In his most private thoughts Ajihad found it amusing how the threat of imminent death and destruction removed many of the petty arguments he needed to navigate from day to day. If the Varden ran this smoothly on the regular he could scarcely imagine the kind of progress they could make.

Unfortunately, it seemed reality was less kind and that was precisely what he was dealing with. All the cooperation in the world didn’t matter when there was no time to leverage it. Ajihad just hoped the presence of the newest free dragon rider was enough to let them hold out. If they fell here…

“How are the tunnel preparations?” He asked Jörmundur, his second in command and longtime friend.

“Finished. Eragon and Arya’s assistance was enough to collapse all the marked tunnels with some time to spare.”

“And the warriors?”

Jörmundur’s grimace was not reassuring.

“Most of them are under equipped. The smiths are trying to hammer out as much last minute armor as they can but a good amount will be marching with only a sword and shield.”

At least they would have that much. Another unfortunate fact of life was the Varden was not a rich organization. If not for the generosity of the dwarves, they would’ve been bankrupted several times in the past few years. But the dwarves also had lives to lead and could not simply give away weapons and armor. Ajihad simply hoped what little they could spare would ensure fighting the Urgals was not an immediate death sentence for his forces.

“I wasn’t expecting otherwise, but it still is unpleasant to hear.” the leader of the Varden sighed. “Anything else I should know about the preparations?”

“Whatever you do, do not make an enemy of Alexandria.” his second said gravely.

Ajihad was surprised. Jörmundur was not usually one to make absolute statements like that. Even receiving word that she had bested Arya in a restricted duel had not caused this reaction. What had the girl done now?

Upturned everything their healers knew about the art, it turned out. Not only had she provided them with some incredibly powerful enchanted objects that could near instantly put many of the Du Vrangr Gata’s poorest healers into the same level of mastery as their strongest magicians, she had also handed out more advanced knowledge about the body than all the healers probably knew combined before wandering off to set up even more magical defences that no one had the first clue how they functioned.

Their golden-haired visitor had revealed herself to be a magician of terrifying strength along with being a formidable warrior in her own right these past few days. No wonder she had been unconcerned with any actions he could take against her.

“Do you think there is any chance of her working for Galbatorix?” it was incredibly unlikely at this point, but it still needed to be asked.

“None. The Mad King would never let one of his agents spread information like that outside one of his recruiting grounds. He would make them swear binding oaths long before they left his reach as well.”

Ajihad nodded, that was what he had concluded as well.

Where she came from was still a mystery, but it was one he could ignore until the crisis was over… or they would all be too dead to care.

He left Jörmundur to deal with his own work and moved to the field the future of the Varden would be settled on. He had to ensure Murtagh’s release would not cause issues and a request to make of Eragon.

He even saw Alexandria working her way through the crowds but made no move to intercept her, there was simply too much to do with the upcoming attack. Her presence was a comfort though.

Before his departure from the Varden and his later death, Brom had been one of a very small number of assets that had the power and skill to kill a dragon rider Ajihad could call upon and while Eragon would hopefully grow into that role, he was still far too uneducated to face either Galbatorix or his red dragon rider. Alexandria, on the other hand, seemed skilled enough that with the support of the Varden they had hope of resisting the mad king and his new rider should one of them appear during this fight. Possibly even killing the latter.

Ajihad just hoped that that wasn’t a gamble they would need to take today. They had thought it impossible for their spies to not notice one of the two dragons heading east, but at the same time they had thought it impossible for Galbatorix to sneak an army close enough that they would not notice.

Those thoughts were banished as quickly as they could. There had been no sign of the red dragon rider leaving the capital yet from when the second newest Rider presented himself to Galbatorix’s service. Ajihad would just need to trust his agent’s hadn’t been fooled and focus on the present.

Another runner approached and soon Ajihad no longer had the time to be lost in his thoughts. But when the Urgals reached them, they would be prepared.