"Well…" Eragon let out a long breath as we watched a procession of humans disappear over a distant hill. Considering what we just watched, I couldn't blame him for seeming a little disturbed.

"Well what?" Roran grunted, significantly less composed than his cousin.

"I've traveled among both dwarves and elves, and nothing they did was ever as strange as what those people, those humans, do."

I snorted at the comment. "Never underestimate the capacity for insanity an intelligent creature has, especially if religion or belief is involved. I'm sure both the dwarves and elves have plenty of examples that would turn your stomachs just as much as what we just saw."

I'm not sure I was comfortable with the fact that I was relatively unbothered watching a bunch of priests ritually bleed themselves on an altar, drink human blood, and celebrate when one of their members volunteered to hack off his own right hand, but to be fair…it was far from the worst thing I had seen.

And it was going to take a lot to top Akihiro Kanou's basement of horrors.

"You've seen something worse?" Eragon asked, his curiosity piqued.

"There's a religion out there that believed the sun was the embodiment of their god." I didn't feel like explaining anything I had seen personally and the Aztecs were a good example of how far some crazy fanatics would go without needing to explain too much. "He was locked in an eternal battle with his sister, the moon, and where everyone would perish if he lost because if he did the moon and the stars would devour everything."

"That doesn't sound too strange…"

"Well, he was also empowered by blood, so everyday a priest would cut out the heart of a living sacrifice in front of the entire city to ensure their god would have the strength needed to continue to protect them."

"Sounds monstrous," Roran said. "How could people let them do that?"

I shrugged. "It wasn't monstrous to them. To be a sacrifice was actually considered a great honor, where that person would be sent to an afterlife in paradise or to join the sun god's army against the darkness. Good luck trying to convince them to stop if it meant the destruction of everything if they did."

"Monstrous. Maybe even worse than the Ra'zac." Roran repeated and turned to Eragon. "But that's not important right now. The priests and any magicians among them are gone. Can you search for Katrina now?"

"I'll try, but be ready to run." Eragon said, closing his eyes and presumably trying to locate Roran's finance.

I had to admit I was jealous how easily animancers like him were able to detect things over vast distances. While I hadn't really needed to yet, the only spell I had that was remotely similar required dedicated hardware that I simply couldn't make here.

"I think I found her." The Rider said eventually. "It's hard to be certain because Helgrind is so far away and I've never touched her mind, but I think she is in that peak, concealed somewhere near the very top."

That made sense considering what I knew of the Ra'zac.

Not much was ever really explained about whatever race the Mad King's servants were really called. Apparently they were natural predators of humans in this world which had followed after Eragon's ancestors when they migrated to Alagaësia and despite some avian characteristics, their life cycle had more in common with a butterfly or a moth than a bird.

When they were young, they could somewhat pass as human by hiding under thick clothes and avoiding showing anyone their faces. But when they became adults they somehow morphed into something called a Lethrblaka, a giant hairless creature that sounded like a weird chimera of a bird, a naked mole rat, and a dragon.

I wasn't looking forward to coming face to face with those things.

Roran, of course, had other concerns. "Is she sick? Is she injured? Blast it, Eragon, don't hide it from me; have they hurt her?"

"She is not in pain at the moment. More than that, I could not say." Eragon replied. "It took all my strength just to make out the glow of her consciousness. I wasn't able to communicate with her." A troubled look crossed his face as he stared up at the bare mountain in the distance. "What I didn't find were the Ra'zac or the Lethrblaka. Even if I somehow overlooked the Ra'zac, their parents are so large their lifeforce should blaze like a thousand lanterns, even as Saphira's does. Aside from Katrina and a few other dim specks of light, Helgrind is black, black, black."

"Unless they are being hidden from you." I pointed out. "The Ra'zac managed to ambush you and Brom despite his experience. It might be a spell or even just a natural trait for them, but we should treat the situation like we expect them to be there waiting for us."

"It doesn't matter if they're there or not." Roran said lowly. "It doesn't make sense for us to attack tonight. Night is when the Ra'zac are strongest, and if they are nearby, it would be stupid to fight them when we are at a disadvantage. Agreed?"

"Yes."

