Heritage [4] Inheritance Read Online Free PDF Page B

jaw.
    The soldier kicked twice and then was still.
    Panting for breath, Roran rose from the body, blood dripping from his fingers. He looked over at Eragon with a curiously glazed expression.
    “About time you—” he said, and then his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted.

S HADOWS ON THE H ORIZON
     
    n order to catch Roran before he struck the floor, Eragon had to drop Brisingr, which he was reluctant to do. Nevertheless, he opened his hand, and the sword clattered against the stones even as Roran’s weight settled into his arms.
    “Is he badly hurt?” Arya asked.
    Eragon flinched, surprised to find her and Blödhgarm standing next to him. “I don’t think so.” He patted Roran’s cheeks several times, smearing the dust on his skin. In the flat, ice-blue glare of Eragon’s spell, Roran appeared gaunt, his eyes surrounded by bruised shadows, and his lips a purplish color, as if stained with the juice from berries. “Come on, wake up.”
    After a few seconds, Roran’s eyelids twitched; then he opened them and looked at Eragon, obviously confused. Relief washed over Eragon, so strong he could taste it. “You blacked out for a moment,” he explained.
    “Ah.”
    He’s alive!
Eragon said to Saphira, risking a brief moment of contact.
    Her pleasure was obvious.
Good. I will stay here and help the elves move the stones away from the building. If you need me, shout, and I’ll find a way to reach you
.
    Roran’s mail tinkled as Eragon helped him onto his feet. “What of the others?” Eragon asked, and gestured toward the mound of rubble.
    Roran shook his head.
    “Are you sure?”
    “No one could have survived under there. I only escaped because … because I was partially sheltered by the eaves.”
    “And you? You’re all right?” Eragon asked.
    “What?” Roran frowned, seeming distracted, as if the thought had not even occurred to him. “I’m fine.… Wrist might be broken. It’s not bad.”
    Eragon cast a meaningful glance at Blödhgarm. The elf’s features tightened with a faint display of displeasure, but he went over to Roran and, in a smooth voice, said, “If I may.…” He extended a hand toward Roran’s injured arm.
    While Blödhgarm labored over Roran, Eragon picked up Brisingr, then stood guard with Arya at the entrance in case any soldiers were so foolhardy as to launch an attack.
    “There, all done,” Blödhgarm said. He moved away from Roran, who rolled his wrist in a circle, testing the joint.
    Satisfied, Roran thanked Blödhgarm, then lowered his hand and cast about the rubble-strewn floor until he found his hammer. He readjusted the position of his armor and looked out the entrance. “I’ve about had my fill of this Lord Bradburn,” he said in a deceptively calm tone. “He has held his seat overlong, I think, and ought to be relieved of his responsibilities. Wouldn’t you agree, Arya?”
    “I would,” she said.
    “Well then, let’s find the soft-bellied old fool; I would give him a few gentle taps from my hammer in memory of everyone we have lost today.”
    “He was in the main hall a few minutes ago,” Eragon said, “but I doubt he stayed to await our return.”
    Roran nodded. “Then we’ll have to hunt him down.” And with that, he strode forward.
    Eragon extinguished his illuminating spell and hurried after his cousin, holding Brisingr at the ready. Arya and Blödhgarm stayed as close beside him as the convoluted passageway would allow.
    The chamber that the passageway led to was abandoned, as wasthe main hall of the castle, where the only evidence of the dozens of soldiers and officials who had populated it was a helmet that lay on the floor, rocking back and forth in ever-decreasing arcs.
    Eragon and Roran ran past the marble dais, Eragon restricting his speed so as not to leave Roran behind. They kicked down a door just to the left of the platform and rushed up the stairs beyond.
    At each story, they paused so that Blödhgarm could search with his