Chapter 13
Eragon spends a few more minutes talking to Saphira before she flies to the other side of the city and lies in wait for a quick getaway whilst they break into the prison. Eragon follows Brom into the town where only a few people can be seen walking through the wet snow covered streets. The prison is located at the edge of the town along a small street where some of the windows to the cells can be seen at floor level. Brom and Eragon walk into a nearby alley and use the spell Vard Abr Garjzla (Ward of Light) to bend light around them, rendering them invisible to the naked eye. They proceed towards the prison and sneak in through the front entrance. The guards, being mundane humans, cannot detect the duo even as they walk right next to them. They begin combing the prison looking for Arya whilst always on the lookout for the Shade.
Surprisingly, they found her quite quickly as she was in a standard holding cell in the first cell block of the prison. Brom checks the room for magic traps but his search comes up empty. He scratches his head and murmurs under his breath "too easy" before unlocking the cell door with a key that they swindled from an unsuspecting guard. Brom and Eragon walk into the cell and see a fair skinned woman in rags curled up in the fetal position in the corner of the room. Eragon rushes over to her.
"Hey, wake up, we are here to rescue you."
Whilst Eragon tries to wake her up, Brom is standing in the hallway keeping an eye out for any danger.
Eragon turns back towards Brom. "Brom, she seems to be unconscious. I will carry her and you keep an eye out during our escape."
Brom looks at Eragon for a moment before nodding. Eragon then grabs Arya in a princess carry and they start to walk towards the exit. They don't get very far before the door down the hall opens and a pale man in a blue robe walks into the room. His glowing red eyes and fiery hair remind Eragon of some vampire movies from his previous life. On his hip is a slender sword with a large gash on the side. Even though they are under a light bending spell, the Shade stares right at them with a smirk on his face.
"Well, well, well… What do we have here? Two people with some proficiency in magic trying to take my prisoner. I suggest you return her to her place. If you do, I will make sure your deaths will be painless."
The Shade strides towards them at a leisurely pace and pulls his sword from its sheath. Brom ends the invisibility spell and pulls out Zar'roc. The Shade eyes widen slightly upon seeing the sword.
"You have a Rider's blade… It will make a fantastic gift to lord Galbatorix. Especially when it's covered in your blood."
Brom holds his sword in a defensive stance and gives a brief glance towards Eragon. "Go, now! I will hold him off and join you shortly."
The shade scoffs. "Quite confident for an old man. Let's see if you can back up your words."
The Shade lunges forward at speeds beyond mortal men and engages in a sword fight with Brom. Brom tries his best to block and parry the Shade's strikes but his speed and power far outclass his own now that his body is weakening due to old age.
The clashing of steel against steel rings out through the prison while Eragon carries Arya towards one of the cells that have a window to the surface. He shouts Deloi (Earth) and turns the wall into a makeshift stairway to the surface. He climbs out of the hole and immediately pulls out a wooden cylinder similar to the one that created the barrier during their fight with the Razac except this one has a picture of a car on it from his previous life. He throws the cylinder off to the side and once it lands it starts to unfold and expand at a rapid pace. A few seconds later and a wooden cart that slightly resembles a minivan with no roof that can easily house six people is in front of him. He hoists Arya into the cart and activates the barrier function before running back down the hole to save Brom.
While Eragon was bringing Arya to safety, Brom and the Shade were in a back and forth battle. Brom's many years of battle knowledge versus the inhuman strength of Durza. The fight quickly devolves into a battle of stamina as the Shade's attacks start to wear him down quicker than he anticipated.
Luckily, Eragon returned quickly to help. He runs up behind Brom and prepares to cast the spell that he invented to defeat the Shade when Brom gets hit by a sword swing, carving a deep cut along his left arm. Luckily, the enchantment on his bracer weakened the blow, only causing a shallow gash along his forearm.
Even though Eragon is not technically himself but a reincarnated individual in Eragon's body, he still feels intense anger upon seeing Brom hurt. This anger clouds his mind making him forget about casting the spell so instead he pulls out his sword and shoves Brom out of the way. Brom stumbles to the side and nearly slams his head into the metal bars of a prison cell but he manages to grab the bars to hold himself up just in time.
A new battle begins with Eragon now confronting the Shade with the swordsmanship he learned from Brom. The smile that was on Durza's face the entire time he was fighting Brom slowly fades and turns into a scowl after three minutes of exchanging blows with Eragon. Eragon's training is finally getting its chance in the limelight as he is going toe to toe with a being that far surpasses humanity with only his body and a stone sword. Eragon has trained his body to the peak of humanity and even slightly beyond, making his strength at least somewhat comparable to the Shade. This doesn't stop him from feeling the fatigue of his first real battle. Eragon's muscles start to burn as Durza rains blow after blow against him. Their swords create sparks in the dimly lit prison as stone scrapes against metal, a dance of death with only one victor.
After a resounding clash, Durza backs away for a moment. "What a capable young man. Why don't you just surrender and join Galbatorix? With this level of strength, anything you wish would be given to you and you could live a life of luxury, free from the responsibilities that weigh you down."
Eragon backs away for a moment, sweat pouring down his face, takes a few quick breaths before looking Durza in the eye. "You want me to give my life and soul to that treacherous king? You needn't worry about me Durza, the mad king will perish in due time. But first… Waise Losna Malthinae!!!"
Durza lunges forward as Eragon starts his chant but fails to stop him in time. Once the spell takes effect Durza stops moving and clutches his heart. A strange glob of light starts to leave his chest cavity before he forcefully grabs it and shoves it back in. Soon enough, multiple globs of light start oozing out of his body and he is scrambling to keep them inside. Not leaving anything to chance, Eragon extends his blade towards Durza's chest, piercing his heart. Durza's eyes lock onto Eragon and for just the briefest moment his eyes soften and his mouth forms the words "thank you" before the souls trapped in his body explode outward, completely obliterating his corpse. The souls that look like orbs of rainbow colors scatter in different directions before disappearing from sight.
Eragon, heavily panting as the fight took most of his stamina, has just enough left in him to grab Brom and pull him towards the stairway he made. After unceremoniously throwing him into the cart next to the unconscious Arya, Eragon hops into the driver's seat and activates the driving enchantment, a very complex spell that uses magic that is drawn from the large topaz that is the centerpiece of the foldable cart to forcefully turn the wheels. There is also a small control panel that resembles a steering wheel with multiple topaz gems for buttons. The gems act as buttons for activating a multitude of different enchantments. The cart moves swiftly out of town and towards the river to the east. Eragon connects to Saphira telepathically and tells her to follow them towards the river where they plan to cross over. Unbenounced to anyone, a wisp of malignant will creeps along the ground and flows into Eragon just before they make their escape.