Age of the Dragon 1: Return of the Riders

Chapter 9

After eating, Fallyn slipped away to wash away the filth further down the stream, out of sight of the camp.

She was returning to the camp when she heard a series of curses and the sound of brawling. She arrived as Saphira pinned both boys to the ground with a mighty roar. Fallyn sat quietly down, watching the dragon's head snake between the two, before staring Murtagh down.

"Well, is she going to get off us?" Murtagh snapped, avoiding eye contact with Eragon.

"No, not unless we talk..." Eragon sounded embarrassed. "She wants me to ask you what's really the problem."

"I don't want to go to the Varden," he muttered so softly, only Fallyn was able to hear it.

Saphira growled, her tail lashing through the air.

"I told you before: I don't want to go to the Varden," he snapped louder.

"Don't want to... or can't?" Eragon frowned.

Fallyn sighed. "That's what this is about?"

Murtagh struggled under Saphira's foot, giving up with a curse.

"Don't want to! They'll expect things from me that I can't deliver," he growled.

"Did you steal something from them?" Eragon tried.

"I wish it were that simple," Murtagh grumbled.

Fallyn restrained herself from speaking, choosing to see if Murtagh would share his secret of his own volition.

"Well, what is it, then?" Eragon rolled his eyes. "Did you kill someone important or bed the wrong woman?"

"No, I was born," Murtagh said cryptically, his eyes flickering to Fallyn.

She felt only momentarily guilty, for her immediate hostility towards him because of his blood.

Saphira chose this moment to let them up, and they quickly got up and dusted themselves off, neither boy looking at the other for a moment.

"You're avoiding the question," Eragon pointed out, dabbing his split lip.

"So what?!" Murtagh snapped, stomping to the edge of the camp. His eyes fell on Fallyn again, who was watching him with calm eyes, then danced away. For a moment, she thought she saw shame in his eyes, and it reaffirmed to her that he really felt no love for his father or the Tyrant King.

"Eragon," Fallyn said calmly. "Is this really something that needs to be pushed?"

"I need to get to the Varden," he said firmly. "I need to get there before Arya dies."

She raised a questioning brow. Eragon quickly explained the poison, and Fallyn stood and grabbed herbs from Clathus's saddlebags.

"She said the cure is only with -"

"I can't cure her, but I can buy us time," she said calmly. "The two of you need to decide amongst yourselves what will be happening.

While they talked, she quickly mixed herbs used for a slightly different antidote for the poison of similar effect. Once done, she carefully administered it to Arya.

"You see, my father-"

Murtagh was cut off by a sharp hiss from Saphira. Following the dragon's gaze, they spotted a column of marching figures marching east.

"It's the Empire!" Eragon cried. "They've found us... somehow."

Fallyn's eyes narrowed. "Something isn't right," she mused.

"Those are Urgals, not men," Murtagh said, pointing out the standard as being one that belonged to a particular Urgal chief.

Fallyn moved to pack up the camp. They weren't here for Eragon, but there was nothing out here for the Empire to be interested in.

Except for the Varden.

"There's a traitor in the midst," she swung up onto Clathus's saddle.

Then with a flurry of activity, the three horses took off at a brisk trot, while Saphira took to the air. As the night deepened, the Urgals faded into the background.