Wyrda: Father of Dragons (Eragon Book 5)

Chapter 23: Ilirea

The flap of wings was the only sound in the early hours of the morning as the dragons crossed the red, orange sky. Eragon was sitting on Saphira trying to find a comfortable position as he saw the other riders still sleeping on the backs of their dragons, their bodies limp. Thrain and Gregorbak had stayed up late talking about the war and telling stories of their nations to each other, myths and legends which seemed to fascinate them to no end as they both imagined the heroic feats and epic battles in the stories trying to imagine what they would have done if they were in the place of the heroes of old. Eragon had listened with curiosity until at one point he had slipped in his waking dreams. He sighed loudly and hoped that they would arrive in Ilirea that day for they had already been a few days late because of a thunderstorm on their way to the city. Saphira and the dragons had been forced to travel through the storm and they had all been exhausted trying to cross it. The fact that they were crossing the Hadarrac desert did nothing to make their trip easier. Eragon had insisted on taking some rest on the ground at a small secluded forest once they crossed the dessert and Saphira had reluctantly agreed. When the storm had passed, the riders had resumed their journey.

A lone stream of water was underneath them as the Ramr River which started from Isenstar Lake near Gilead made a loop around the small peak of Sraten and ended up between the city of Illeria and Dras Leona. The small peak was barren, but animals were there drinking water from the waters of the river. The animals ran away from the shadows of Saphira and the other dragons as they came closer to the small peak. About an hour passed before the southern corner of the peak was visible and Eragon and the other riders, who were now awake and laughing landed with their dragons to assess the situation. There, in the distance Eragon could see the walls of Illeria and a large army, which had banners of King Orrin, who covered the whole plain around the city, surrounding it. There would be no escape if they lost the battle. The city was still quiet, something for which Eragon was glad for as it meant that the battle had yet to start. However, it meant that Eragon and the dragons would have to cross the sky above King Orrin's army undetected which posed a problem. He also needed permission to enter the city as he knew that three dragons appearing suddenly in the sky above the city would cause an alarm at the least.

He looked at the thousands of spears below him as well as the tents of the temporary camp the soldiers of King Orrin had made. It would be good to attack the soldiers when they were not expecting an attack but they would be overpowered by the soldiers if a coordinated attack from the city did not occur. He dismissed the idea as too rash and then with a grunt he climbed off his seat on Saphira as his students did the same. Both Thrain and Gregorbak had bewildered expressions as they saw the soldiers below them.

"Are we supposed to defeat that many?" Thrain said awed with a shocked expression.

Gregorbak lifted his neck and with a weird noise from his neck which Eragon interpreted as a laugh, he accepted the challenge.

Eragon unpacked his bags, searching for the mirror that would let him communicate with Roran inside the city. He knew that he could search for his mind but again a powerful mind such as his would cause an alarm in the city, which he did not want. He found the mirror and with a word the mirror showed an image of Roran as he was studying some maps. Near him his children Ismira and Garrow were playing a game and Katrina was watching over them.

"Hello! Hope I'm not interrupting" Eragon said with a smile.

"Eragon!" Roran said with surprise. "So nice to see you!" he finished.

"Same Roran" Eragon replied.

"Where are you? We are waiting for you." Roran said.

"Actually, that is why I contacted you. I'm right outside the city on the small cliff of Sraten. I can see King Orrin's army from here, and the walls of the city. I did not want to cause an alarm by suddenly appearing in the sky above the city." Eragon replied.