For Alagaesia: 29. Dawn

Eragon shifted his worn out body slightly. It was better if he could stay immobile because every movement induced a pain in him like being stabbed by a hundred spears. Staying immobile had its own discomfort for it stopped blood flow making his body ache for some movement. The foul smell of the dungeon cell he was in combined with his own dirty body layered with blood and some white liquid that oozed from his wounds was too much to bear that it nauseated him. But his stomach was empty and nothing remained in it to vomit. He wanted sleep to take over him but unconsciously he avoided sleep. He feared that sleeping would again put him through the hell, he had faced thinking he was dead. It was the worst moment in all of his captivity except perhaps the time when Galbatorix had gained entry into his mind for a few fractions of a second. No he wouldn't sleep hereafter. Not without resting his head against Saphira.

These past days had been periods of rest for him; rest of a different kind-rest from the torture of Galbatorix. Rotab and the magician had tried to fit in the shoes of Galbatorix, whipping and branding him to their mind's content. But their handling was so easy to ignore particularly after being taken to the brink of death and insanity by Galbatorix. Still, he wished that he were free to do one thing: kill Rotab and the magician. That desire had been burning in him ever since he had laid eyes upon them. It was not because they tortured him but because of the glee evident in their eyes when they did so. They were abominations; corrupted beyond correction by Galbatorix. The only way to free the world from the them was by killing them. It was justice: some people deserved to die and those two were foremost among them right in the league of Galbatorix himself.

He looked at the ceiling of the dark cell which had cracks. He traced the pattern the cracks formed with his eyes. Anything was better than thinking about his troubles and the people creating them.

There was a disturbance outside his cell and he heard a large number of soldiers running around. 'What has made these grim men run amuck?', he wondered and tried to get a view of what was happening outside. But the chains restraining him didn't allow movement more than a few feet. So he had to contend with listening the various indiscernible voices that reached his ears. But soon the voices were fading. Eragon guessed that the guards were all moving out of the dungeons. It was odd. Why should the soldiers leave the dungeon where Galbatorix's most important possession-Eragon-was kept? It wasn't possible atall unless there was something more important than him, outside the dungeons. But he couldn't quite fathom what was more important to Galbatorix than getting his services.

Maybe Galbatorix has returned. And these soldiers were going to welcome him. The thought sent waves of cold through his spine. But it was highly improbable. If Galbatorix were to know that these soldiers had left guarding the prison, then he would kill each one of them. So what made them leave the prison unguarded? The question was gnawing at Eragon's mind, but he couldn't get any valid explanation. So he let the thought move away from his mind. It didn't matter to him, he decided. He was not going to waste the rarest resting time he was getting over such useless thoughts.

Once thought of Galbatorix's arrival came up on him, the fear that he had been hiding valiantly till then came back. Ever since he learnt that Galbatorix had gone away, without letting anybody know where, he had been afraid that Galbatorix had gone to bring some means of torture even worse than Elva.

He had been thinking about some permanent solution to the fear that Galbatorix may finally break him. But he hadn't achieved anything from it. Now when the fear came back, he racked his mind to get some way to absolutely get rid of the notion of Galbatorix breaking him. He wanted to bind himself from being broken by Galbatorix. Yes. That was it. He had to vow to never break to Galbatorix using his name. It was a simple thing. A vow in the ancient language using one's true identity. The ultimate binding would be created. Just as Murtagh has been bound to Galbatorix. Only the will of the person concerned could break the vow. Even then it was a near impossibility as was the case with Murtagh.

So Eragon closed his eyes and put in all his concentration into finding the right words for the vow because the drug prevented him from even remembering the ancient language properly. He had to focus with all his might, if he had to find the proper wordings. He formed the spell in a way that even if he had to die, he wouldn't let Galbatorix know his true name. Once he was sure that he had the wording right, he set himself as comfortably as he could and called upon himself with his true name and ordered himself not to give in to Galbatorix whatever the cost in the ancient language. He worded the vow so that he would fight until there was energy in him to live which effectively meant that he would die trying to stop Galbatorix from knowing his true name but never give in to the usurper.

