A/N I'm sorry this took so long, I just have a pretty bad case of writer's block on some of my stories right now and this was one of the stories I was having trouble with. This chapter isn't as long as some of the previous ones, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
Percy's Point of view
When I reached Ágrios's side, I looked at his injuries. Thankfully none of them were too serious and I was sure that with some of his strength, and what was left of my own, I would have enough strength to heal him. I did just that before turning and walking over to Eragon. He was looking back at the battlefield which showed that the battle had finally come to an end. I could see many bodies scattered over the land. Crows and other scavenging birds had also descended to feed on the corpses of the fallen. It was a depressing sight.
As I walked over to Eragon, Ágrios followed me. Now that the battle was over Ágrios and I had also reconnected our minds. We'd kept them separated and protected during the battle to protect ourselves from attacks from enemy magicians. As we reached Eragon he said, "Saphira and I need to go, we will inform Lady Nasuada that you are an ally. We will come back when she is ready to speak to you herself, you still have some explaining to do,"
I nodded. I guessed that the woman he mentioned, Nasuada, was most likely the varden's leader. Eragon was about to start heading to the varden's camp, but it seemed he had an afterthought. Looking at Ágrios, he asked, "What's his name?"
" Ágrios," I answered before Eragon and Saphira left for the Varden's camp.
After Eragon and Saphira left, Agrios and I just talked. I asked him, "What should I tell them?"
He replied, "I believe it would be best to tell them at least the majority of the truth. If you lie and they eventually find out it may be more difficult to get them to believe you when you do tell the truth. it will be difficult enough to get them to believe the truth even without lying to them first,"
I knew he had a point but like he said even if I do tell them the truth, it wouldn't be easy to get them to believe it.
Even if I explained everything in the ancient language, I knew they might not believe me since there were still ways to avoid telling the whole truth in that language. I wasn't sure how I would convince them so I would have to just wait and see what happens when we get there. I think I'd earned Eragon's trust by helping him fight Murtagh. I knew it might take more than that to convince the rest of the Varden though.
Perhaps I could convince them by revealing my powers since they wouldn't be able to just assume it was magic because I didn't need to say anything to use them. But then again, technically magic could be done without speaking the Ancient Language, it's just a bit more dangerous that way.
When Eragon eventually returned to get us, we walked with Eragon and Saphira we didn't talk much. As we walked, we encountered other survivors of the battle who were staggering through the scorched battlefield. We saw many hollow-eyed men who looked without truly seeing, clearly traumatized by the battle. I couldn't help but think of how those men would most likely never completely recover from what they experienced. The numerous corpses scattered on the ground also made me think of how there were now many people who would be mourning for their lost loved ones. Even the king's soldiers probably had families somewhere in Alegasia, and that wasn't an easy thing for me to think about. I did my best to hide my thoughts from Eragon mainly because I really don't know him well yet, and even if he is sympathetic to me, I really didn't feel like confiding in him right now.
We eventually reached a large pavilion, Eragon swept back the flap and ducked inside, I followed behind him. Moments after we were inside, Saphira stuck her head in through a large gap that had been made for her. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for Ágrios to do the same, I supposed he would have to watch the meeting through my eyes and give me advice when I needed it. If they wanted to question him, either Saphira would have to move, or they would have to go to him.
In the tent, I saw Several People who were seated at a wooden table. At the table sat a dark-skinned woman, and beside her sat a man. Beside the man sat a woman who had long black hair, and due to her pointed ears and angled eyes, I quickly realised she was an elf. The last two people in the tent besides Eragon and me, appeared to be a dwarf and an urgal. Unlike the others, the Urgal was standing. I wasn't sure why, maybe that's just what he preferred to do.
I'd first heard of Urgals when I was still in Carvahall. I'd asked what the horns above the door to Morn's tavern came from. That's when I was told about Urgals. I had been kind of surprised when I realised the Urgals were allied with the Varden since the villagers had kind of made them sound like monsters. Seeing them fighting alongside the Varden made me wonder if maybe they weren't so bad.
