Chapter 1 :

Eragon woke early on the morning after the battle as the sun began to rise over the Burning Plains. He had not slept well that night, dreams of Murtagh and Galbatorix and the last dragon egg kept creeping into his head. Worst of them all was the dream about Arya.

He pushed the thoughts to the back of his head as he saw Roran and Saphira make their way through the tents towards him. Saphira's saddle was on and packed. "Ready?" asked Roran.

"For what?" Yawned Eragon, stretching

"To rescue Katrina."

"Already? But-"

"You're not backing out on this, I need your help."

"I know, but, I-I" Roran gave him a stern look. "I just need to talk to Narsuada first."

"Okay, let's go."

Eragon mounted Saphira, who said brightly "Good morning, little one," and held out a hand to help Roran up, but he looked worried and said, "Um, I think I'll just walk."

"No, you won't. I'm not going to allow you to walk all the way to Helgrind by yourself; you need to try it before we go." Roran looked even more worried, but allowed Eragon to pull him into the saddle behind him. "Ready?" Asked Saphira. She didn't wait for a response and jumped off the ground, causing Roran to yelp with surprise.

But Eragon wasn't listening to Roran's muttering of "Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down." His thoughts had trailed back to his dreams.

"Are you alright?" Roran asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." He lied

"No you are not. Remember, you can't hide anything from me. What I want to know is why you dwell on it so much. No one blames you or judges you. We all know you are not your brother of father."

"Well, what if I judge myself. I know just as well as you do I'm not them but-"

"And stop thinking of Arya. If you walk into that tent and Arya finds out what you think of her-"

"She already knows how I think."

"Well, put it away anyway. The last thing I need is thoughts of Arya blasting through my mind too."

Saphira tilted her body towards a large tent. Roran gave another yell of surprise. Saphira touched the ground and he tumbled off. Eragon jumped off and walked into the tent fallowed by Roran. Narsuada and Arya were looking over another map with smiles on their faces.

"Lady Narsuada, Arya" Eragon bowed to each.

"Eragon!" Exclaimed Narsuada, looking up from the map. "I have great news. The Empires army is too frightened to fight with the twins dead and the rider gone. They have backed about five leagues up the Jiet and are in no condition to fight."

"That's great!" said Eragon. "Well, that makes what I need to ask a lot easier. Roran wishes to go rescue Katrina now and since the battle has come to a pause, I was thinking now would be a good time to go."

"Yes, I think now would be good, too. But be fast, we don't know how long this break will last."

"I will be fast." Eragon bowed again to both women, wondering why Arya had been so quite. He turned to leave but something caught his arm.

"Eragon." Arya was speaking in the ancient language. "Oromis expects you to return for training, so please don't get yourself captured or killed."

"I won't" laughed Eragon, talking in the language as well. "It's me, Saphira, and Roran against a few Ra'zac, we'll be fine."

Arya did not look reassured. "You're our only hope right now against Galbatorix and the Empire. Please don't make us go into the war with out you. You must return."

Eragon was stunned at how she sounded at that moment. He had never heard her let her emotions take the better of her. His smile vanished and said in little more then a whisper. "I will, Arya Svit-kona. Atra esterni ono thelduin."

Arya bent her head. "Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr."

"Un du evarinya ono varda." Arya turned away and began examining another map. Eragon returned his gaze from Arya's shining black hair to Narsuada. Roran looked extremely confused, apparently trying to catch any words he recognized. "I shall return soon." Said Eragon and, with a final bow, he left the tent to find Saphira's ear pressed against the flap.

"If you're going to eavesdrop, you should practice hiding it from who ever you are trying to listen too." He said with a smile.

"What? Me? Eavesdrop? Never." She smiled back, showing sharp white teeth.

Roran fallowed out of the tent and laghed at Eragon. "You know you bowed like four times in there."

Eragon laughed and mounted Saphira and helped Roran up. She jumped into the sky and this time Roran was ready. "So what were you and Arya talking about in there?" he asked.

Eragon decided not to leave Roran entirely in the dark, so he replied, "She told me I'd better come back or she'll hunt me down and drag me back the Varden."

They both laughed again as Saphira made her why into the clear sky and toward the distant mountains of Helgrind.