Curse of the Phoenix

Ch.61 -The Choice

Iara~

As soon as my feet hit the ground I began to run. Marumen was right. The elder Riders were killing us off in order to get to the phoenix. It was terrifying. If Thorn had managed to follow us that easily, how would I know if a dragon was above me at this very moment?

So I kept running, even though my lungs burned because of the smoke, even though it felt like my legs were about to tear in half. I kept going because I felt like I had to. It wasn't even midday when I made it to the darker part of the forest.

The trees here were ancient, maybe even from before Thuviel's Sacrifice. After all, he did so in the middle of the city, not in the middle of the forest.

Most of the sun was blocked out by all the branches, making everything dim and dark. Eragon warned me to stay away from places on the island like this. The way I saw it, it was either death or an ancient forest. You could guess what was safer.

The only strange thing about the forest here was the silence. There were no birds...no crickets, not even a breeze to shake the leaves. Everything was completely silent. I was silent as I walked, trying not to make a sound.

The shadow birds were silent as they watched me, their yellow eyes following my every move. And I was silent as I walked into another small clearing. I saw nothing here, and I didn't trust the water. Eragon had explained that when he got here, he and Saphira had used a lot of energy cleaning up as much of the island as they could.

But I guess they didn't get to this part, the air here felt different. More sinister. Eragon had never taught me the spell...he assumed I would always listen and stay to the clean areas of the island. He shouldn't have assumed.

For the moment I couldn't eat or drink anything. If I wanted to I would have to go back to the clean area. I sighed and hugged my sides. Even the air here was toxic, I was braving death coming here.

Well, I was always braving death. This area would probably bring it sooner than any rider's blade. It was die here, without the amulet, and probably never be found, or, die at the hands of one of my mentors and probably come back. Thinking about it...wasn't I running out of spite? Or out of fear?

I turned around and looked back towards where I had come from. Eragon assumed I would hide somewhere safe. In doing the exact opposite I was guaranteeing my safety from him and the other elders, but throwing my life away, taking the poison inside with every shallow breath.

I could stay here or leave. I would die either way...the choice was clear. So..I turned around and began to run. I knew where I was going. I would be a pawn, but he needed me to do this. I was his only hope. I ran. Not to them...the riders..I ran to the phoenix.

If I died it would by fire or steel.

If I died I would return.