Once he finished his vow, he felt immensely relieved. It was as if a huge weight had been removed from his head. He knew now that he could face Galbatorix without fear of being broken. But still he was afraid; afraid of the various things that Galbatorix would put him through and had put him through. He resolved that he wouldn't tell of his fear to anyone-not even to Saphira.

He heard footsteps firmly coming towards him from outside. 'Is it Galbatorix? Has he really returned? If so, is he that angry on me that he is coming to visit me just after arriving?', he thought. But after the initial tension abated, 'Whoever it is, I don't care. Let them hurt me till my life ends. I won't budge.', he said to himself.

When he saw who it was that had come, he relaxed considerably because it was the stupid magician. But it surprised him that he was coming alone. Rotab and him were inseparable abominations. So what has divided them? Does this have something to do with the clamour the soldiers created? Eragon wondered.

When the magician entered the cell, Eragon saw the dismal expression, the fool wore. 'Now this is a very good development. Something good has happened in the world. Why else would this one be sad?', Eragon thought with rising happiness and curiosity.

Without any warning the magician raised his hand and pointing it at Eragon shouted, "Jierda" There was a loud cracking noise and Eragon felt huge pain around his ribs. But something wasn't right. The sound was there, but not from his body. It came from somewhere behind him, outside the cell and curiously from the walls from which he had heard only the gurgling of water till then. But the magician didn't seem to hear it.

"Your filthy dragon has come here", the magician said all of a sudden. Eragon felt like he was struck down by some powerful weapon. The joy and fear that arose in him simultaneously were too much. Saphira was here in Uru'baen. The thought made in shiver and shiver he did uncaring of who was around him.

"Why, Saphira, did you come? I sent you to Arya to keep you safe. Why did she allow you to come?", he asked softly. He didn't have the strength to extend his mind to search for Saphira. But he couldn't quite fathom how Arya and Glaedr let Saphira come to him.

The magician's loud swearing reached his ears but he cared not. "That foul beast of yours.... That horrible creature...it.. it somehow killed Rotab by its trickery. He was not one to succumb to lowly beasts like your dragon", the last words stung Eragon. He wanted to kill the man who called his Saphira a beast. More than that, he wanted to save Saphira from here. He had to act. It was now or never. Whatever happens, he would ensure that Saphira is safely back with Arya.

He jumped up from the stone slab on which he lay chained with all the strength that remained in his failing body. The chains tried to pull him down. But he didn't let it control him. Eragon threw his chained hands around the magician's neck as fast as he could. Even in his weakened state he found strength in his mission-saving Saphira- and before the magician could move away, Eragon had started to strangle him.

The magician struggled and tried to twist away from Eragon but Eragon held on even though his whole body protested against his actions. The magician tried to speak something, probably use magic, but Eragon's grip didn't allow him to. Having lost every way to escape death, the man started hitting hard on Eragon's ribs with his fists. Each blow that the magician dealt him sent a pain akin to a hammer strike to his head, but he maintained the grip thinking of how important it was to help Saphira get out of the city. Gradually the speed and power of the magician's blows went down and Eragon started concentrating on the next move: how to get out of the cell.

Eragon looked around the cell to see if he could find something that he could use to get out of the cell. The magician's blows to Eragon's ribs became aggressive all of a sudden and he wasn't exactly hitting Eragon's ribs anymore. The hits were random but somehow around Eragon's ribs. His broken ribs protested and his eyesight started dimming and flickering.

Somewhere behind him he heard a cracking noise but he couldn't find what caused the noise because his eyesight had dimmed to a level where everything was a vague blur. But he could faintly make out the outline of a very beloved figure, he had memorised by heart. His mind was too slow to react; it had already had enough and was striving for a chance to rest-which he had deprived it resolutely for two days for fear of having to return to the abyss.

