Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Forty-Four: Radiant

"Are you sure they are dead?"

"Yes," I spoke up.

"Tell me about them, Eragon, My Lady. Would you, please?" Eragon nodded his head before he explained how they had survived the fall of the Riders and why they had chosen to keep themselves hidden thereafter. He explained about their respective disabilities, and he spent some time describing their personalities and what it had been like to study under them.

"I wish I could have met Oromis and Glaedr, but alas, it was not to be. . . . There is one thing I still do not understand, Eragon. You said you heard Galbatorix speaking to them. How could you?" Eragon looked at me with uncertainty.

"Now is the appropriate time Eragon, they need to know." Eragon nodded and began to explain our recent trip to Ellesméra.

"Well," Nasuada said. She stood and walked the length of the kitchen and then back again. "You the son of Brom, and Galbatorix leeching off the souls of dragons whose bodies have died. It's almost too much to comprehend. . . ." She rubbed her arms again. "At least we now know the true source of Galbatorix's power."

Arya stood motionless, breathless, her expression stunned. "The dragons are still alive," she whispered. She clasped her hands together in a prayer-like fashion and held them against her chest.

"They are still alive after all these years. Oh, if only we could tell the rest of my race. How they would rejoice! And how terrible their wrath would be when they heard of the enslavement of the Eldunarí! We would run straight to Urû'baen, and we would not rest until we had freed the hearts of Galbatorix's control, no matter how many of us died in the process."

"But we cannot tell them," I spoke up.

"No," Arya said in agreement. "We cannot. But I wish we could."

"Please do not take offense, but I wish that your mother, Queen Islanzadí, had seen fit to share this information with us. We could have made use of it long ago." Nasuada murmured.

"I agree," Arya responded, frowning. "On the Burning Plains, Murtagh was able to defeat the two of you"—she indicated Eragon and Saphira—"because you did not know that Galbatorix might have given him some of the Eldunarí and thus you failed to act with appropriate caution. If not for Murtagh's conscience, you would both be trapped in Galbatorix's service even now. Oromis and Glaedr, and my mother too had sound reasons for keeping the Eldunarí a secret, but their reticence was nearly our undoing. I will discuss this with my mother when next we speak."

Nasuada paced between the counter and the fireplace. "You have given me much to think about... For the first time in the history of the Varden, we know of a way to kill Galbatorix that might actually succeed. If we can separate him from these heart of hearts, he will lose the better part of his strength, and then you and our other spellcasters will be able to overpower him."

"Yes, but how can we separate him from his hearts?" Eragon asked.

Nasuada shrugged. "I could not say, but I am sure it must be possible. From now on, you will work on devising a method. Nothing else is as important. My Lady, did anything happens while you were in Urû'Baen?"

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and looked down at my hands.

"What exactly do you want to know Nasuada?"

"You had to have come across Murtagh..."

"Yes, I did come across him or more along the lines of him cornering me in the library," I said, tilting my head to the side and letting out a small huff. "I left the library as soon as I had the chance and didn't see him until later that night at that accursed ball I was forced to attend."

"You know you never did tell me exactly what happened..." Eragon muttered.

"I spent a few days in Ûru Baen." I snapped back. "Nothing special, just like the fairth."

"One that Murtagh made," Eragon argued, as I rolled my eyes Nasuada and Arya perked up.

"He made a fairth and gave it to you?" I glanced at Nasuada and nodded.

"Yes, he did. Like I have said before, our relationship is complicated. Even I don't really understand it."

"Well can I see it!?!" I sent a glare in Eragon's direction.

"You know he isn't going to let this go until bringing it out once more." I glanced at Saphira and sighed, she was right. I gave in with a grumbled and slowly opened my pack. The fairth was still wrapped in the blue silk I had received it in. I pulled the wrapped fairth from its padded place in my pack and set it down on the table.

Eragon pulled it closer to himself and unwrapped the fairth. As he pulled the fairth free from the silk, his eyes went wide, and he started gaping at the picture.

"If you're just going to gape at it again then I am putting it away, it's not like it's the first time you've seen it." I snapped, Nasuada snatched the fairth out of Eragon's hands to look at it with Arya.

"Oh my..." I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair.

"I know right, I dug my own grave," I mumbled as I sunk lower into the chair.

"I always knew there was something between the two of you," Nasuada commented. I went red and sputtered in my seat.

"Okay, changing topics." I hissed, Arya gave me a sympathetic look before turning back to Eragon.

"Eragon, may we see Glaedr's Eldunarí?" Eragon hesitated, then went outside and retrieved the pouch from Saphira's saddlebags. Careful not to touch the Eldunarí, he loosened the drawstring at the top and allowed the pouch to slide down around the golden, gemlike stone. In contrast to when we had last seen it, the glow within the heart of hearts was dim and feeble, as if Glaedr were barely conscious.

Nasuada leaned forward and stared into the swirling center of the Eldunarí, her eyes gleaming with reflected light. "And Glaedr is really inside of here?"

"He is," Saphira responded.

"Can I speak with him?"

"You could try, but I doubt he would respond. He just lost his Rider. It will take him a long time to recover from the shock, if ever. Please leave him be, Nasuada. If he wished to speak with you, he would have done so already."

"Of course. It was not my intention to disturb him in his time of grief. I shall wait to meet him until such time as he has regained his composure."

Arya moved closer to Eragon and placed her hands on either side of the Eldunarí, her fingers less than an inch away from its surface. She gazed at the stone with an expression of reverence, seemingly lost within its depths, then whispered something in the ancient language. Glaedr's consciousness flared slightly, as if in response.

"Eragon, Saphira, you have been given the most solemn responsibility: the safekeeping of another life. Whatever happens, you must protect Glaedr. With Oromis gone, we shall need his strength and wisdom more than ever before."

"Do not worry, Arya, we won't allow any misfortune to befall him," Saphira promised, Eragon put the Eldunarí back in its bag and closed the drawstrings.

"What now?" Nasuada lifted her chin.

"Now," she said, "we will march north to Belatona, and when we have captured it, we will proceed onward to Dras-Leona and seize it as well, and then to Urû'baen, where we will cast down Galbatorix or die trying. That is what we shall do now, Eragon."