As the group spotted me their expressions changed, I think they were slightly suspicious of me but some of them also looked curious. I was sure they assumed that I was the new rider that had helped Eragon during the battle, but during times of war, you can't be too cautious.
Before they could ask, Eragon introduced me. During the introduction, they were watching me warily. After he finished the introductions, they immediately started questioning me.
Nasuada was the first one to speak, "Perseus we have been informed that you traveled here on the Dragon Wing with the Villagers from Carvahall, and that they consider you a friend. How did you come to meet them?
I replied, "I met Roran when we were both in the spine. Roran went there after the Ra'zac returned, and I was traveling through the mountains toward Carvahall. When Roran decided to return to Carvahall to defend it, I offered to help him."
one of the others asked, "why did you choose to help him"?
"I knew I could help since I am a trained swordsman, and even though I didn't know them well, I couldn't just leave the villagers to be captured or killed,"
The elf woman, who Eragon said was named Arya, asked, "How did you acquire Ágrios' egg?"
Based on her question I assumed that Eragon had already told them Ágrios' name and I already knew he had told them mine. I didn't feel like admitting that I'd almost tripped over Ágrios' egg, so I just said, "I found it while we were traveling through the spine to Narda, I didn't really know what it was until he hatched,"
Arya's expression didn't really give away anything about what she was thinking. So I didn't know if she believed me or not. I wouldn't be that surprised if she didn't since my explanation probably was hard to believe. I knew at least some of Alegasia's history so I knew that there weren't supposed to be any dragon eggs left, yet I'd quite literally stumbled upon Ágrios'.
I wondered if Kilf or Hecate had something to do with that. I couldn't think of any other explanation since Galbatorix would have found the egg long ago if it had been there since the fall of the riders.
Although Arya hid her skepticism well, not all the others did, I could see most of them were skeptical. The ones who weren't obvious about what they were thinking, might have just been hiding it well like Arya. As they all continued questioning me they remained skeptical. I wasn't sure what I was going to have to do to convince them that my story, as crazy as it might have sounded, was true.
I considered my options, I could use one of my powers but they might just think that I was using magic, but then again Eragon or Arya might be able to tell them otherwise. As I was considering that the guy who was apparently the king of Surda, I'd already forgotten his name, scoffed, "You expect us to believe that you come from a distant land and you are the son of a god!"
"Gods don't exist, there are no higher Powers," Arya added, seeming to agree with the king's disbelief.
The dwarf scowled after her words, but I quickly remembered that it was the dwarves who worshipped Kilf and the rest of her pantheon.
"Yes because everything I have told you is true," I stated, slightly frustrated.
it seemed like the king and Arya weren't the only ones who were still skeptical the only ones who might have been close to believing me were the dwarf and the Urgal although I wasn't sure about them either.
Nasuada asked, "would you allow Arya to search your mind so we can confirm if you are telling the truth?"
I didn't really like that idea, there were a lot of memories that I wouldn't want her to see. "I could help you hide them," Ágrios stated. Although that made the thought of having someone snooping in my head slightly more acceptable I still thought that if I hide things, that might just make Arya more suspicious of me.
I was saved from having to make that decision since All of a sudden two goddesses appeared between me and the table of leaders. "That will not be necessary," Kilf stated after she and Hecate arrived. When I stepped forward to see how everyone had reacted I could see that they were all shocked. The dwarf was now on his knees groveling at Kilf. the others were struggling to maintain their calm facades.
Not long after, Kilf told the dwarf that he could return to his seat.
I was slightly amused by everyone's reactions, but I also wanted to get this meeting over with. It seemed like I wasn't the only one, because the elf, Arya, said, " Who are you, and how were you hiding yourselves?" At first, I was confused by her question, but I quickly came to realise that she didn't believe that the goddesses had just appeared there, she thought they had been in the tent before that and had simply been hiding themselves somehow with magic.
she clearly didn't want to believe that gods existed, and I wondered if the elves didn't have a religion, or if she simply didn't believe in a higher power. Clearly Hecate and Kilf were getting tired of everyone except me and the dwarf refusing to believe in them. Nasuada looked like she might be starting to believe my story but I think she was still skeptical. Eragon Looked like he might believe me but I wasn't sure.
