Sorry to keep you waiting!! I haven't forgotten my promise! No matter what, I'll upload chapter 4. But I didn't promise when, didn't I? Hehe...
Life has been quite crazy for me lately and I'm in no mood to do my fic. I've just finished my final exam last week.
Again, thanks to Amethyst DragonRider for beta reading this story.
Also thanks to Hot4Garrett, Last Generation Lintu, Joralie, Akuma Memento Mori, Dragonally, LucreNoin, Aniset for the reviews!
Eragon © Christopher Paolini
Warning: Slash, uke Murtagh, umh... rape...
Second Chance
Chapter 4
Eragon felt as if his heart had been pierced by thousand knifes when he secretly watched his brother eat like a starving animal.
How long he hadn't eaten anything?
The Great Shadeslayer… How could he deserve such title when he couldn't even protect his brother? His own flesh and blood?
Emotion overflowed within him. He rushed into the room again and stopped right in front of Murtagh. His brother seemed startled, but he didn't scream again this time. Eragon hugged him tightly.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"
However, Murtagh pushed him away. His heart completely sank.
"Murtagh…" his brother stared at him with disbelief.
"I…I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"
Why? Why did he push his brother away? Wasn't that the thing he always wanted from him?
"It's okay…" Eragon smiled. Murtagh could sense there was a hint of sadness in his voice.
"I'm just not use to it…"
"Hm?" Eragon frown in confusion.
"No, it's nothing…"
Ever since his imprisonment, Galbatorix had deprived him from all human touch except from the king himself. All guards who were in charge of him were urgals. Galbatorix was the one and only human in that period of his life. And his touch…always brought nothing but pain…
He shuddered at the thought.
"Murtagh?"
He quickly retreated from his thought.
"Are you okay?"
Murtagh nodded.
"Eragon…"
"Yes?"
"Could you…do it again?"
"Of course!"
Eragon circled his arms around his body. Murtagh rested his head on Eragon's chest. It was really nice to have someone hug you like that. After a long time in hell, this was the first time he felt safe. This was the first time a touch didn't bring him pain.
"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Murtagh asked.
Even if this is just a dream, please tell me it is not!
"No, you are not."
Perhaps he would wake up in a few minutes and faced another torture. But for now, he just wanted to stay that way. He didn't care if it was a dream. He could only wish that he wouldn't have to wake up.
Eragon stroked his hair gently as he whispered comfort to his ear. Murtagh closed his eyes and enjoyed every single moment of it. He always wished someone would spoil him like this.
"Forget about everything, okay? You are safe now… After you have healed, we will go back to the Varden and clean your name. After you have been free from your charge, we can find Thorn." Eragon said
The Varden?
"NO!" he pulled his body away from his brother angrily.
How could Eragon think that the Varden would accept him? They would never!
"Murtagh, we need to get your name cl…" Eragon could never finish his sentence.
"I said NO! I don't care about my name! I won't go there!"
"Okay…okay… I understand… I guess we will just find your dragon…" Eragon tried to calm him.
Murtagh were silenced. Suddenly, tears flew down from his eyes.
"Murtagh? What's wrong?" Eragon brought his hand to wipe the tears away.
"… Thorn…is dead…"
Eragon was speechless for a moment. He couldn't believe what he had just heard from his brother. Most of dragon riders couldn't stand living without their dragons. It was too much for them. But his brother had lived through it and he still had yet to endure years of imprisonment and torture.
"I'm sorry…" Eragon apologized, "I shouldn't remind you of that horrible thing."
Murtagh shook his head. Even though Eragon said nothing about it, he would always remember. He would never forget what happened back then. He would never…
Flashback
"How dare you escape with my egg!"
Galbatorix punched his face. The two urgals who were holding him dropped him to the floor. Galbatorix grabbed his hair and hauled him up.
"You tell me where the egg is, and I'll save you some of the pain."
"I don't know…"
Murtagh bit his lower lip as he felt Galbatorix attack his mind. When he couldn't break through the boy's barrier, he doubled his force. Murtagh screamed in pain as Galbatorix broke through his mind. Finally, Galbatorix decided to pull himself out of Murtagh's mind.
Galbatorix released his hair, "You…you erased your own memory?!"
Murtagh had known that there was no chance he could protect his mind against the king's mental assault. So, he decided to erase the information from his mind. Erasing one memory was a high level magic and the price was not cheap. In order to do it, he must allow himself to lose his most precious memory.
