Ragin opened his eyes, startled awake by the enormous grating of a massive door. Behind him Akaysha groaned, the dragoness turning her chained muzzle to look at the wall, which had been opened entirely. The two had been waiting for what Ragin estimated to be over a day. He had been bought food a couple of times, each with its own drug, and while he wanted to starve the drug out, he was too weak to even attempt it. It turned out three weeks of comatose really destroyed the body.

He was startled to find nearly the entire wall being slid open, revealing the people behind it. There were six of them, all riders based on the blades at their hips. There was also a dragon waiting, red in colour and a good couple of feet larger than Akaysha. Ragin felt himself go still as he recognised one of the guards. The reddish blond hair of Freya was impossible to miss.

They made eye contact, and she glared at him, the hatred still very evident in her eyes. He sighed, turning his gaze away. Akaysha growled at the six of them, but the red dragon just snarled back, drowning out her warning with his own. It seemed they were ready for the two of them to resist. Ragin placed a hand on Akaysha's shoulder, looking into her eye.

'Don't resist,' he told her, 'It'll just make everything worse.'

She looked at him, struggling with the idea of submitting, but eventually she just lowered her head, sending her reluctant acknowledgement that he was right. Ragin forced himself to his feet, leaning against Akaysha's shoulder for support. He looked at who he knew to be his escorts. They could very well be leading him to his death.

"Put your hands out in front of you," an Urgal stepped forward with a pair of cuffs.

Ragin did as he was told, wincing as the metal was clamped over his wrists. Again Akaysha rumbled, but the red dragon just drowned her out with his own snarl. She looked at him, annoyed. Ragin felt the flickers of rage in her, picturing the other dragon's blood over her talons. At this moment, she hated everyone in the room, everyone except Ragin of course.

'Akaysha,' he warned his dragon again, 'Don't.'

She snorted, looking away. After a couple of moments, another one of the riders approached her, this one a female elf, while the red dragon watched Akaysha closely. They unlocked the chains from her feet and tail, but kept the muzzle and the one trapping her wings.

"Get up," the elf told the dragoness.

Akaysha glared at her, before obeying the order, standing to her feet rather shakily. She was nearly as weak as her rider, and Ragin couldn't help but feel slightly proud of her stubbornness, despite the position they were in. It was only his words that were making her even slightly compliant, and the knowledge that anything she did could end in death.

They forced Akaysha to walk in front, with the red dragon close behind, and Ragin behind him. What Ragin had thought was his old room was actually somewhere at the other side of New Doru Araeba. It led into a hall with a far larger corridor than the one outside his room, that and the fact the wall opened.

As they walked he felt Freya's glare in the back of his head. He forced himself to ignore it. The girl's hatred for him was understandable. It made him a little surprised that she had been chosen for this job, though he guessed she wanted at least some part in making him receive punishment. She was one of the few that he doubted would be satisfied with him simply being exiled.

They reached the main hall, and Ragin was astounded to find a small parade of dragons and their riders waiting for him. They walked through the centre, wary gazes and angry eyes following him along the way. He felt Akaysha's unease, a low grumble constantly vibrating through her body as she lowered her head, like a caged animal. She really wished she still had her magic.

They walked into the council room, and Ragin's trepidation increased. He saw Eragon and Saphira sitting in their usual spot, the elder rider with his hands clasped on the stone table in front of him, and the blue dragoness an ominous presence behind him. The other leading riders, one for each race, were in their own places. Logan was still considered the human representative it seemed, and Sashi sat behind him, seemingly rather sad. Theaden was their as well, though seemed deep in thought, and didn't even glance Ragin's way.

What really surprised the young rider was the presence of a sixth member at the table. He could recognise the enormous green form of Firnen sitting near Saphira, and the elven queen Arya also at the table. Another green dragon also sat with them. A massive creature, possibly bigger than Saphira, with a long scar running down its throat. He only recognised the dragon from Akaysha's memories. The king of the wild dragons, Sharrag.

The last prominent member was only present through a large scrying mirror. Ragin recognised the large royal robes and the crown on this man's head as part of the royalty. He was King Aaron, monarch of Alageasia. While having never personally seen the man, Ragin had always thought of him as a reasonable king. Not the best, not the worst, but as they currently sat, he could see the dark anger that clouded the king's judgement. Akaysha had destroyed one his cities and slaughtered thousands of his citizens after all.

There were others in the room as well. Ragin recognised the trainee riders he had once called his friends. He saw the white dragon Fruessa, who sat solemnly watching the proceedings. Many others as well, all people he had known from his time at New Doru Araeba. It seemed everyone who had ever met him had come forth to judge what was to happen.

"Ragin," Eragon's voice boomed through the room, empowered only through magic, "Akaysha, you have been bought here under the charges of the massacre of Gilead, theft of the highest degree, murder, and practicing forbidden magics. We are here to decide your fate."

