Author's note: Please if you do read this review it's nice to know if someone is acually reading or not. Thank you.
Chapter 2
A Talk, A Chase, And a woman?
It was night. Madrid had been riding for several days. She was not going to stop tonight. It seemed as if she would never reach her desination of Bullridge. She knew how tired she was, so she figured Ajax was even more tired. She had been walking him most of the day so he was well rested by now.
She looked down at the pouch that went around her right shoulder to her left hip. What lay inside astonished her. The egg. Not just any egg, the last dragon egg known to man. The shell was a brilliant green. It seemed to capture the essence of life, or a forest, or both. It shined a beautiful emerald that gleamed in her eyes. Veins of a lighter green, like the veins of a leaf, spread throughout it. It was so pure. She could see her reflection in it. Madrid was amazed that no scratch could ever damage it; no dent could ever harm the miracle inside its hard casing. It was a completely perfect, smooth oval.
Suddenly, there was a tug on her mind. It seemed familiar, almost ancient. She cautiously let down the barrier in her mind. If it was not a friend she was ready to give them a headache that would last a lifetime, or seem that way. The voice grew louder as she let more of the barrier down. "MADRID!" the voice shouted. It was so loud Madrid almost fell off Ajax.
"Shruikan, it's you. You frightened me."
"Sorry." Said the old voice
"Why do you insist on contacting me every night?"
"Because I for one know how cruel Galbatorix can be."
"As if I don't and I'm not the one near him. And I can take care of myself, thank you. Oh and did a young boy come to the palace. His name is Higen. I sent him there. I killed his master."
"I would not know. I can search for him but not now."
"Thank you, Shruikan."
"Are you to Bullridge yet?"
"No, I thought I would be by now but it seems I must have made a mistake. I probably underestimated the distance."
"I do not think so; you are usually pretty accurate at distances."
"Even the best of us make mistakes." Madrid added.
"Picture in your mind where you are. I have probably been there before." Madrid did as the dragon instructed and sent a mental image to him. "I am not exactly sure where you are. Wait, what side of the river is you on?"
After looking about she told him she was on the left side of the river.
"I see what is wrong. You must have made a wrong turn. Madrid you are the wrong side of the riv…" Shruikan's voice trailed off.
"Shruikan? Shruikan!" She yelled in her mind. She was violently pulled out of their conversation, like being awakened from a dream. Madrid just became fully aware as an arrow whizzed by her. She let Ajax into a full gallop, not holding anything back. She lay as flat as she could against the big horse. She put a small spell around Ajax and herself so they wouldn't be hit, but she didn't make it so strong that their persuers would notice.
She looked under her arm and behind her to see who was chasing her. More arrows came and slid off her spell, but several came close. The strangest thing kept happening; every time she looked back she saw no one. No dust clouds or men behind trees and boulders.
Madrid looked up and thought she saw a bird circling above her. It abruptly started to swoop down. Madrid squinted to try and determine what it was. It was far too big to be a bird. It became larger and larger until it swept down in front of Ajax. Ajax didn't spook easily. He was a battle trained horse, but this scared him. He reared; Madrid's hood fell down, allowing her long hair to cascade down her shoulders and back.
Something hit her in the back of the head. A rock she thought; she had not used the spell to block rocks. She tumbled to the ground unconscious.
They had done it. They had got the mysterious rider. They had tracked him for days, but the ambush had been short. His thoughts trailed off to why they were chasing him. They had received word from an inside spy. What bravery that man had to tell them with Galbatorix watching over everyone in that place. "So Galbatorix sent this man without an escort of soldiers, with the last dragon egg. Galbatorix must be getting impatient. This is perfect, Galbatorix will make rash disitions. In his haste he will be destroyed. "
His thoughts then turned to Katrina, as they so often did. He looked down at the ring Eragon had given him. By the feeling of it he knew she was safe, but how long would that last? "Once Galbatorix is dead she will be safe forever." He thought about their child. He wondered if it was safe. He wondered if it would be a boy, or girl. He wondered if it would have his hair or Katrina's beautiful auburn locks. It didn't really matter to him, as long as it was safe along with its mother.
He cautiously walked up to the unconscious man. The courier laid face-down in the dirt. His horse had run off. He knelt beside the fallen rider and flipped him over. Shocked Roran called back to the gang of men, "Get Eragon. He needs to see this."
A young man stepped out of the small gang of maybe a dozen men on horseback. He was still a few yards away so Roran told him, "Eragon, I think we had chased the wrong person. This is a young woman!"
Eragon knelt alongside his cousin. He brushed the woman's hair from across her face. Her black hair reminded him of Arya. That was when he saw it. A pouch hidden under the green cloak. Just as he reached for it a black stallion came from behind her. It was the horse she had been riding. It charged ahead straight for them. It was still fully saddled and bridled. Roran and Eragon scrambled to get out of the way of this crazed horse.
Then it did the strangest thing. It placed itself between them and the woman. The whites of his fiery eyes showed. Its ears were flattened hard against his head; he snapped and let out a high pitched whiney. It was a warning to stay away from her. Eragon sent a thread of thought towards it to let it know they were friends. The horse became only more angered and stomped the ground. He was just waiting for someone to get close enough. Eragon realized he might have to kill the horse to get to the girl. He slowly drew his sword.
Right then Saphira landed in front of them, forcing the entire band of men back. She simply eyed the black horse. He let out another whinny; he was not even frightened by Saphira like most horses. Even their horses fought to run. The men were actually having a hard time controlling them. This horse stood its ground. He snorted at the giant, blue threat. Saphira went into the air above the horse. Eragon knew she was going to snatch him around the waist and carry him to a safe place.
Then he did another abnormal thing. He seemed to stand down. His ears were still flattened, but he walked over behind his fallen rider. He still had a fiery look in his eyes, giving them a warning should they do anything wrong; he would kill them. At that moment Eragon heard it. "A….Ajax……Ajax." He looked down at the woman. She was staring at him. Emerald eyes seemed to tear through him. "His ….name …..Is …..Ajax." And with those words when the last of her strength. She once again went unconscious.
"I am going to look around. I will see if anyone is coming. Let me know, should you have any trouble." Saphira said before taking to the dark night sky. Eragon watched her until he couldn't see her over the trees.
Eragon walked quietly over to the comatose woman. Her head was still angled to where he was standing when she had told him the name of her horse. He could not forget those eyes. They seemed to know everything about him. They knew his darkest secrets. No he was just being foolish; they were normal eyes. They were just frightening, that's all. He watched the horse as he knelt by her. He reached for the pouch and the black stallion snorted. He took the pouch off of her shoulder and looked inside. He smiled, "Roran, we have it. She was the egg courier."
"She was?" Roran said in a surprised voice. "Really, Galbatorix chose a woman to carry his prized possession?"
"Arya was chosen to carry the egg. A woman is less of a threat, and can go more places undetected."
"I guess that does make sense." Said Roran, still skeptical, he told the men to get the horse.
Two men walked up to the big stallion. Ajax might have let his rider go with them but he wasn't about to give up without a fight. The horse reared and kicked one of the men in the chest. Ajax turned to the other, and pawed the ground. Eragon threw his hands up into the air. "Stop!" Eragon yelled; he knew what he had to do, "leave the horse be."
Eragon lifted her from the hard, rocky ground and tied her to his horse. He mounted the brown mare. The band headed west toward Du Weldenvarden. Ajax came alongside the mare and tried to bite her; it was a word of warning. Should this horse let anything happen to his rider she would get much worse. He was several inches taller than Eragon's mare. After that he stayed near his rider. Any horse that came near enough got kicked or bit, but he followed behind nonetheless.