"I must say I was impressed. First, you broke oaths in ancient language and escape. Now you erase your own memory… Where did you learn all of this, boy?"
Murtagh didn't answer.
"Answer Me!"
"My goddamn father!"
A kick landed on his stomach, "Don't joke with me, boy!"
Murtagh shook his head, "I'm not. I learned them from his secret note."
He smirked evilly, "Perhaps, he had been planning to betray you and take the throne for himself. After all, he was the traitor, Morzan."
"YOU ARE LYING!! Morzan would never betray me! He would never!" Galbatorix screamed.
Thorn roared in anger when Galbatorix strangled his rider. He really wanted to rush to his rider side and kill that man. But he couldn't do much since Shruikan pinned him down to the ground.
Murtagh tried to get Galbatorix's hands off his neck, but the king was too strong. He felt himself start to lose consciousness. This might be his end. Galbatorix no longer had any use of him since he couldn't enslave Murtagh by using his true name or ancient language anymore. But when he thought he was about to faint, the king released him. Murtagh rolled his body and brought his hand to his neck as he coughed.
"Do you think I will let you die that easily, boy? NO. Death is too good for you!"
Galbatorix suddenly ripped Murtagh's clothes. Thorn struggled to get free from Shruikan, but Galbatorix cast a spell on him. Murtagh felt an immense amount of pain as he heard Thorn scream in agony. Galbatorix unbuckled his belt and put his pants down. Murtagh cried as the king thrust himself into his body.
Tears flew down the red dragon's eyes as he witnessed his rider being raped. Despite of his pain combined with his rider pain, Thorn somehow managed to free himself from Shruikan. He swiped Galbatorix with his tail. The king was thrown away from Murtagh and hit the wall.
"…tagh…, Are you okay?" the dragon asked.
"Thorn! Behind you!!" Murtagh shouted in horror as he saw Shruikan was right behind Thorn's back.
Too late… The black dragon bit Thorn's neck. He and his dragon groaned in pain. Now, the red dragon was at Shruikan's mercy. Galbatorix, who had regained himself, picked up his sword and approached Thorn.
"Shall I tell you the thing that is worse than death?" Galbatorix smirked.
"NO!!" Murtagh screamed as Galbatorix brought the blade to Thorn's stomach and cut it open. The dragon's blood spurted everywhere, including to Murtagh's face.
Murtagh dragged himself to Thorn's side. With little energy he had left, he quickly put his hand on the wound and muttered a healing spell.
"Stop that Murtagh… If you continue, you will die too…" Thorn said weakly.
"No! I won't let you die!"
"If you die, I will die as well. It's better for me to die alone…"
"Thorn…, I can't bear to see you die... You are the only one left for me…"
"And I can't bear to see you die, either…"
He knew Thorn was right, but he didn't want to be left alone by him. He had had enough being left by everyone.
"In this case, you will only make my death become more painful."
But Murtagh ignored him…
"…tagh…, please…"
Murtagh gritted his teeth. Finally, he withdrew his hand and hugged his dragon. Tears flooded both rider's and dragon's eyes.
"Don't leave me, Thorn."
"You know I don't want to…"
Thorn's consciousness started to slip away from him. Murtagh could feel that a part of him was dying.
He shook the red dragon slightly, "Thorn!"
"Murtagh…, I want you to do me a favor…"
"What is it?"
"No matter what…, promise me…you will live…'til you find your happiness…" there was pain in his dragon voice.
Murtagh nodded. He swore that in ancient language to Thorn. The dragon smiled and breathed his last breath.
"THORN!!"
Then, everything went black.
End flashback
Later, he woke up in the cell that would be his home from that point. He was alive, but not truly living. He couldn't feel anything. He didn't even realize that Galbatorix had come and raped him again. All he could feel was the pain of losing his dragon.
He had thought about killing himself several times. However, he remembered his promise to Thorn and quickly erased that intention. He tried to keep himself alive, but that wasn't easy. For several weeks, he couldn't eat. He would vomit every time he tried. Galbatorix's urgals were being 'nice' to help him to keep his promise by force feeding him.
It took quite sometime for him to recover until he could eat by himself again, until he could finally feel again. Although he had not had much to feel except the pain from the torture and rape, which happened nearly daily. Time allowed him to heal, but he knew the scars would remain. And Galbatorix had never bothered to make another one before they healed completely.
Do you think Thorn is really dead? Tell me your opinion, please! Reviews are always loved.