Chapter 3: Into the Desert.

'What am I now?' he wondered watching Saphira carry Murtagh and the elf across the Ramr 'Human... Rider... or Shade? What was that in that dream? It was a dragon in that dream. I know that, but who? It wasn't Saphira so who was it?'

He blinked and stared up at the blue sky, the sun still low in the sky.

Crimson eyes were drawn down to his right hand, it was paler than before, much paler than it had been, it wasn't anything near the deathly pale of Durza but it had lost the tan Eragon had gained over the long weeks of travel.

'My eyes are red, is that something to do with Shades...' "DAMN IT!" he roared to the sky, taking a few calming breaths he continued to think 'I know so little about what makes a shade a shade that I don't know what I am.'

His thoughts continued to plague him to the point where he didn't even notice as Saphira landed back down.

'Eragon' he leapt to his feet and Zar'roc was in his hand before he even realised it was Saphira.

'Sorry didn't notice' he thought back.

'Are you okay?' he could feel her concern, literally, and so decided to be honest.

'No' Saphira blinked, shocked 'But I'll deal.'

'If you're sure' she continued to watch him concerned, for several moments.

"Better get going" said Eragon out loud "We don't have much time as it is" Eragon stood and headed over to Tornac, Saphira followed 'Wait' he said as she reached for the grey horse who looked quite scared.

'What?'

Eragon repositioned Tornac's saddle blanket so that it protected the horse's soft underbelly 'There.'

'I don't know why you and Murtagh are so worried. I can be gentle when I wish to be.'

Eragon smirked as Saphira took off with Tornac neighing and moving wildly in her grasp, that was an odd sight, a dragon carrying a horse.

As Saphira left his sight, previous thoughts returned to his mind 'I'm not human, that much is obvious... were those demons the spirits? They could be I suppose. But I fought them, killed them, didn't I? Does that mean they're dead now, that they don't exist anymore?'

He frowned, his gaze locked on the dirt beneath him.

'I'm stronger now, that much I know for certain, healing all that, without any help, it would've killed me before and yet I did it, and didn't feel any drain at all, only a headache.'

"What am I?" he asked out loud, as if hoping for some divine message, none came.

Saphira arrived soon after and Eragon did the same as he did with Tornac's saddle blanket to Snowfire's

'Eragon...' she said just before leaving, looking at him with worry.

'Saphira, go' he told her gently, smiling at her, and watching for a minute as she left.

He stared at the water in the river 'Let's try something, something impossible for me.'

He thought carefully about the words "Adurna reisa" a body of water, the size of a good barrel raised from river, Eragon wasn't even breathing heavily, he lifted more now it was the size of two barrels, and still there was no drain, he lifted more and more and more, then formed a figure from it.

'It looks nothing like me' said Saphira from a small ways behind him.

Eragon grinned at the large water dragon he had created 'It looks exactly like you' he teased.

Saphira growled dangerously, leading Eragon to start laughing, the water crashed down into the river.

Recovering from his amusement Eragon looked back to where Gilead lay. He couldn't see it but knew it to be there 'We're still close to it, to close.'

'Yes, and they most likely saw us heading across, but they'll either have to get boats, swim and head further downstream to find a bridge. We'll be fine Eragon.'

'I know.'

'Are you afraid... of him?'

Eragon flinched, Durza, that face terrified him, and he wasn't sure why, he had been scared before, but now it was a deep hatred combined with a great fear, only he knew of Eragon's weakness, only he had seen it, not even Saphira had been privy to that and she never would be.

'We best go.'

Saphira watched him concerned, but took off the minute he was on her back and asked no questions.

When they landed on the other side of the Ramr, it was to the sight of Murtagh fighting with Tornac as the horse tried to pull away from. Snowfire was much calmer than Tornac, but even he looked a bit shaken, standing a fair way from Murtagh and Tornac's little struggle.

Tornac squealed all the louder as Saphira approached.

Eragon grinned as he watched the scene. He headed over to a large rock and sat himself on top of it, enjoying the show.

"DAMN IT! STOP STRUGGLING YOU STUPID HORSE" Tornac kept screeching, Eragon kept grinning "HONESTLY IF SHE WANTED TO KILL YOU AND EAT YOU SHE WOULD HAVE DONE IT BY NOW YOU IMBECILE."

"Honestly Murtagh, that horse of yours is going to give our position away to the entire empire" Eragon's amusement was clear in his voice.

Murtagh glared at him, realising only now that Eragon had arrived "Well it's not my fault, whose idea was it to let a dragon, A DRAGON pick up our horses and carry them across a damn river" Murtagh shouted, still trying to hold the horse down "And if you're here, HELP ME!"

