So I just realized I had sent Vindex with them and didn't mention him at all in the last chapter, so if you could all pretend he was there, that'd be great. 😆

Previously:
Horst came up next to me to see for himself. "Get the animals ready!" he shouted. "They'll need to go first."

I smiled when Blackjack jerked his head up in surprise as a response to Horst's shout. The black horse snorted indignantly and flicked his tale.

"Ready, Blackjack?" I whispered. "We're about to start this adventure for good now."

Blackjack stomped his feet and bobbed his head in agreement. About time, he said.

"I'm ready too, Percy," Thalia said in a mock injured tone "You forgot about me."

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the barges. This was going to be one wild ride from here on out that's for sure.

"Sam's an idiot," I muttered as I put away the hand held mirror I was using to talk to my sisters. They were checking in on my hunt every once and a while to make sure they didn't do anything stupid. Obviously, they didn't check in often enough.

"What'd he do?" Thalia asked around her hands as she leaned over the railing of the barge.

"Clotho and Lachesis say he took his sister out for an ice cream trip with out telling everyone," I said. "Made everyone panic like crazy until Atropos said where they'd gone. Which wasn't until they'd been gone for two entire hours."

I waited until Thalia stopped dry heaving for her to answer. "How-" retch "How long were they gone?" she asked.

"About three to four hours," I shrugged. "Apparently they went to the mall too."

"Idiot," Thalia muttered, before she started retching again.

I smiled slyly as I kept my eyes on the city in the distance called Teirm, "so how are you doing, Thalia?"

"I'm hurling my insides into the sea, Percy, what do you think?" She demanded with as much of a glare as she could with her stomach acting up.

The boy passing by happened to catch onto her tone of voice and started walking faster.  While her stomach was feeling too sick to do it's job, she'd proved more than capable of taking down anyone who provoked her. Fairly easily too.

"I'm surprised you haven't demanded to go ashore," I said calmly, used to her scare tactics.

"Ashore?" She asked groggily, lifting her eyes slightly from the water to see the city in the distance. Her electric blue eyes widened considerably and she darted off to the lowering deck. "Put it down for face the insides of my stomach," she told the man who was watching over it.

"But Roran said-"

"Do it," her eyes sparked dangerously and the man gulped before doing as asked.

Next thing I knew, she was kissing the grass and dirt as well as hugging a tree. Vindex jumped around next to her, happy she was feeling better. My dog and my cousin had formed a special bond in the days we were at sea. He had been highly concerned when she started barfing over the side of the barge.

"Glad to see you accepting your family, Thals!" I shouted at her as Roran came up to my side at the railings of the barge.

"Shut up, Kelp head," Thalia shouted as she and Vindex stated running around.

"I am pleased to see she is feeling better," Roran said.

"The moment she stepped foot on land, she was better," I laughed.

"Good," Roran said, "because I want you and her to come with me into Teirm."

I shrugged. "Fine with me," I said then shrugged in Thalia's direction. "She'll be happy as long as she doesn't get back on any sea vessel."

"She'll have to once we find a ship to take us the rest of the way to Surda," Roran said.

"Yeah, she won't like that," I laughed again. "Why do we need to get to Surda again?"

I could tell Roran was doing his best to not look at me like I was crazy, like the eavesdropping boy not too far away.

"It's out of the Empire and the base for the Varden," he answered as evenly as he could.

The Varden, I remembered was the rebel group fighting against Gallabatorix, the tyrant king in this world.

I nodded, showing that I understood. "Are we ready then?" I asked.

Roran nodded. "Birgit, Mandel, Nolfavrell, Gertrude and Loring are coming as well," he said.

"Mandel?" I asked. "The boy who's gambling away our food?" Why he would want to bring him along, I have no clue. Maybe to teach him that he needed to do something more productive?

"His mother asked me to take him along, teach him a lesson," Roran said as confirmation.

