14 Chapter 14

As they are making their getaway from the town of Gilead, Brom pulls himself up into a sitting position and casts Waise Heill (be healed) on his arm to heal his sword wound. He then checks on Arya and is quite concerned because she has remained unconscious throughout her rescue. She appears to have a slight fever and cold sweats but other than that he can't fully tell what's wrong at the moment. Once they stop to camp for the night he plans to check on her again and hopefully he can find out what is ailing her. 

Standing up and walking to the front of the cart, Brom looks forward and sees no horses pulling the cart yet they are moving quite fast. Another thing is that while they are traveling through a forest without a road to follow, the cart is unnaturally stable, the cart not bouncing in the slightest on the uneven ground as it should. Unable to keep his thoughts in his head any longer, he climbs into the passenger seat and sits next to Eragon. 

"Eragon… When did you make this enchanted cart that can move without horses and ignore difficult terrain?..

Eragon glances over and sees Brom glaring at him. Beads of sweat start to fall from his brow and he looks away from him.

"A-a few days ago… I mean… I just randomly think about things and want to make them right away.. Can you blame me? We just killed a Shade, made a daring escape, and rescued Arya with nothing but a scratch on your arm. I see this as a complete victory."

Brom just rubs his temple and sighs. "What am I going to do with you…" 

Eragon smirks as he directs the cart through the underbrush and towards the Ramr river, Saphira circles around them in the air while keeping an eye on them. 

Breaking through the tree line, lake Isenstar is on their left and this lake feeds the Ramr river that flows towards the south east. They follow the river south until it reaches its narrowest point before deciding to cross it. 

"Alright Eragon this is as good as it's going to get. Have Saphira come down and ferry us one by one to the other side."

Eragon looks at Brom with a devious smile. "You didn't think this was only a cart did you?"

Brom doesn't even get enough time to think of a reply before Eragon makes a sharp ninety degree turn straight towards the river. Brom desperately tries to get a hold of something as his only thought at the time is that they are going to fall in the river. 

Instead of the cart sinking immediately into the river as he expected, it only partially sinks but remains buoyant. Eragon taps on a small topaz crystal on the panel and their speed which had halted from entering the water picks up once again. Meanwhile, Brom is trying to recover from the heart attack his son just gave him. He takes a few deep breaths before he calms down only to immediately get angry again. "Why don't you warn me next time before you pull a stunt like that again."

Eragon just laughs. "but that would be no fun."

An exasperated sigh escapes Brom's lips before he takes in the fact that they are now floating down the river while slowly making progress towards the distant shore. "Eragon… Why don't we follow the river downstream for a bit then land on the other side. We can shave off a few days' travel over the Hadarac desert."

"Good idea Brom. We can follow the river till around nightfall as any farther than that we might attract unwanted attention."

Brom chuckles. "Yeah, we don't need to sail straight to Uru'baen and deliver ourselves to the king on a silver platter now do we?"

Brom and Eragon laugh at the joke and have lite conversations until dusk. Saphira had gotten bored of flying over them and had been diving into the river and catching fish. 

"You know Eragon, the fish at the bottom of the river are quite tasty. Would you like a couple?"

Eragon looks over the side and sees Saphira's large eye staring back at him. "If you would be so kind my lady."

A small chuckle reverberates through their mind link as Saphira springs up out of the water next to them and dives back in, spraying Brom and Eragon with freezing water. Or at least, that's what would have happened if Eragon wasn't prepared for such a scenario. He presses another gem on the console and an invisible dome covers the floating cart, completely blocking the water from drenching them. Brom watches the water flow around them and for the millionth time is flabbergasted by Eragon's skill in making enchantments. 

"How on earth can you come up with all of this? Next thing you know we will be sailing beneath the waves and flying through the sky without dragons."

A bead of sweat rolls down Eragon's forehead. He decides not to tell Brom that this cart can go underwater at this very moment as he doesn't want to give him another heart attack. 

… 

Once night falls, Eragon directs the cart turned boat towards the east bank of the river and drives up and onto shore. From there they make their way into a forest once again before making camp for the night. 

As Eragon sets up camp, Brom lays Arya down on a spare cot and checks her condition. He casts a few spells that should let him know if she has been poisoned or not and finds that she has been given a very slow acting poison that weakens her body and mind. And while it is slow, that doesn't stop it from killing unless the antidote is administered within a set time period. It appears that Durza was constantly poisoning her then giving her the antidote as a form of torture. What's worse is that she hasn't received the antidote within the last few weeks making it very likely she has forcefully induced a coma to stop the spread of the poison. They don't have enough time to bring her all the way to the Varden to cure her as she will die before they even cross the Hadarac desert. 

By the time Brom is finished checking on Arya, Eragon has already finished setting up their tents and is currently cooking the fish Saphira caught for them in a pan. The delectable aroma of herbs and spices that he is using fills the air making their mouths water. Once Eragon is finished cooking, Brom sits down near the fire and devours his share with gusto. The normally overpowering flavor of the fish has been mellowed considerably and the meat is nice and tender, falling off the bone. 

"When did you learn to cook like this? This has to be the best fish I've ever had." 

Eragon smiles sheepishly. "Why thank you Brom, the seasoning was my own custom mixture of eleven herbs and spices. I topped up my stocks while we were in Teirm just for this occasion. Just because we are on the run doesn't mean we have to live off hardtack and river water." 

Brom grabs his smoking pipe and lights it. "Indeed Eragon, one must enjoy life even in the most dangerous of times. I had a hard time dealing with the pain of leaving you alone but now I am the happiest I have ever been. But I am afraid that this journey with you will be my last." Brom takes a long drag from his pipe. 

"I'm old Eragon. My body isn't as spry as it used to be. My magic is diminishing and my mind is starting to get cloudy. That fight with Durza really put it into perspective for me. In my prime I fought armies and slain many a beast but the one thing I can't defeat is time." 

Eragon walks over to him and places his hand on his shoulder. "That is why I will do everything in my power to make sure we enjoy our time together, and make up for all the lost years. And besides… You won't be dying anytime soon. You still need to see the mad king's head on a pike and a new dawn rising over Alagaesia, and I will do my best to make that happen." Eragon wraps Brom in a hug. "I love you dad." 

Brom reciprocates the hug with a smile on his face. "And I you, Son." 

The two stay like this for a while before they prepare to sleep. Saphira takes the first watch while they sleep off the harrowing fight and subsequent flight from Gilead. Once dawn breaks, they pack up and head south east towards the blistering Hadarac desert.