Lover of the Legacy: A Hidden Desire

Chapter 11

Satine held on to Murtagh to keep from falling off the dragon, which was named Thorn. The altitude scared her to death, so she did her best not to look down, and when she did, she took deep breaths to try to calm herself down. Her screaming annoyed Murtagh, but he did nothing to shut her up. He was wearing a helmet and had his sword drawn read to face his opponent: Eragon.

Eragon noticed the red dragon before he heard its deafening roar. He mounted Saphira, already exhausted after defeating many of the kings spell casters trying to locate Satine. After she was captured, his main focus has been to locate her. It took him some time before he could see another figure on the dragon. As soon as he noticed that it was Satine, he told Saphira to fly faster.

The two dragons, red and blue, finally met, their rider's analyzing one another. "Eragon!" Satine screamed. She was happy and nervous at the same time. Before she could speak again, Thorn arched his neck and belched his red-hot fire at Eragon and Saphira. The flames did not harm either one as the blue dragon dodged out of the way, and dived up towards Thorn's soft stomach.

Thorn growled in pain upon the sudden impact sending him spiraling. Saphira chased after him and almost managed to bite his tail, but was hit with an explosion. Eragon would have used magic to deflect Murtagh's spell, but was worried that he might hit Satine. He hated to be so vulnerable, but he could not think of anything that he could do. The new Rider was already stronger than him, which left him utterly confused.

The two dragons wrestled in the air for the upper hand for several minutes. A few times, Eragon reached out towards Satine, but was never able to grab her hand. Suddenly, Thorn flipped backwards sending his rider's upside down. Murtagh was completing a spell with one hand while his other hand was on his sword, so no support was given to Satine except her feeble attempt to hold on. She tried to catch the saddle, but her hand slipped and she fell off.

Eragon watched in horror as Satine's body flew through the air. Saphira immediately dived after the her, racing against Thorn. Eragon barely caught her by the hand before the other Rider swooped in. His arm raged in pain after catching her in midair and was pretty sure that he pulled a muscle, but he did not care; he was only glad that he caught her before she hit the ground below.

Satine looked up at him as she dangled there waiting for him to pull her up. He did, slowly, and as soon as she was safe in his arms, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. "For the second time today, I thought I was going to die." She whispered frantically into his ear.

"We need to get you onto the ground before I can battle the other Rider." He said, trying to think how to do that as safely as possible.

"He doesn't want to kill you, Eragon, he wants to take you to the King."

The red dragon roared to gain their attention. Eragon glared his rival with disgust. "Sit behind me and hang on tight." Satine nodded weakly and maneuvered around him. When she was sitting as snug as she could behind him, she placed her arms around his stomach and squeezed. "Ready?" He cocked his head to look back her her. Again, she nodded. Saphira took off, Satine's stomach became queasy once more. Eragon led Saphira around the other dragon, and as he did so, he looked for any place suitable to land.

"There!" Eragon pointed to a large plateau. "Land right there!" Acknowledging his command, Saphira began to dive towards the rock. A blast of energy from behind singed her tail. The blue dragon yelped in pain and she tilted to the side to avoid another blast. Satine nuzzled closer to Eragon, shrieking in fear every time something hit them. Her only comfort was that she was with Eragon.

Finally, Saphira was able to land. With a skid, she halted to a stop. Eragon quickly jumped off Saphira and raised his arms to catch Satine when she jumped. Murtagh and Thorn landed soon after Satine was on solid ground. He dismounted and strode towards them. Eragon pushed Satine behind him, and drew his sword ready to defend her.

Murtagh laughed and took off his helmet. "You look ridiculous, Eragon."

Eragon's face paled as he witnessed his old friend before him. "No…you're dead. We found scraps of your clothing covered in blood in Farthen Dur!"

Murtagh finished laughing before he replied. "The King took pity on me and took me under his wing once Thorn hatched for me. He managed to learn my True name, so now I am forced to do his bidding. I am here to take you, your dragon, and Satine to the King. By my honor as a Rider, I will not kill either one of you…" He paused for a second, then hastily added, "At least, not today."

"Traitor! I trusted you; we all did!" Eragon felt sick at the thought of having Murtagh as his enemy. He held up the shimmering red blade in front of him, but was unwilling to use it.

Murtagh stared at the sword for a moment, then shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I never wanted this, but there is nothing I can do about it now."

"Yes there is, you can let us go."

"That is impossible, and you know that. I know the elves taught you just how powerful your True name is, and if revealed to another, that person can have complete control over you. Do you deny that fact?"

"No, but there are always loopholes. Just like with the ancient language, you can maneuver around until you still fulfill your quest without actually doing so." In his mind, his statement made complete sense, but verbalizing it sounded confusing, and he hoped Murtagh grasped what he was trying to say.

"I know what you mean, but that is much more difficult than you might think." Murtagh raised his sword. "You will have to fight me. If you win, you are free to go, otherwise, I have to kidnap the three of you."

Saphira scoffed. And how do you think you can accomplish that? Murtagh smirked, and pointed at Satine. Anger arose within the mighty dragon. Look where your stupid affair has led us! If he captures Satine again, you are going to go after him to get her back, leading us straight to the King!

This is no time to debate the matter. I am not going to let him take Satine!

Then you have doomed us all.

Saphira's lack of confidence pained him, but he had to push his feelings to the side to focus on Murtagh. "If you want her, you have to get through me first!" He swung his sword and their blades collided.