Hecate said, "Enough! you are all fools if you refuse Perseus's aid. What he has told you is true, I myself come from Perseus' homeland, there I am known as Hecate, the goddess of magic! Perseus was not the only demigod who was banished from our homeland, a friend of his is also here. she also arrived here on the Dragon wing and is with the villagers of carvahall right now. Her name is Reyna!" Hecate summoned Reyna and like the goddesses had minutes earlier Reyna appeared in the tent seemingly out of nowhere. clearly confused she looked around, once her eyes landed on me and Hecate I think she realised what was going on. Kindly, Kilf said, "Reyna tell them about your parentage and how you got here,"
Although I think she was kind of reluctant to do so Reyna told everyone in the tent who her mother was and that like me she had been banished here by some of our gods. I think between the two goddesses randomly appearing and summoning Reyna here, and mine and Reyna's stories all the people in the room who hadn't already believed me, certainly did now. the things the two goddesses had done could not simply be explained away by saying they were using magic because not even elves could teleport themselves or someone else. the closest thing they could do was a spell that would allow them to teleport objects, but that wouldn't teleport a person. Even they didn't have that much strength.
After they finally seemed to believe us Hecate and Kilf left, and we discussed what I could do for the varden. Just like Eragon was I would be extremely important since the varden would expect us to kill Galbatorix when the time comes, but in the meantime, I gave Nasuada and the others a rough idea of what I was capable of. I told them that I merely wished to be an ally of the varden rather than an official member.
It's not because I had anything against them it was just because I wasn't sure I would be able to tolerate taking orders from someone else. I knew that if I was ever in a fight where I felt too many people were dying my loyalty would drive me to come up with a better way to win regardless of any orders I might have already been given.
Nasuada and the others agreed since I was sure that they didn't want to have to punish a rider for insubordination. I also told them that there was still a lot I needed to learn about being a rider, and Ágrios didn't know a lot either. we both still had a lot to learn and Eragon and Saphira were assigned the task of teaching us the things we still needed to know.
Reyna, on the other hand, chose to be a part of the varden and not just an ally. As we were leaving the meeting Eragon said that he wanted to test me and Ágrios the next day to find out what we still needed to learn.
A tent was set up for me not far from Eragon's so there would be enough space that Ágrios could lie down and sleep comfortably. Now that I seemed to have the Varden's trust, or at least the trust of their leader, I would probably explore the camp more the next day, I would also try and find Roran and the villagers, and I also wanted to find out where Reyna's tent was.
I'd noticed when Eragon, Saphira, and Roran went to Eragon's tent, that's how I found out that it was his. Due to our minds being connected I also noticed that Ágrios seemed to be admiring Saphira. Although I tried to hide my thoughts from Ágrios, I was slightly amused by the realisation that Ágrios might be starting to get feelings for Saphira. If that continued I should probably talk to him about it since I knew that she might not return his feelings.
I knew all too well that relationships don't always end well, Annabeth had broken my heart, and I still hadn't completely moved on from her. I might eventually find someone new here in Alegasia, but elves were the only race who are immortal and I wasn't really interested in dating one of them. even if I was I doubted an elf would be interested in me.
Of course, I had no way of knowing what would happen to me here, all I knew was that I would do everything I could to help Roran, Eragon and the Varden. Ignoring Ágrios' thoughts about Saphira, I laid down and although the bed certainly wasn't spectacular I probably got the best sleep I'd had in a while.
The next morning I got up and started getting ready for the day ahead, knowing that it would probably be a busy one. I had a lot of things I wanted to do but it might take more than one day to do everything that I wanted to.