"So, we wait until dawn." Roran gestured to the pair of slaves the priests had left behind, chained to the blood covered altar, as a sacrifice. "If those poor wretches are gone by then, we know the Ra'zac are here, and we proceed as planned. If not, we curse our bad luck that they've escaped us, free the slaves, rescue Katrina, and get back to the Varden before the King's agents can hunt us down. Either way, I doubt the Ra'zac will leave Katrina unattended for long, not if Galbatorix wants her to survive so he can use her as a tool against me."

Not a very complex plan, but good enough for me and Eragon. So with nothing else to do for now, the three of us headed back to the camp where Saphira was waiting for us, hidden under an illusionary bounded field on the off chance someone wandered out this far and saw the giant blue flying lizard.

-o-

Despite being woken up several times through the night thanks to Roran and Eragon - and even Saphira, on occasion - acting like teenagers on a camping trip, I was up and ready just before dawn. Eragon and Roran were also up and armored, ready to head out any minute. Saphira hadn't actually been unsaddeled, so she was also ready to go.

So after one final check anything that wasn't needed was abandoned in the camp and I made one final check on the thick bundle of cloth in one of Saphira's bags and made sure it was still undamaged. It was critical to our escape plan after all.

Nothing was wrong with it though, so I simply placed it back in the bag and made sure the quick release string holding it in place wasn't slipping but still able to detach in a hurry if Saphira needed to fight something.

And with that taken care of, the four of us were in the air heading towards the peak of Helgrind.

-o-

As it turns out? Galbatorix wasn't an idiot.

Most of the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka had been hunted down before the Rider's Fall but even with all of them dead, he didn't skimp out on defending his favorite hunter's lair.

The sheer height and steepness of the mountain would have stopped most people from finding it, but that was only the first half. The King had actually used the same method I had on occasion – like on the camp last night – and hid the entrance behind an illusion.

Honestly, I wasn't even sure how Eragon and Saphira found the right spot because one minute we were aimlessly circling the mountain, and the next we were flying straight at what looked like a solid stone wall.

Thankfully for all of us, it actually was an illusion and we flew into a cave rather than getting splattered on a rock face. Still, I was going to have words with the two of them later. Either one could have warned us with a thought!

"Warn me before you do something like that again." Roran had no issues letting his cousin know he wasn't pleased either. But that was all we had time for as everyone looked around for any signs of our enemy.

We were definitely in the right place.

While there was absolutely nothing in the initial cavern, the stone floor was covered in a mat of scratches from something with claws roughly the size of Saphira's all over. Coupled with the several dark tunnels along the walls leading into the mountain and who knows where else, this was clearly the home of something big and predatory.

The smell certainly gave that away.

Keeping an eye on the tunnels I leaned forward over Eragon's shoulder. "Can you sense anything?"

He silently shook his head.

Not that that really meant anything. Like I had mentioned yesterday, the Ra'zac could have been naturally undetectable or hidden by Galbatorix somehow. In fact there were probably wards tied to the entrance that would let them know if something other than them entered this cave so if they were here – and the fact the slaves were missing on the way here hinted they were – they were probably waiting in ambush deeper inside.

Or watching us right now from one of the tunnels…

With that thought sticking in the back of my mind I quickly dismounted Saphira by dismissing the projected straps while Eragon and Roran worked on their own. I hadn't really fought them on using projections rather than the actual straps, despite my projections being stronger and more convenient, because I thought it wouldn't matter much in the end.

I was regretting that choice now.

I landed softly on the scarred floor before either of the other two were more than halfway out of the straps and stared at the tunnels for any sign of movement.

Nothing.

Okay, looks like we had a bit of time then. I that case, I needed–

It turns out it didn't matter what I needed. As if to mock my previous thoughts, Eragon and Saphira's heads jerked up at an unknown sound. I reflexively Reinforced my ears to catch the tail end of what sounded like a bunch of clicks and possibly the sound of claws digging into stone. Half a second later, a massive shape rushed out towards Saphira.

I had a brief moment to spot a long spear-like beak, black beetle-like eyes, and disturbingly fleshy body before the two giants collided.

Eragon and Roran were sent flying through the air at the impact and I managed to dive out of the way to avoid being crushed under Saphira's bulk. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dodge completely as the Lethrblaka's flailing tail caught me under the ribs and flung me into a wall.

My head hit rock and the world vanished in a flash of white.