His hands that were already powerless and controlled only by the will of his mind let the magician's limp form go and Eragon flopped back all the while looking at the fair figure of Arya who stood almost motionlessly before him. His world reeled in happiness at seeing Arya and agony at not being able to speak to her after this long. Strong hands held him just before he fell to the ground. And he could see Arya's face, flawless and glowing with a strange light of its own so close to his. Having finally rested his head on something other than the hard, wet and cold stone, he said the first words that came to his mind. "You came!!" His voice was too soft for his ears to pick up his own words but he knew he had put in all the surprise he felt in her appearance and the admiration he held for her.

He heard Arya whispering something faintly in his ears but he cared not to listen to the words. The musical voice itself was enough for him. Slowly he felt himself getting steady as a stream of energy flowed into him from Arya. He felt much of his pain receding and resting his head on Arya's lap, he closed his eyes, for the first time since he woke to Saphira's voice two days ago, feeling safe.

When he opened his eyes after a few moments, he noticed that Arya's lips were trembling and her emerald eyes showed a fierceness he had never seen in her before. He hastily lifted his head from her lap and asked, "What happened Arya?" His voice was still too low because of his parched throat.

"What have they done to you?", she asked in a strangely hushed and caring voice. He couldn't explain why but he felt happy when Arya asked him that. It showed that she cared for him. He smiled softly at her and said, "You were in much more bad condition than this for five months" When he saw that she didn't respond to him, he continued, "I don't think I could have stood this abuse for that long."

Arya placed a hard look at him as if scrutinising him and after a while said, "You would have" her tone echoing her hard expression. Yet again Eragon was humbled by the trust she had in him. 'I love you, Arya', he wanted to say, but the words stood blocked by a lump in his throat. But there was nothing of the sort to stop his eyes and so they conveyed her how much he loved her. She turned away hastily breaking their strange and intense eye contact. But at that moment Eragon remembered something and he caught Arya's hand firmly. She turned around sharply alarmed at his action.

'What is it?', her eyes asked but before the words could travel to her lips, he asked pointing the magician's body that lay strewn on the ground, "Saphira. He said she was here and that she killed Rotab. Where is she?"

"She has gone away from the city, Eragon. Soon she will be here", Arya said hastily and after a small pause added, "We can't linger here longer. Come we have to go." And she started running out through the opening she had created in the wall. When she found that Eragon was not following her, she turned around to see Eragon chained to the stone slab. An expression of pure anger flashed across her face and she shouted quite forcefully, "Jierda" and the chains broke.

Eragon looked at his ankles that were chafed red because of the shackles gloomily and tried to run after Arya,  but pain like being jabbed by a sharp spear reached his head and he cried out his agony-the first time he did so freely after being captured-and fell to the ground. Arya turned around and on seeing his state closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply. Then she kept her hand on his leg and said "Waíse heill" Once his leg was healed, she said, "Sorry, I didn't notice your broken leg at first" Eragon nodded his head but didn't say anything because he himself had thought that all his injuries were already healed. Such was his happiness at seeing Arya and knowing Saphira was safe.

"Let's go..", Arya started to say, but then hesitated and looked at Eragon carefully for sometime and then said, "You won't be able to run. I will carry you" Before Eragon could protest, she said, "Slytha" and he fell asleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself resting against the walls of some tunnnel. It brought back uncomfortable memories of his travel through the strange tunnel after leaving the abyss. He panicked and looked around only to see Arya seated just ahead of him in the tunnel, looking outside through a small opening in the grills separating the tunnel from the outside world. Eragon relaxed and waited patiently for Arya to turn around.

After a long while, Arya turned and on seeing him awake said, "You are awake. Good. I healed your injuries as best as I can for now although several severe wounds still remain. You won't have too much difficulty in walking" She paused to see if he had anything to say, but when he remained silent she continued, "In a few minutes, we will enter the city. The soldiers here haven't yet been alerted to your escape. They are still reeling from Saphira's arrival although it has been a whole night since she showed up to them. I have no idea where Galbatorix is but Murtagh and Thorn have gone after Saphira. So we have to be careful when we enter the city."

