Curse of the Phoenix

Ch.59 -The Hunt

Eragon~

We woke at dawn. It was time. Nobody spoke, not at all. The sun was a vicious orange color, it's rays hazy from smoke. The smoke seemed to come from somewhere near the Fallen City, as far as we could tell. I washed out the dishes, while Luke put out the campfire.

Eragon?

Yes Saphira?

Are you ready to do this?

I'll never be ready to kill.

After that we took the saddles off of the dragons. We wouldn't be riding them anyway, and the saddles only slowed them down. They would need whatever maneuverability they had in the air. After all, we had to kill six dragon riders while holding off dragons of the same number.

And then we were ready. Luke had his back to everyone, and he was sitting on the ground. Arya was speaking with Murtagh quietly. Angela was checking for something in her pockets, before pulling out the six amulets.

"Here we go. Everyone, come pick an amulet. We'll have one left if all of us takes one."

"I'll take the gold." Murtagh said.

"Dru." Angela replied, before tossing the necklace to Murtagh.

"Copper." Luke said quietly.

"Mikael." Angela handed him the amulet. There were four left. Each of the metals a silvery color, whether they be metallic or not.

"These four metals you have probably never even seen. Platinum, Rhodium, Osmium and Iridium. Go ahead and pick one."

"I'll take Platinum." Arya said.

"Platinum is Alice." Angela said, before handing her the necklace. And so the last amulet fell to me. Well, Angela would have two then.

"How about....Osmium?"

"Osmium is Iara's amulet. I have Luna and Marumen. Solembum, which would you take?" My heart dropped as I heard that I would have Iara. I....I didn't even know if I could do this.

Give me Marumen.

Angela handed me Iara's amulet, and then Marumen's to Solembum.

"Alright...it seems we're ready. Lets go."

~~

Heading into the forest we made as little noise as possible. The dragons flew overhead, watching out for anything that moved, be it a dragon or a human.

We found ourselves in the city, and we saw nothing. No one. We didn't even hear the phoenix. Either he was farther in the city or high above the clouds, there were no other options.

Eragon, Thorn spotted one of them near the western edge of the city. Grey fur.

It's Dru then, isn't it?

It is...wait....there's another, east. Black.

Marumen maybe?

No...one of the girls.

I'll tell everyone else. Watch for their dragons.

"Everyone...Dru is on the western edge of the city, and one of the girls is to the east. I think they may be trying to box us in." Luke went pale as soon as I began. "Luke, are you alright?" Arya asked. He shook his head yes and then looked at the ground, his thick hair covering his eyes.

"Yeah...I'm fine..just a little...nervous.."

"Everything is going to be fine." Murtagh said. Luke just nodded and looked west, towards where Dru was. No doubt worrying.

Of course...there was the small bit of my mind that told me something had to go wrong, something always went wrong. Yet we kept going. Even as another werecat was sighted to the north. One of the girls. Going by fur color, it was probably Luna. Angela, Luke, and Arya all had to kill. And they had to kill soon.

Luke~

I couldn't do this. I couldn't do it. I had the amulet, yes, and i had my sword, yes, but i felt like I could barely walk. I was covered in a sweat and my stomach turned itself in knots. I felt like i could barely even hold my sword. But somehow it didn't show on my face. I think i looked pale, but other than that I looked fine. I wish i felt like that. Every step I took i was listening for the roars and snarls Dru was capable of.

We were still near the edge of the city, yet we had been walking all day. And then they came. Dru from the west, Alice from the north and Luna from the east. They weren't...normal.

Their fur was longer, every hot breeze made it sway. Their eyes were the next thing I noticed. Their pupils, usually round like when they were in human form, well, instead they were slitted, like a dragons. Dru opened his mouth in a twisted snarl, the sound didn't even sound normal. Whatever was still in their heads was twisting them. Then Luna and Alice approaches us. I was back to back with Eragon. Everyone had been forced into a small group.

"Luke....he's right there...i'll have your back, just get it over with." Eragon muttered.

"Alright...don't let me die a fourth time, ok?"

"Yeah yeah..." I raised my sword and focused on Dru. He immediately looked at me and stared straight into my eyes. A mistake on my part. I was paralyzed, helpless as a rabbit. He began to slowly walk towards me. Then i snapped out of it, and began to run towards him. Even as he was running towards me. But once I began to move, Alice and Luna did too.

"Luke no wait!" Arya yelled. But i didn't hear her over the sound of my own blood rushing through my ears, over the sight of a giant grey predator running towards me faster than even the fleetest elf was capable of going. I stuck my sword out even as Dru leaped at me.

His claws skimmed the edge of my shoulders as my sword went through him. The hilt stopped as it collided with his chest. His paws flailed around, but i was too close to him so he couldn't reach me. I yelled, alone, I couldn't support both of our weights combined. We fell to the ground, he on top of me. I felt the warmth as his blood ran down and onto my chest, soaking my shirt.

He shifted back as i pulled my sword out. I was covered in his blood, and his shirt was torn. His eyes held pain. I held up his amulet, and he took it from my hand. How did i have his amulet, you ask? Didn't Murtagh receive Dru's amulet?

Murtagh and I had traded. He couldn't kill Dru.

Dru rolled off of me, and I got to my feet. He was covered in the familiar red light, and then he was ok. He stood up, panting, and clapped me on the back.

"Thanks bro." He said.

"Ah, no problem."

"Whatever you did got that stupid bird out of my head..I ca't even remember anything.."

"I didn't either, just come on. We have three left." Alice and Luna had already been forced back, for each of them a gem gone. Alice was leaning against a tree, looking into the sky while Luna leaned over into a fountain and threw up. I didn't know how they died, and I didn't want to.

Dru and I walked back over to everyone else, I with an arm over his shoulder.

"Well then...four down three to go?" Alice asked.

"That's the idea." I replied.