The rider was slightly surprised they hadn't decided already, expecting to be given his sentence right away. It seemed they were going to give him a chance to defend himself, as well as Akaysha. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at all, especially considering Theaden didn't seem entirely present in the room. It was a though the elf had lost the energy to hate him anymore.

Beside him Akaysha growled softly, though he felt her fear at facing down the largest and most powerful dragons in the world. Even with her magic, she doubted she could do much against them and their riders. Ragin stepped up next to her forepaw and sent her comfort through their bond. She responded with silent gratitude.

"Ebrithil," Ragin bowed his head, "I am sorry for my betrayal. I know you have seen the events that transpired in my head, so I can't tell you more than you already know. But everything I did... I didn't have a choice. I couldn't break out of my oath to Tharin, and even if I could Akaysha's life would have been in danger. Every piece of manipulation and deceit was to save her life. And Akaysha... you know she was under a spell at Gilead. Even if you are to punish me, she deserves none of it. What happened wasn't her fault."

A sigh came from Eragon's mouth at the words. The king in the mirror narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. It seemed like the entire room was weighing what Ragin had said and deciding whether it was enough to excuse him for what he did.

It was Bayel, the dwarven member of the council, that spoke first, "While Ragin's actions were indeed influenced under oath, they were not necessary. Yes, the promise to Tharin forced him, to some extent, to steal a dragon egg, but it did not force him to go to the extremities he did. He manipulated a young dragon, stole her egg, and in the end the egg was destroyed because of it."

"You must remember he also killed Tharin, a rather troublesome individual, in the process," It was Logan that spoke up, "While his actions were evil, you cannot say that the outcome was entirely bad."

"The outcome..." King Aaron spoke finally, "Was a city, and thousands of people, massacred. Something, you have said, that he took a part in when he slaughtered a squadron of soldiers which had all the right to try and fight back. He killed them without a second thought to protect the thing that forced them into that instance in the first place."

Ragin winced at his words. He remembered the dozen people he had killed when trying to defend Akaysha. They had been trying to kill her however, and he wouldn't let that happen. They had ignored his warnings and decided to attack him. He would have done the same to anyone that threatened Akaysha's life.

'You forget their greatest crime,' it was Sharrag that spoke, the king of the dragons reaching into the minds of everyone present, Eragon speaking softly to the king in translation, 'Their removal of wild magic from the world is bound to have untold consequences. The natural balance has shifted, for the worse. We do not know what the disappearance of the origin of magic will do to this world.'

"With all due respect, Sharrag," Arya spoke, "We cannot consider this, as the spell they cast was not an intentional one. We have yet to see the consequences, and until we do, I do not think we can make judgements on the two that had no control over what happened with the spell. I do however think they should be held responsible for the massacre of Gilead. Yes, Akaysha was changed by Tharin's spell, but we are no longer dealing with Akaysha as she originally was, but the terrifying dragon she was changed into. You forget, Galbatorix's dragon, Shruikan, was not responsible for who he became, but his death was necessary, otherwise he would have done his best to destroy us all."

Akaysha snarled at her, and Ragin narrowed his eyes. Was she really suggesting they kill Akaysha?

Eragon sighed softly, shaking his head, "There is some other information that I think would be useful to know as well, and may sway some of your thinking. It was found, somewhat recently, that Akaysha is with egg."

The dark dragoness let out a snort of surprise, and Ragin blinked. He looked at his dragon, studying her emotions inside her. She had no idea, obviously, and with all that had been happening recently she hadn't even considered the possibility. Sure, she had spent the night of Dagshelgr Invocation hoping a child, but that had quickly been forgotten the day later. She didn't know what to feel. Ragin couldn't help but smile slightly. If anything, this meant that they would be keeping her alive, at least for now. Arya seemed surprised as well, though her face frowned thoughtfully, studying the accused dragon and rider.

"I don't understand why this is a problem," King Aaron said angrily, "There are plenty of dragons now, the death of one that deserves it, even if it is pregnant, would not affect anything!"

There were a number of dangerous growls at the king's words, but it was Eragon that spoke, "With all due respect, your majesty, while justice for Akaysha might be up for debate, the hatchling she will mother has done nothing that requires it to share her fate. The decision for her punishment will have to be saved for another time."

Ragin let out a breath of relief. Akaysha was safe... for now.

"We come back to Ragin then," the urgal council rider spoke, "A man who, despite all his evil, has rid the world of arguably a greater one. A rider who, like us all, would do anything to keep his dragon safe. I think we are asking the wrong questions. What Ragin did was wrong, yes. That is no question. I believe the real answer we should be looking for is what we would have done in the same situation? Each of us has extensively traversed Ragin's mind. We know what he was thinking, and what he was going through. The question that each of us need to ask ourselves is, does him acting out of his selfish love for the dragon who chose him make his murdering and manipulation excusable?"

"What do you think Breg?" Logan asked the urgal.