Eragon didn't understand half of what she said although he understood two things: Arya didn't know that Galbatorix wasn't in the city and Murtagh had gone chasing Saphira. The second information sent chills down his spine and turned towards Arya sharply and said, his confusion evident, "Murtagh has tailed Saphira? How? But.. You... you... are calm. What .. if Saphira.. she"

"Calm down Eragon... She is safe and is returning to us. Murtagh is fighting Blodhgarm and nineteen other elves.", Arya said.

Eragon's relaxed in happiness and relief and he said, "She is safe." And let out a heavy breath.

After a few more minutes of spying, Arya turned to Eragon and said, "Now is the best time to leave the city, Eragon. Can you walk?" Eragon became annoyed a little at the question. She was asking him if he could walk when he was craving for something else other than the slimy, filthy and dark holes, dungeons and chambers.

"Of course, I can", he said his tone indicating his mood. Arya looked at him peculiarly for a second and then said, "You have to hide your identity first"

Eragon was taken by surprise by her sudden change of subject but she didn't wait for his reply and went on to rummage her bag. Eragon waited, supported by the slimy walls of the tunnel, for Arya to explain what she was doing. She held out her hand towards him quite unexpectedly and only then did he notice that he had been staring at her. The thought of being caught in the act of looking her made him blush but Arya didn't seem affected. She was holding a cloak in her hand; a very ordinary cloak for a princess to carry. Eragon looked at her incredulously. "What is it for?", he asked.

"It is to conceal your face", she said pointing to the hood in the cloak. Eragon lifted his left hand and scratched the large beard that had grown on his face. He had noticed it only moments ago. He didn't exactly know how he missed it all these days when he was alone in prison because it was a good few inches long. And with his right, he got the cloak from Arya and threw the cloak around his back and pulled the hood above his head all the while ignoring the pain that the action brought him.

"Follow me", Arya said and walked ahead. Eragon stood and limped behind her. Arya said, "Jierda" and the grill broke away flooding the tunnel with bright morning light.

"Argh..", Eragon said and covered his face with his hands, the brightness hurting his eyes after months of being in darkness. Arya was looking at him with a pitying look when he opened his eyes again. "What?", he asked irritated, not wanting her to pity him.

Her face turned hard instantly and she said, "Nothing. We have to be quick. Come" and walked a few feet before jumping into some water, the splash of the water uncharacteristically loud for an elf. Eragon bit his tongue and cursed himself for his actions for he was sure they took him a step farther from Arya in their wobbling friendship. He took two fast and painful steps and jumped into the water-body himself.

"There aren't soldiers around here. We should get out of the moat soon though. If somebody sees us inside here, we may be in for trouble", Arya's voice came from somewhere behind him. He turned around to see her swimming towards the wall bordering the moat and proceeded to follow her.

Swimming was so painful that he rested once in a while panting for breath. Arya always waited for him patiently to recover, but her face was completely emotionless. It made him even more miserable because he knew she was upset over his actions. But he also knew that this wasn't the right place or time to ask for her forgiveness and so he followed her silently. When they reached the wall, Arya dug small step-like structures right till the top of the wall with magic and stood aside and said, "Climb the wall"

Eragon looked at the steep rise of the wall. He knew it would hurt but he also knew that at the end of the climb his freedom was waiting; freedom from the confines of closed spaces. He looked up at the sky which was not yet completely blue with traces of red at the edges of the horizon that indicated that the day was young and gritting his teeth, caught the first projection and lifted his body.

The pain that followed his actions was akin to being branded with a red-hot iron rod, but Eragon kept on climbing trying his level best to ignore the pain. His hands started trembling by their own will and his head spun like he was falling freely from the sky. But he went on not wanting to show Arya his weakness, especially not after his earlier actions.

After a few minutes or hours of climbing, he didn't know, he felt all his pains vanish all of a sudden. Confused he turned down to see Arya.

"You were in pain", she said plainly still maintaining her emotionless look. Eragon turned back up and started climbing, 'I don't understand her. I have never', he complained to himself while increasing his speed.

"Be careful, Eragon", Arya's tone voiced real concern. When he turned to look at her, she said, "You can't feel pain but still you will hurt yourself if you overexert.", returning to her emotionless self.