"Why? Watching is far more entertaining."

Murtagh roared in anger at Eragon's statement, which only caused Eragon's grin to widen further, if such a thing was possible.

Eragon forced his way into Tornac's panicked mind and forced it calm, it worked as the horse soon relaxed.

"Did you do that?" asked Murtagh as Tornac stopped struggling.

Eragon nodded, smirking, then his smirk faded "We should move" he stood "The Ramr was an effective way to our pursuers, but if the Ra'zac are the ones pursuing us, it won't be enough. With their flying steeds they could be in Gilead soon, if they aren't already, and we aren't far away enough from Gilead for it to be a struggle to find us."

Murtagh frowned, apparently only realising it now.

"If we follow the river for..." Eragon pulled the map from his pocket "Quite a while we should reach a point where we can cut straight across the desert without much trouble, or distance."

"How far?"

"Well, it's about the same as our travel from Dras'Leona to Gilead."

"That took months!" exclaimed Murtagh.

"Because I was injured, this time I'm not and we can ride fast. It'll only take a fraction of that time" Eragon met Murtagh's gaze confidently.

Murtagh nodded "Alright, but there is one problem, that I should have seen before."

"And that is?" said Eragon mounting up on Snowfire.

Murtagh got up onto Tornac and the elf was still strapped to Saphira "In Gilead I purchased supplies but... how are we supposed to get enough water, in the desert?"

Eragon looked at him, then down at the saddle, then back up at Murtagh, then back down to the saddle "Fuck!" he cursed.

Murtagh watched quietly.

Eragon continued to glare down at the saddle "I'll think of something. Maybe I can make it rain when we need to, I don't know" he muttered "Give me some time, we'll stick to the Ramr for now and that can give us water, it makes us an easy target but guess that's the price we'll have to pay. Let's go."

Kicking his heels into Snowfire Eragon's mind was abuzz with thoughts 'Could I turn sand into water, I guess that would work, so long as it doesn't drain me too much.'

'Saphira?' he called out.

'Yes little one?'

'I was wondering, could you carry the water we'd need?' he asked keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead.

Saphira thought on it long and hard 'No, I'm sorry but I couldn't move under that weight, let alone fly, I could carry some but not enough, I'm sorry.'

'Its fine' 'So that's another option out' they stopped at around midday to let the horses drink from the river and have a drink themselves.

'If only I could carry the Ramr with us' Eragon almost chuckled at the absurdity of his thoughts 'I could carry a dragon sized bit of water but not... how long could I carry that I wonder' his mind kept buzzing with thoughts.

It was nearing midnight when they finally stopped. Murtagh, exhausted, fell straight to sleep, barely setting up his sleeping roll before he was asleep.

But Eragon wasn't, he was wide awake.

'Eragon are you alright?'

He turned his gaze to Saphira, meeting her blue eyes with his own crimson "I'm good" he looked at the elf on her back "Better take her down, can't be comfortable."

Saphira snorted.

"Not to say you're not comfortable of course, it's just that she hasn't moved, she's still unconscious, and well, flying without being able to control your body... it doesn't sound fun."

He lifted her off of the dragon and placed her on his own sleeping roll. Then took a seat on the edge of the river and, after kicking off his boots and pulling up his pants let his feet dip into the cool water.

"Get some sleep Saphira, I'll take watch tonight."

'Are you sure little one, aren't you tired as well.'

'I'll be fine' he convinced her, showing her how awake he felt and how he didn't feel the slightest bit tired or ached.

'Very well.'

She lay her head down onto the grass and closed those giant blue eyes. Eragon kept watching her for a few minutes, before turning back to the river.

"Adurna reisa" his palm glowed lightly and water rose from the river, a large sphere of it. He held it there for seven minutes "Still nothing, I don't feel any drain at all... but it's hardly stealthy having a giant ball of water following us" he kept holding it there, for over half an hour, with no problems at all, and then...

"ARGHH!"

A splitting headache came on like a hammer smashing into his skull.

The magic was released, the water crashed back down into the river and Eragon held his head in his palm, pain flowing through his cranium.

"Whaz 'appening" said Murtagh startled, still half asleep, with his sheathed sword in his hand.

Saphira too had woken at the noise.

"Nothing, just trying something, sorry, go back to sleep" Murtagh nodded blearily and crawled back into his bed, but Saphira kept staring at him.

'What's wrong Eragon, you screamed, I heard it.'

