Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Forty-Seven: Brilliant

Arya dispatched the man with a slash from behind, nearly cutting him in half as she made her way towards us. We stood in a circle with our back to each other.

"What now?" Eragon shouted, parrying a spear jabbed at his thigh as I swiped away an incoming arrow.

"Magic!" Arya replied. Another gust of wind ruffled my hair, and a cool shadow swept over us as Saphira circled above, dissipating her excess speed. She flared her wings and started to drop toward the battlements of the wall.

"Take out the towers!" I shouted to Alethea as I shoved Islinger back in its scabbard. Overhead Saphira tried to land.

Before she could land, Thorn caught up with her. The red dragon dove, breathing a jet of flame over a hundred feet long. Saphira roared with frustration and veered away from the wall as she flapped quickly to gain altitude.

Quick as a dormouse, Alethea darted in between the two and snapped her maw at Thorn's neck. Thorn snarled at her as she fluttered around him, nipping at any open space.

"Those men are under my protection, Brother!" Eragon and I looked up and saw Thorn plummeting toward the square. The red dragon's sudden change in direction had caught Alethea unaware. She darted after him before opening her wings and gliding above Thorn's body.

"They know," Eragon said mind linking.

"It lasted longer than we thought Eragon, don't let this new development faze you. We knew this would happen." I replied as I watched Thorn slow his descent.

"We have to leave!" Arya shouted.

"I'll take to the air, clear the path!" I shouted at the two before I began to climb up the nearest building. I got to the roof and saw the space filled with debris. My eyes went to that of Murtagh's, no doubt is curiosity burning through his veins. Just who was it underneath my cloak and scarf?

Raising my hand, I focused on the debris blocking the gates.

"Jierda!" I commanded. My Rider's mark and the large dragon wrapped around my arm lit up bright blue as the massive pile of rubble blocking the gates erupted toward the sky in a solid pillar of earth and stone. Sorry, Thorn.

The rubble struck Thorn in the side, shredding his wing and knocking the screeching dragon beyond the outskirts of Dras-Leona. Thorn should be okay, I think. Below me, Eragon took care of the rest of the rubble, opening the gates to the city-wide.

"I'll distract Thorn while the Varden gets into the city!" I told Eragon before I leaped from the building. Alethea dove underneath me, plucking me from the air before flapping her wings to regain altitude.

We flew to where Thorn had been tossed. Alethea landed on a wall, gripping it with her talons as we looked around for the red dragon and his Rider. Thorn hurtled back into the air with a snarl, hovering in front of Alethea and me.

"Time to lead them on a merry chase!" Alethea hummed in agreement before launching herself into the air and shooting upwards to the clouds. Thorn was quick on our tails. Gripping the saddle I had put on Alethea, I turned my head back to look at Thorn and Murtagh as they chased us.

"Alright, Lee," I said. "Let's give these boys something worthy of chasing."

With extreme precision, Alethea pulled her body backward and did a midair twist, completely reversing our direction. We sailed over Thorn before Alethea spun into a nosedive. Thorn let out a roar before moving his massive body to follow my laughter.