"I do not believe it does," Breg turned to Ragin, staring into the rider's soul with a wisdom unusual for his kind, "Because, despite his obvious knowledge of the ancient language, the tricks he used to disregard his own oath to us, and complete mastery in the art of sabotage, he made no effort in trying to do the same to this Tharin fellow. Fear was a part of that yes, but what it comes down to is that he would rather kill, maim, and sabotage, than try to avoid it. The greatest example of this is when he killed the men attack him and Akaysha. He could have easily put them to sleep or knocked them unconscious. Instead he opted to kill them."

Ragin glared at the urgal rider, but he didn't know what to say against that. It was true, every action he had taken had been that... but in the end he hadn't made the effort to do the same as he did with the riders. There was likely one way, or another, that he could have done to help the rider's figure out who really wanted him to steal the egg. But he couldn't trust them, and Tharin was too strong. If he had found out than Akaysha would have died. And the men attacking Akaysha... he had warned them what would happen.

"He was under a lot of emotional duress," Logan said, the response seeming weak even in Ragin's ears.

"Emotions do not excuse action Logan. You know this well," Breg replied.

Silence echoed around the chamber at the weight of his words. Ragin wanted to speak up, defend himself, but he didn't know what to say. He felt Akaysha's fear for him growing, and she protectively curled her tail around, so it lay in front of him, effectively closing him off to anyone else. His worry began to grow as he looked at Eragon's thoughtful face, the elder rider staring at the stone bench. Eragon turned to the one person in the council who had yet to speak.

"Theaden, you have been oddly silent during this trial. What do you have to say about all this?" Eragon asked the elf.

"I think..." Theaden began, his words slow and thought out, "that we are all missing the point. Breg, you are right in saying that Ragin could have found other ways in which to break Tharin's oath. But with the way he was brought up I do not think it possible for him personally to have found another way. So, our question can't be, what did he do, nor why did he do it. No, those are to difficult, I think we need to understand who Ragin is. Who you are."

The last words he directed at the thief. He squirmed slightly under the elf's gaze, slightly surprised at how methodical Theaden sounded. It was a stark difference from what he was used to from the elf.

"What do you mean?" it was King Aaron that asked.

"Let me put it this way," the elf began, "From the moment he arrived here, Ragin has had it in his mind to escape. He deliberately worded the oath so that he was able to do so. We know he once hated the riders, maybe not so much anymore however, as while he had many chances to escape, he never took them. We know he loves Akaysha, as any of us would our own partner of heart and soul. We know he would do anything for his dragon, as would us all. Something I don't think you would understand your majesty."

"Are you saying what he did was justified?" King Aaron narrowed his eyes.

"What I am saying is that nothing Ragin did was out of malicious intent. But there is something that I think we have all overlooked. That is, he told Tharin he would destroy the riders if he let Akaysha go, and later, when he was in the position to stop Akaysha once and for all, you saw a slight click where he would follow her to the ends of the earth, and even help her in her conquest. It was small, but I saw it, and I can't help but wonder... what would happen if the riders hadn't brought the two of them back here... or if they hadn't unleashed the uncontrollable power of wild magic. You see... who Ragin is, is someone who would follow their loyalty to the ends of the earth, but that loyalty doesn't lay with us... it lays with his dragon. With his motivation. Even so far as with Vanir himself. I am not saying this out of bias, you all saw his mind.

But you said something, my lady Arya, that really got me thinking. You see, if Akaysha's situation is so like what Shruikan suffered... then who is Ragin? If he is willing to do the evillest of actions in order to save her... what would he do should she die? It may be a stretch to say he would try and steal another egg... but how would we know. He has a darkness in him like no other rider has had before. No other rider except one."

"You're saying he is like Galbatorix," Eragon said softly.

"Exactly, Ebrithil Eragon, but unlike Galbatorix, he already has the knowledge and power of forbidden magic at his fingertips. And now he also has a dragon that shares the same darkness as him," Theaden said.

There was no smugness or triumph in the elf's voice, no sensation of victory. If anything, there was slight sorrow, which had Ragin realise that this was not Theaden's usual bias opinion. This was what he thought. There was no specific malice against Ragin himself, only a staunch realisation of what Theaden had figured out while studying the young rider's mind.

The silence was broken as Eragon stood up from his seat, "I have made my decision."

Akaysha rumbled softly, and Ragin stared at the ground, going through what had been said at a rapid rate.

"Akaysha," the leader of the rider's began, "Your bond will be broken with your rider, and you will spend the rest of your days in the mountains as a wild dragon. Sharrag will decide your punishment after you lay your egg."

The dark dragoness let out a strangled roar, and before Ragin could stop her, she pounced from where she had been standing, her claws outstretched as she aimed for Eragon. He didn't even flinch, simply putting out his hand and speaking a soft spell. The dragoness fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Ragin," Eragon continued as though nothing had happened, "For murder, manipulation, and refusal to lay your old life aside... I'm sorry, we gave you the chance... you will be put to death."

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Hey guys! New chapter! The next one is the final chapter... XD What do you think will happen now? I am eager to hear the response. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. The next one should be out by the end of the week. See ya!

Pennator^^