Teach him a lesson, I thought bitterly. I'm sure he didn't mean it the way my mind immediately went to. Yet I instinctively went into a defensive and protective stance.

"I guess that lesson needs to start now," Roran muttered. "What's he thinking?"

I turned my eyes in the direction he was looking and saw Mandel throwing his knife at a barrel off to the side. "What?" I frowned, confused. "What's the matter with what's he doing?"

"If he threw his knife in the middle of battle, he'd be weaponless," Roran explained, heading to the boy. "Not to mention it takes years to be have any proficiency at it."

"Well, yeah, but what if someone's about to get one of your loved ones but you are too far away to save them?" I countered.

"I guess it depends on your perspective," Roran conceded. "I'll meet you ashore."

Shrugging, I jumped over the railing and fell into the water. As I climbed out of the water to land, I saw that Thalia had stopped running and was waiting for me on the sand. "Make sure you're wet," she reminded me under her breath. "The people here get wet when they jump into water, you know."

"I know that, Thalia," I said, wiping my face free of water. "I'm not that stupid."

You need me for this one, boss? Blackjack asked suddenly. Or do you want me to stay with the gremlins?

Stay there, Blackjack, I told him, It would look strange if a big group were walking around with one horse.

You got it boss.

Stop calling me that.

"Stop talking to Blackjack and pay me some attention," Thalia demanded, splashing me with her foot.

"How did you know I was talking to Blackjack?" I asked.

"You didn't answer my question," she said.

"What is it?" I asked, getting out of reach of any more potential splashes.

She sighed, annoyed. "What does Roran want? I saw him talking to you on the boat."

"It's a barge," I corrected. "We're going into Teirm, we're looking for some ships to take us to a place called Surda."

Thalia smiled. "Great," she said. "I don't need to get back on that blasted thing."

"It wasn't that bad," I protested and Vindex barked in agreements, wagging his tail wildly.

"It was for me, Kelp head," Thalia growled.

"Ms. Thalia, I am pleased to see that you are feeling better," the lady named Birgit said with a smile. This lady confused me. She said she hated Roran and cowed to avenge her husband by killing making him pay but hasn't yet. On the grounds that Roran is the only way for her to get back at the Ra'zac who had killed and eaten her husband, leaving her only with dried and cracked bones.

What in the god's names were those things?

"I am, Birgit," Thalia said pleasantly. "Being on land does wonders."

"You know," Gertrude, the healer from their small village started, "I might know of a poltice to ease the stomach when in motion. I can make it for when we leave again to Surda."

"That would be fantastic, thank you," Thalia said gratefully.

"Or I could just knock her out until we get there," I muttered.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Men," she lamented. "Must you resort to violent measures every time?"

"What's wrong with it?" I defended. "Easy and quick, no more worries."

Just before Thalia or any of the other women could say anything, Roran, Mandel and the others arrived-probably saving me from a scolding.

"Ready?" Roran asked before not waiting for and answer. Rude. "We'll go in on the south side so it will seem less likely that we came from Narda."

Everyone nodded in agreement and just like that, we were off.

The sun was just setting when we reached the high walls of Teirm. Torches glowed along the battlements where soldiers were patrolling. Reaching above the walls was a tall castle like building-called a citadel I believe-as well as a light house, lighting the dark waters.

"It's so big," Nolfavrell murmured.

Loring nodded, awestruck. "Aye, that it is."

I frowned, looking form the city to my awestruck companions (besides Thalia). Surely it wasn't that big? It was hardly larger than one of the smaller cities in New York. New York City was considerably larger than this midget of a town.

Then I realized.

Population differences form a medieval time to modern times. Not to mention Roran's villagers were from a small farming town of barely a hundred people.

"That's what we need," Roran said suddenly, pointing to a large ship with three masts and at least a dozen ballistae on each side.

I let out a low whistle. It was gorgeous. "That'd be perfect," I said with a dreamy smile.

Thalia snapped her fingers under my nose. "Focus, lover boy," she said in amusement.

