Eragon:Rising Darkness

Chapter 4:A Timely Arrival

Roran, Albriech, Baldor, Hope, Ismira and Cadoc gathered in Roran's office. Martland Redbeard and several other officers from the Imperial army and two magicians soon joined them.

"General Zaeron, how are the repairs on the defenses going?" Roran asked. "As well as they can, under present circumstances. The last few days have been absolutely brutal on all of us, but the workers and soldiers are holding up remarkably well", the elderly man replied. "However, everyone is afraid. Many have mentioned hope of Eragon returning, from wherever he went those 20 years ago", Redbeard chimed in. "I and Katrina contacted him yesterday. He said they were passing over Surda. But he also said they were frequently attacked by hordes of the same creatures that have been harassing us for the past week", Roran said. "Then let us hope they get here before sundown. That's when these monsters are at their strongest", said Commander Rimlon.

Suddenly, red energy flashed around them, and a wave of wind sent them all to the floor. Bright golden shields flickered, blocking the red energy beams.

Roran got back to his feet, and whipped out his hammer. His children Ismira and Cadoc drew their swords, as did General Zaeron, Martland Redbeard, Commander Rimlon, Captain Turmar, Hope, Albriech and Baldor.

The two magicians held their staffs at the ready, their golden shields flickering.

Something crashed through the wall, and they barked two words in the ancient language, pushing whatever it was away, though the force of the impact sent them both skidding back several feet.

6 creatures and their riders appeared, followed by two much larger than them, pulling what appeared to be a large wooden and metallic box on a ramp, which extended from a gargantuan structure that seemed to be floating in mid air.

Luxor and Vinzor, the two mages, sent spells at them, but the riders blocked with their strange red power. The other two beasts arrived, and roughly 30 humanoids exited the strange box, armed with a wide variety of swords, spears, axes and maces, some of them carrying shields as well. From below them, sounds of battle could be heard, too. They would not get help any time soon.

Blast it Eragon, where are you?, Roran cursed, as he batted a sword away with his hammer.

Ismira and Cadoc stood back to back, defending from a spear man and an axe man respectively.

Ismira sidestepped the spear thrust and lunged, but her foe blocked her sword with his forearm. He grabbed onto the blade and stabbed with the spear again. However, with only one hand, he was unable to utilize the weapon to its full capacity, and Ismira capitalized on it. She let go of her sword, and grabbed on to the spear with both hands, tearing it out of his hands. She thrust, but her foe ducked and attacked with her sword, managing to close the distance between them, forcing her to block with the spear's haft.

Ismira barely evaded a cut to her abdomen and kicked her foe in the shin, knocking him off balance briefly. He stumbled, and she drove the spear through the gap between his breastplate and the neck plate.

Cadoc evaded his foe's axe and ducked again, before sending him to the ground with a slam kick to the back. The soldier swung wildly, and Cadoc sidestepped, pulling on his arm as he did so, leaving his foe's neck exposed. He brought his sword down on the exposed skin, drawing blood. He put him out of his misery by slamming the pommel of his sword into his forehead, caving it in.

Roran disarmed his foe and crushed his trachea with a hammer blow to the neck. He dispatched another soldier with a downward strike to the helmet. Beside him, General Zaeron and Martland Redbeard pummeled away at a soldier's defenses with their swords, wearing him down quickly. General Zaeron landed the final blow, decapitating the man after Redbeard locked his sword arm in place.

Captain Turmar supported Commander Rimlon, who had a nasty axe cut in his leg and a bandage on his head. Hope, Ismira and Cadoc protected the two.

Meanwhile, Luxor and Vinzor had killed three of the creatures and their riders, but both were severely exhausted and badly injured.

Roran ducked under a mace, and barely managed to block a spear. Two swordsmen and an axe man joined their comrades, ferociously attacking from all sides.

He evaded the mace and batted the spear aside, knocking its wielder off balance, and drew his dagger, which he hurled at the lead swordsman, who raised his shield to block. Roran grabbed a shield off the floor. The axe wielder went ahead of the group, and swung wildly with his axe. Roran slammed the shield against the axe blade, and at the same time kicked the man in the shin, causing him to stumble. He brought his hammer down on the man's head, caving in his skull.

The others were more careful, and approached him in a semi circle. Roran realized they were forcing him further and further back to the box, where the two large creatures waited, anticipating a fresh meal. He tried to push forward, but the spear man kept his spear extended forward, and wherever he moved, the spear tip followed. Then, a blur of swords distracted his attackers, and the mace wielder went down, his neck separated from his body. A spear impaled one of the swordsmen in the neck, killing him immediately.

Ismira and Cadoc went over to him, and they faced the other three together.

"You are welcome, father", Cadoc said, before he could thank them.

"How is the battle outside going?" Roran asked. "Badly. They breached the walls, and our soldiers are being pushed back swiftly. At this rate, by the time Uncle Eragon arrives, he will find nothing but a burning city and our corpses", Ismira replied.

"There are more of them!" came Captain Turmar's voice. Indeed, another horde of creatures appeared, numbering over 20.

Then, another sound came, this time deeper, stronger, and familiar. The creatures shrieked, and turned away from the building.

12 dragons appeared, and unleashed torrents of yellow, blue, green, gold, red, purple, bronze, white, black and silver fire. All of the creatures and their riders went down, and the other two followed shortly. 6 Riders entered the building. Their blue, green, white, bronze and purple swords and magic made short work of the remaining enemy soldiers.

Roran recognized Eragon and Arya, but the other four were unknown to him, though two of them possessed a striking resemblance to the former.

Murtagh, Thorn, Aruna, Reolan, Turok, Lornaq, Lorea, Akala, Korgon, Undran, Azruk and Gelkara killed the remaining creatures and their riders, and the reinvigorated defenders unleashed volleys of fire arrows and stones on the attacking troops and their siege machines, quickly routing them.

The aerial platform started moving away, the weapons on it releasing volleys of energy beams at the six dragons. The Riders blocked with their own magic, and tried to retaliate, but they were too far away now. The platform accelerated, and shot off, following after the retreating army. The defenders cheered, exhausted though they were.

"Finally, you are back", Roran said to Eragon, and they embraced. "It is good to see you too", Eragon replied.

Arya stood back, watching the cousins with a soft smile. Roedan, Kelja, Judeor and Ralea had quickly befriended Roran's children, Ismira and Cadoc, as well as Hope, Albriech and Baldor.

"You will have to tell us everything that happened in those twenty years. We want to hear all about it", Roran said. "Same goes for you", Eragon replied. "But first, let's go for a drink?" "Sounds great. I'll hold you to your promise, don't your forget", Roran stated.

After Murtagh and Nasuada joined the group, they went to one of the local taverns to celebrate.

A/N:No dictionary this time, because no words or phrases from the Ancient Language were used.

Aside from that, quite an awkward final scene. I am not good at those. Please, feel free to comment your suggestions on how to improve it.

Also, I am sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I don't have a specific updating schedule yet, and I don't think I will be getting one any time soon, or stick to it for long if I do establish it at some point. But I will try to update at least every two weeks, if possible. With homework, gym, and other activities on my calendar, it may not always happen, but I will do my best. With that said, hope you enjoyed this chapter and until next time, we shall adjourn.