Carefully, Eragon climbed the wall and reached the top. In seconds Arya was by his side, having climbed the wall as swiftly as she could. "We are drenched", she said. Keeping her hand on Eragon's cloak, she said the spell for drying and his clothes dried instantly.

"Thank you", he said. She nodded her head and said, "We have to go out of the city before news of your escape reaches the streets"

Eragon felt hopeless now. Get out of the city? How? His escape from the prison was itself a miracle. He didn't still understand how Arya found a way into the prison cell. "But how? The gates will probably be thronging with soldiers and there is no other way out of this thrice blasted city, is there?", he asked his frustration and forlornness showing through.

"Calm down, Eragon. The gates have magician, not soldiers.", Arya said. Eragon's guts clenched. 'Magicians?! Great!! Now we can escape', he thought. "But they won't be checking people leaving the city thoroughly. Further, those magicians are nothing compared to our powers", Arya continued unaffected by the forlorn look Eragon wore.

"If you say so", Eragon murmured and followed Arya who had walked ahead already.

"Lets join them", Arya hissed in Eragon's ears pointing at a group of peasants going out of the city. Eragon nodded although his face was covered in the hood and invisible to Arya. Silently they walked towards the group and mingled with them. None in the group cared about them and Eragon blew air from his mouth in relief. He had a doubt that their clothing-his and Arya's-was the reason for their acceptance into the group without question: the clothes were so simple and even dirty just like that of the other peasants. He knew Arya had her graceful elven sword concealed in her dress and he wore the belt of Beloth the Wise, that contained the most perfect diamonds in the land. But both artifacts were comfortably hidden and so they looked quite normal on the outside.

They walked without incident towards the city gates. When they neared the gates, Eragon noticed that there was no checking for people going out of the city. He was immensely relieved and hoped that he could now get his freedom for real. He strolled towards the gate, Arya by his side.

"Wait!!", a gate-guard said all of a sudden. "Everybody stop. A prisoner has escaped the dungeons. We hear that he is very dangerous. Anybody moves, that will be the end of your lives", the guard continued. Eragon's head started spinning and his eyes darted around for any escape route. His legs moved ahead of their own will. "Stay still", Arya hissed from by his side.

He obeyed her although his mind was still racing through the area looking for some escape route. The soldiers were carefully speaking to each of the peasants that stood before him. Their inquiry was being followed by a magician's mental check up. "Be calm, Eragon. Let me handle this", Arya whispered to him. Eragon forced himself to be calm and not act out of desperation because he knew, if there was somebody who could handle this situation better than him, then it was Arya.

Eragon noticed that the drug's effect had completely wore off and so tried to reach for the magical barrier in his mind. When he found it, he pushed it aside and said softly, "Brisingr" A small twig that lay by his foot caught fire instantly. He hastily put his leg on the twig putting out the fire.

"This is no testing ground, Eragon", Arya admonished him quite heatedly, but he didn't care. He was now confident that he could protect himself and more importantly Arya from any dangers that might come to them. He knew being protective of Arya was completely unnecessary because she was probably a better warrior than him. Nevertheless, he always felt the urge to defend her from all dangers and if possible be a shield to her against every danger.

"On what business are you going?", a soldier asked bringing Eragon out of his thoughts.

"My husband is sick. He needs medicine and we heard that there is a very powerful healer in Teirm", Arya replied. Eragon felt happy that she called him her 'husband', even though he knew that it was part of a made up story to escape the city. 'But how good will it be, if only it were true?', he thought and blushed for thinking as such.

"And why is he wearing a hood?", the soldier asked bringing Eragon from his thoughts yet again.

"He is affected by some terrible disease that spreads if he but sees another man directly, sire", Arya said stressing the last part of the sentence. Eragon coughed forcibly, playing along.

The soldier moved a few steps back and said, "Could..you make him remove the hood? It is necessary."

"I am afraid, it may affect your health, good sire", Arya said playing on the soldier's fear. The soldier tried to peer into Eragon's face and after a hasty and completely useless examination said, "Cleared to go" Eragon almost laughed at the soldier's expression: terrified and confused.