"We'd need to see ourselves into slavery to afford passage on that monster," Birgit grunted sourly.

"That beautiful master piece is not a monster," I said before Roran could do anything. "Never the less, I believe I can take care of that, let's just find someone who can get us the supplies we need. We are not leaving Teirm on anything less than this boat."

"I can't let you do that," Roran said, concerned.

Looking at the sun, I ignored Roran's statement and said, "Didn't Clovis say they closed the gates at sundown? We should get going."

Roran didn't look happy but he dropped it for a more pressing matter. He beckoned to Mandel, saying, "Drop back a ways and follow someone else through the gate, so the guards don't think you're with us. We'll wait for you on the other side. If they ask, you've come looking for employment as a seaman."

"Yes, sir."

Roran then hunched over and began limping. I just walked normally along with Thalia and the rest. No one bothered us as we walked through the gates.

"So far so good," I said once we reached the other side.

Thalia hit my arm. "Don't jinx it," she said.

"You watch, now it'll go bad because you said that," I said childishly.

"Let's go find some place to sleep," Roran said, his beard twitching. Though in amusement or annoyance, I've no clue.

🐲 🐲 🐲 🐲

"Pardon me for overhearing your parley with the young master, but if it's ships and such you be after and at a fair price, then I should guess you'd want to attend the auction," a man with black hair and little round about the belly seemed to have heard our conversation with the baker who had served us our lunch for today.

It's been a long day, we were hardly closer to finding a ship big enough for the entire village that's not Dragon Wing (the ship I insisted on using) and that's a fair price. Roran is refusing to let me pay so much for the ship just as much as I am refusing to leave Teirm on any other ship. Gertrude and Mandel had gone off in search of an herbalist called Angela. The healer said she was quite famous in the healing world.

"What auction is this?" Roran asked.

"Ah, it's a sad story, it is but all too common nowadays. One of our merchants, Jeod-Jeod Longshanks, as we call him out of hearing-has had the most abominable run of bad luck..."

I could guess the rest and possibly the reason behind it if the Fates are correct about him being apart of the Varden. Not listening anymore, I looked around our area as I fed Vindex some conjured meat. I almost gave him donuts-as he seemed to have gotten an affinity for them like Blackjack-but Thalia stopped me.

"You'll make him sick," Thalia scolded.

Then I noticed we were moving. "We going to Jeod's?" I asked when I caught up.

"Do you not listen, Kelp head?" Thalia asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Yes, we're hoping to strike a bargain with him as we cannot afford to wait until the day after tomorrow," Roran said.

"Day after tomorrow?" I questioned. Maybe Thalia was right. I do need to pay more attention.

"That's when the auction is," Roran sent a glance my way as if to repeat what Thalia said.

We got directions from a passerby to Jeod's house-but it was more like a mansion with at least three stories. Plants grew around the building and elaborate lanterns lit the door.

A very plump butler opened the door and smiled down at us with the shiniest teeth I've seen in this world. "How may I help you, sirs and mam's?" He sniffed disapprovingly.

"We would talk to Jeod's if he's free," Birgit stated.

"Have you an appointment?" The stuffy butler inquired. He knew very well we didn't have an appointment, he was the butler for Hade's sakes.

"Our stay in Teirm was to brief for us to arrange a proper meeting," Roran said. I could tell he was slowly getting frustrated.

"Then I regret that your time had better be spent elsewhere, my master has many matters to attend to and he cannot give his time to every group of tramps who bangs on his door asking for handouts."

"Tramps? Handouts?" I asked in dismay before he could close the door. "I'll have you know-"

I had started for the pompous piece of Minotaur dung to knock him into the void but Thalia clamped a hand over my mouth and held me back.

"We aren't looking for hand outs," Roran said as Thalia struggled with holding me away from the jerky butler. "We have matters of business to discuss with your master. We've traveled farther than you'd care to know to get here, so please, if you would ask Master Jeod's if we could have a word with him?"

