Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Fifty-Three: Brilliant

"They will." I murmured. "Trust me, they will."

"They will think we're defending the warriors trying to breach this section," Saphira added. "Give it time."

Elsewhere along the wall, soldiers fired arrows and javelins at the army below, felling dozens of the Varden. The deaths were unavoidable, but I regretted them all the same, the warriors' attacks were merely a distraction; they had little chance of actually surmounting the city's defenses. Meanwhile, the siege towers trundled closer, and flights of arrows leaped between their upper levels and the men on the battlements.

The shadow-Saphira looped over the city, lighting several buildings on fire. As she did, a flock of arrows shot up from archers stationed on a nearby rooftop. The apparition swerved to avoid the darts and, seemingly by accident, crashed into one of the six green elf towers scattered throughout Urû'baen.

The collision looked entirely real. The imitation Saphira roared and thrashed as she spiraled down to the streets. The buildings hid her after that, but her roars were audible for miles around, and the flame she seemed to breathe painted the sides of the houses and lit the underside of the stone shelf that hung over the city.

"I would never have been so clumsy." Saphira sniffed.

"We know." Eragon and I replied at the same time.

"Where are they?" he growled, clenching his fist. Saphira saw them first.

Like a ruby blade dropped from above, Thorn plunged out of an opening hidden within the overhang. He fell straight down for several hundred feet, then unfolded his wings just enough to slow himself to a safe speed before landing in a square close to where the shadow-Saphira and the shadow-Eragon had fallen.

"He is very muscular," Alethea commented, her little eyes fixed on Thorn's body. I rolled my eyes and returned my attention to Thorn.

"Time for shadow Alethea to throw off Thorn." I murmured as the elves made an apparition of Alethea dive from the clouds and go after Thorn. He roared, and the two dragons were soon playing cat and mouse.

"There must be tunnels in the stone," Eragon said as more dragon fire erupted from between the buildings; then the apparition of Saphira hopped above the rooftops and, like a bird with an injured wing, fluttered a short distance before sinking to the ground again. Thorn followed with shadow Alethea and me flittering around his massive red body.

Eragon whirled around and threw himself and Elva on her saddle while I sat behind them. I cast a spell to hide the five of us, and we were soon invisible.

Saphira surged forward. She jumped off the crest of the hill and flapped hard, struggling to gain height.

It's not very comfortable, is it?" Elva said as Eragon took his shield from her.

"No, not always!" Eragon replied, raising his voice to be heard over the wind. In the back of my mind, I could feel Glaedr and Umaroth and the other Eldunarí watching as Saphira angled downward and dove toward the Varden's camp.

"Now we will have our revenge," Glaedr said. Eragon hunched low over Elva as I did the same behind them. Saphira was gaining speed fast now.

Gathered in the center of the camp, I saw Blödhgarm and his ten elven spellcasters, as well as Arya—who carried the Dauthdaert. They each had a thirty-foot long piece of rope tied around their chests, under their arms. At the other end, all the ropes were bound to a log. This is going to be interesting.

When Saphira swooped toward the camp, Eragon signaled them with his mind, and two of the elves threw the log into the air. Saphira caught it with her talons, the elves jumped, and a moment later, I felt a jolt and Saphira dipped as she took up their weight. The elves cast a spell of invisibility as we had.

Saphira climbed a thousand feet above the ground, high enough that she and the elves below could quickly clear the walls and buildings of the city. To our left, Eragon and I glimpsed first Thorn and then the shadow-Saphira and Alethea as they chased each other on foot through the northern part of the city.

The elves controlling the apparitions were trying to keep Thorn and Murtagh so busy physically that neither of them would have the opportunity to attack with their minds. If they did, or if they caught the apparitions, they would quickly realize they had been fooled.

"Just a few more minutes," Eragon muttered.

Over the fields flew Saphira. Over the catapults with their devoted attendants. Over banks of archers with their arrows stuck in the ground in front of them, like tufts of white-topped reeds. Over a siege tower, and over the warriors on foot: men, dwarves, and Urgals hiding beneath their shields as they rushed ladders toward the curtain wall, and among them elves: tall and slender, with their bright helms and their long-bladed spears and narrow-bladed swords.

Then Saphira soared past the wall itself. We became visible, damn it. I bit off a curse and ended the spell that had concealed them. My father's wards, it seemed, would not allow us to enter the city unseen.

Saphira hastened her flight toward the citadel's massive gate. Below us, we heard shouts of fear and astonishment, but we paid them no heed. Murtagh and Thorn were the ones we were worried about, not the soldiers.

Bringing in her wings, Saphira dove toward the gate. Just when it looked as if she was going to slam into it, she turned and reared upright while flaring her wings to slow herself. When she had reached a near stop, she allowed herself to drift downward until the elves were safely on the ground. Phase one complete.