The magician came forward for his test and extended a tendril of thought towards Eragon's mind. With all the energy, he had, Eragon struck back at the magician gaining an opening into the magician's mind. But the effort cost him too much and he was about to fall unconscious. Arya placed her palm on his arms and a steady flow of energy entered his body. Simultaneously, she prodded his mind and gained entry into his mind. Through his mind, she made the magician say, "Cleared" and burned the magician's memory much as she did when entering the city.

'Don't you have any sense, Eragon!! Why did you attack him?', Arya yelled in Eragon's mind as they walked out of the city gates. "He attacked me first. I just wanted to protect myself", Eragon said indignant that she would get angry at him for doing the right thing.

"What did I say you? I told you that I would handle it. Did you think that I said so because I thought you were incapable? No. I said so because you had very little strength left in you. And what did you do? Spend even that in breaking that man's mind. I was just about to break him, when you took matters in your own hands. Be more responsible hereafter. So much is at stake and if you are as reckless as this then we can't hope to win this war", she said. Eragon was irritated but he saw the truth in her words. He should have trusted her to protect him. But by taking things in his own hands he made the task even more difficult.

'I do trust her. With my life. I acted on instinct', he made peace with himself and looking at Arya in the eye he said, "I am sorry, Arya. I acted on instinct. I will see to it that it doesn't happen again"

"Good. And its fine, Eragon. Only be careful hereafter. We can't lose you", she said and looked behind for some reason. But the next second, she said, "Run, Eragon" and pulled his arms urging him to follow her.

Confused Eragon turned back to see what it was that made Arya this nervous. There was whole company of around fifty mounted soldiers headed straight to where they were walking. He took off behind Arya the next instant. Feeling no pain helped immensely because his injuries bled badly. But he cared not to see to it and concentrated hard on putting as much distance as possible between them and the approaching soldiers.

But after about half of an hours's running, he became too tired to continue and slowed down. Arya turned to see him and said, "Come along Eragon. They are gaining on us" He indicated that he couldn't continue by nodding his head sideways. Arya stopped running and came up to him.

"Remove that", she said. 'That' being the cloak he wore to conceal his face. He obliged. Arya's eyes widened when she looked at his shirt. He didn't know why and he looked down at his shirt. It was soaked in blood. He understood now why he was that tired.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?", Arya asked harshly.

"Because I didn't know. There was no pain. I only felt tired", Eragon said wanting her to understand his situation. A flash of recognition came over Arya's face and she whispered, "The painless spell" and then continued in a more kind voice, "I am sorry Eragon. I didn't foresee this when I cast the spell on you. I only wanted to comfo..", she stopped abruptly at that and said, "Never mind. You can't run with this. We have to rest."

"But they will get to us", Eragon said pointing the soldiers who were closing in on them, fighting the dizziness that threatened to overcome him.

"We can't do anything about it now.", Arya said and helped him towards a huge tree. Once there, she nearly forced him to lay against the tree trunk.

"Arya, but how will you take on all those soldiers by yourself?", Eragon asked worried.

"We shall see to it later. Rest now", she said and walked away from him towards the approaching soldiers.

"Arya...", Eragon called after her not wanting to see her in trouble on behalf of him.

"Trust me, Eragon", Arya's voice held an edge that said that she had made up her mind. Eragon knew it was useless to try to dissuade her after this point. However alien her character was to him, he knew this about her as well as he knew Saphira. He looked at her back as she took the concealed sword in her hand. He was surprised to see her using Brisingr. But he was glad she did because it was the best weapon to wield in such dire situations.

The raw yells of the soldiers and whinnying of their stallions reached his ears even as he was fighting to keep himself from drifting into unconsciousness. He heard Arya hissing under her breath, "stenr, flauga un skera" from just ahead of him. Five sharp stones flew from beside Arya and struck down five soldiers who were racing ahead of the group with tremendous force.