"Very well," he said, sniffing. "Wait here..."

Once the door was closed, Loring grumbled, "If his head were any bigger, his head wouldn't fit in the privy."

I grunted in agreement as I jerked out of Thalia's hands, still uneasy with women touching me.

Nolfavrell let out a burst of laughter as Thalia smiled wryly.

"Let's hope the servant does not emulate the master," Birgit said.

Not too long later, the butler came back, not looking too happy. "This way," he said, holding the door open for us to walk in.

I smirked triumphantly as I walked past him through the door. "Lead the way, monsieur," I said mockingly.

The butler led us through the house and into a study where a man who was slightly balding stood to welcome us. "Welcome," Jeod said politely. "Do sit, would you like some pastries, some brandy maybe?"

I bumped the butler's shoulder on the way in, not bothering to apologize when I heard him grunt in pain and send his arm flying to his shoulder. "I'd just have a cup if it pleases you," I said. "My cousin too, I have my own drink."

"Just milk for my boy," Birgit said, referring to Nolfavrell.

"I'd have some of that brandy," Loring said, sitting gratefully.

Thalia turned to me with a raised eyebrow as the butler left. "Did you really have to do that?" She asked.

"Yes," I said, "The man was being a prick. Thank you," I accepted two cups-more like goblets- from Jeod and set them on the coffee table in front of me. I took our my flask of nectar and poured as much as I dared into the vessel for my cousin.

"You have nectar?" Thalia asked in awe. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I always have nectar," I told her indignantly as I handed the goblet to her. I then poured myself a decent amount and took a long gulp.

"Jeod?" Roran started.

"Aye, but you have me at a disadvantage," he said. "You know my names but what are yours?"

"My name is Marda," Birgit started. 

"Stronghammer," Roran said as I rolled my eyes. This was unnecessary, he was an ally.

"My name is Kell," Nolfavrell said.

"And mine is Wally," Loring said.

"My name is Percy," I said cheerfully. "This is my cousin's Thalia." Roran sent me a warning look and I shrugged. "Why hide?" I asked. "He's trapped in here, outnumbered six to one and he wouldn't recognize me or Thalia." Then I smiled slyly, making everyone but Thalia (who rolled her eyes) shudder. "Not to mention he's a member of the Varden."

Everything froze. The only sound after I said that was the ticking format he clock on the mantel.

"Way to drop a bomb, Perce," Thalia said finally.

"How did you know?" Jeod asked warily.

"Same way I knew Stronghammer's real name when we met," I said with a hard smile.

"He'll tell you when he's ready," Thalia said as Roran opened his mouth. "Don't even try, he's too stubborn."

"I won't tell him your secrets," I reassured the man before turning to Jeod. "But I don't mind giving away a few of my own."

"Go on,"Jeod said when he realized I was waiting for acknowledgement.

"I am going to Surda to help out the Varden," I said. "Mostly Eragon but by transitive property, that means the Varden."

"Why are you going to help Eragon?" Roran interrupted.

"Let me finish,' I admonished, giving him a look. "I'm going to Surda to find Eragon and I'm going to do it on Dragon's Wing.  Don't care if any of you follow or not, I'm taking that ship."

"We get it, Percy, you love that ship," Thalia said with a roll of her eyes. Any further and she'd see her brain. "You've been saying that all day."

"Why help Eragon, you asked," I continued, glaring at my cousin/grand niece. "Well, he and I share some traits I may be able to teach him in."

"Are you a-"

"Percy's the best swords master our family has seen in centuries," Thalia interrupted Jeod. "He'll be able to train the young Dragon Rider."

I gave her a grateful look as Roran let out a laugh. We weren't ready to reveal that I am a Dragon Rider quite yet.

"Eragon, a Dragon Rider?" Roran continued laughing. "Where could he have gotten the dragon? They're extinct for but for the Emperor's.

"Ah," Jeod said, shifting in his seat. "I know the answer to this one..."