somewhere, perhaps in the sky of the battleground.
-Naolin was his name. He was Brennan's mate, and in a desperate attempt to save his life, he burnt himself out. I was right by him, but I couldn't save him. He refused to let go, to live in a world without his mate. I... I wasn't enough. I mourned for years; I may never stop, to be honest.- He met my eyes, -Don't make my same mistake. Don't let go.-
My voice was low, -Aifos has been dancing with death for many years. A day will come when their steps will be the last.-
-Perhaps so. But that day isn't today. Not yet. They are alive. They will live today. They will wake tomorrow.-
-Your optimism borders naivety.-
-Your pessimism is too close to distrust.-
All of a sudden I couldn't hold his gaze, and my eyes dropped away just as my wings skimmed the mud.
-Am I an unworthy dragon?-
-No. We all make mistakes. We must simply recognise them as such and righten them up as much as we can. Now go,- and he nudged me with his wing.
Before taking off, though, I turned around and said, -You should be the Elder of your Den.-
Chex was deep in his slumber when I placed in front of him a deer, and after a moment of hesitation I nudged him awake.
At first, he grumbled and whined, but at my persistence he opened his eyes, and every trace of sleep vanished when he recognised me. He raised to his full height and spread his wings, -Didn't I make myself clear last time?-
His armour made him bigger, more menacing, but I knew it was weighing down on him much like mine was.
I noticed only then that his helmet was gone.
-You must be hungry. I brought you food.-
-I don't need anything from you!-
-Still. You need to eat something.-
-I'd rather die than accept anything from you.-
-What will Aifos say when they wake up, I wonder?- I pushed the deer closer to him, -Eat.-
With a warning rumble, he snatched it away from me and sank his teeth in its soft flesh. It was gone in a matter of bites.
Hoping that with a fuller stomach he might be more willing to stand my presence, I dared ask him about Aifos.
-Still unconscious.-
-Hasn't the eldest Sorrengail tried using his abilities on them yet?-
-His mother has just died, Ronny. Saving Aifos' life isn't exactly his priority right now.-
I harrumphed.
-He'd better mourn quickly and silently, then. He has work to do.-
Said mender came to check on them after two days, and I made sure he was awfully aware of my displeasure. At that moment, I wished I hadn't asked a member of Riorson's squad to free us from our armours just the day before (they were the chatty one, but thankfully they remained quiet as they worked).
He went back to them the following day, and then the other, and the other. But nothing changed. On the fourth day, his skin was pale and his fingers were trembling, and Marbh landed next to him when he got out of the tent mid-day.
-Speak, Sorrengail,- I thundered.
He slowly shook his head, "I can't heal them."
Chex growled, and I sank my talons in the ground. Marbh swished his daggered tail.
-Explain yourself.-
"Their body is fighting my signet off. It's like it shut itself out as a coping mechanism and there's no way to drive the poison away. I can't burn out over one rider when there are more than a dozen whom I can heal."
-You will not leave them! They're my mate!- shrieked Chex, and Marbh snapped his teeth.
I looked at the far-off horizon, and thought about the pristine waves which would tumble on the coast whether Aifos lived or not.
-I know where to go,- I said, -But it's far, far away.-
Chex swung his narrowed eyes at me, but I went on, -Eragon and the Elves might know better.-
-How can you be so sure?-
-This question of yours matters not. As long as Aifos has a chance of waking up, I'm willing to risk everything. Are you not?-
He pulled back his wings, -Of course I am! But I'll be the one who's flying them.-
-So be it. Tomorrow, we fly.-
He nodded, and the sun kissed his golden scales. With determination brightening up his eyes, he truly was beautiful, and it was no wonder that Aifos had fallen for him.
-Tomorrow.-

A/N
Tairn and Ronny new besties?