"blöthr", Arya said after a while when five new soldiers had taken the place of the fallen ones. And the five horses halted their run abruptly. Some six soldiers who were coming behind the first line of five soldiers crashed into the standing horses and fell down head first. Eragon couldn't quite fathom how Arya managed to hold five strong horses without even breaking sweat. Then it dawned on him that she wasn't using magic atall. She was just controlling the horses with the ancient language. 'Genius!', he thought.

"Gánga villtr", Arya said calmly and the five horses which Eragon knew where controlled by Arya started running amuck into the marching ranks of soldiers and the whole area looked like a stampede. The soldiers were pushed down from their horses and some died by the trampling of their own horses. Still they were trying valiantly to reach Arya. She made quick work of the few soldiers who managed to reach her passing the mess. Brisingr looked as fit in her hand as it was in his and he admired the grace with which she wielded the sword.

Somebody tried to attack his mind and he quickly raised his mental barriers. He noticed that it was a man caught in the stampede who attacked his mind. Eragon waited for his chance because he knew the man would soon be distracted by something in the wild stampede. As expected in a few seconds the man's concentration wavered and Eragon took his chance and attacked the man's mind gaining entrance easily. Then he said, "deyja" and killed the terrified man.

The soldiers were so diminished in numbers that Eragon let out his pent up breath in relief. He hadn't expected to win the fight. But it had been won so easily, thanks to Arya's presence of mind. A few soldiers who remained ran back towards the city and Arya let them go. She then turned to look at Eragon. He nodded in approval and admiration of her actions with his lips slightly curled up. Arya returned the gesture. Both fell silent unsure of what to talk. The strange and tense eye-contact between them, which had become a norm lately during their conversations set in.

"We have to move soon", Arya said hastily breaking the eye contact. Eragon nodded and looked at the ground. A small pool of water near them shimmered black all of a sudden and poised they peered into it. Soon Blodhgarm came into view. He bowed and said, "Drottningu".

Eragon moved near the pool and Blodhgarm noticed him. "Shadeslayer!! How good it is to see you again.", he said.

"Thank you for your concern Blodhgarm-vodhr.", Eragon said noticing the genuine happiness that spread across the wolf-like-elf's face.

"What have you contacted us for, Blodhgarm-vodhr?", Arya asked.

"Drottningu, The red dragon and his rider have managed to escape us. They are coming towards Uru'baen. Although, their energy reserves are too low for them to be of a threat to you. Also Saphira Bjartskular will be there soon.", Blodhgarm said looking generally at the two.

A distant roar of a dragon was heard then and Eragon ran out of the tree's shade, a new energy suffusing in him. His Saphira was coming to him. He extended his mind as far as he could not caring about his health and shouted, "Saphira!!!", both with his voice and mind. Saphira was in the sky fast approaching him. The morning sun's rays fell on her and she glimmered like a blue jewel in the sky.

'Eragon!!!', her mind entered his and she let out a huge torrent of fire from her mouth. Eager to reach her, Eragon ran towards her and likewise she redoubled her speed. Both their thoughts mixed in his mind and he felt livelier than ever. It was like he was the sun and Saphira was the rays that emitted from him. Without her, he was useless. But when she was with him, he was the greatest force in all land. Having missed her presence in his mind-his second voice-he was overjoyed with their mental contact that he just ignored the giddiness he felt. 'Little One', the caring, loving, kind, concerned and beautiful voice of Saphira said to him. It was all like a dream. He prayed to every god of the dwarves and humans that it shouldn't be one. He didn't care that Oromis and Arya didn't believe in god. If praying could keep this real and prevent it from becoming a dream, then he would pray for all his life.

'Oh, Saphira.... I love you', he said. She sent all the warmth of her love to him making him feel like himself again. He would gladly face even a thousand Galbatorix's, if it was what he had to do to ensure that he wasn't separated from Saphira again.

Author's Note:

Ah. so there it is. Eragon and Saphira have finally reunited. And what more? Arya is with them too. And Glaedr. All seems perfect. But Murtagh is coming towards them. What do you suppose will happen to the happily reunited people?

I used two old norse words in here that wasn't in the vocabulary introduced by Paolini:

SKERA  means cut

VILLTR means amuck(astray)