"Just a headache Saphira, nothing to worry about, go back to sleep. It was just me using magic, I won't use any more tonight, promise" he showed Saphira what he had been doing, but kept her away from his own pain.

'I see' there was a long, silent pause 'You have become strong Eragon.'

He smiled at her "I noticed."

'Be careful, we don't know where this strength came from and we don't know if using it will...' she stopped unwilling to say it 'I don't want to lose you.'

"I know, I will be" he said "Get some sleep."

She nodded and rested her head back down on the earth.

"So we keep following the Ramr to about here" Eragon gestured to a bend in the river "Then we head across the desert here cutting down the distance by, what a half, a uarter? More probably... this is all if we can of course."

Murtagh nodded "I thought you didn't want to get closer to Uru'Baen."

"I don't, but I also don't fancy going across the desert with no plan to get water and a huge distance, to cover, this way the distance is a lot less" Eragon folded the map back into his pocket and refocused on the trail and on the horse he rode.

"Always good to finalize the plan whilst implementing it" noted Murtagh.

"Wow, you know some big words Murtagh, I'm shocked."

Murtagh glared, leaned over and punched him playfully on the arm "So you got any idea on the water problem?"

"No but I'm working on it. No worries" he continued at Murtagh's concerned expression "I'll get a plan soon."

"You better, 'cause I don't think we have too much time."

Eragon nodded "I know, I really do" they continued along at the slow pace, Eragon thinking and Murtagh doing the same "Come on, we don't have the time to waste so we better start running. This is a race after all" he jabbed his heels into Snowfire and the horse sped into a gallop, with Murtagh and Tornac following closely behind.

They reached the bend Eragon referred to less than two days after that, and sitting at the curve of the river Murtagh asked again.

"Solved the water problem yet?"

Eragon paused, ate some more of his soup, then started talking "I've been thinking about it, and I think I've got a plan, a good one. But first there are some other matters we need to take care of."

"And those are?" confusion was written all over Murtagh's face.

"The elf" Eragon frowned and looked at their unconscious companion, who lay, on Eragon bedroll, completely still and not making a single sound.

"What about her?"

"If we leave her on Saphira, she'll get sores from riding. The same with Snowfire, we can't make a sledge, it would get battered and horses don't need the extra weight, and Saphira can't carry her in her claws, it makes landing dangerous and can't be comfortable."

"I assume you have a plan then?"

"No."

Murtagh blinked "No? Right, great, brilliant! So what are we supposed to do?" he muttered angrily.

"I don't know" Eragon sighed and leaned back.

"Can't she just grin and bear it, or you heal it?"

"She unconscious so I very much doubt she notices it, as for healing it..." Eragon frowned "I don't really want to use magic like that, and I'd have to do it every couple of days."

"You seemed to do fine on her injuries" said Murtagh crossly.

"Yeah, I did..."

"So what's the problem?"

"Because I shouldn't have."

"What?" Murtagh stared at him, angry and confused now.

"I should have been left weak and gasping for air, if not dead from using that much magic, and Saphira wasn't helping me, it was all me... and I don't know how."

"What does it matter?"

Eragon glared at Murtagh those crimson eyes flashed "What am I Murtagh?" realisation hit him like a ton of bricks "I'm a shade, and I don't know why I'm me, but I am, but when I've used magic I feel like my skull is being pounded with a hammer, I feel angry and vengeful, only the pain keeps me from striking out... and I don't know why."

Murtagh stared shocked, his anger forgotten.

"For all I know, if I keep using magic at that sort of level, then I might become a real shade, a violent bloodthirsty shade who would kill all of you" tears dripped down his face and he turned away, unwilling to show his own weakness, yet exposing his own fear "I'm scared, scared that I'm losing myself Murtagh."

He felt a hand clasp his shoulder.

"Thanks" he muttered wiping away his tears.

"It's alright, we all have our demons."

Eragon flinched, the demons faces coming back to him "Y-yeah."

'You could tie the elf to my belly, she would be safe enough, the only real danger would by arrows and I can fly above them.'

Eragon glanced to Saphira.

'That could work' he responded.

'No little one... it will work.'

Eragon grinned "You think we can make ropes."

"I... yeah, 'suppose" said Murtagh, now more confused than ever, particularly at Eragon's mood swings "Why?"

"We're gonna strap the elf to Saphira's belly."

Murtagh gave him a look "Okay, your decision."

"You don't think it'll work?"

"No, no, it'll definitely work. I'm sure of that... it's just completely mental! Don't worry about it, it's becoming increasingly common the more I stick around you. Kind of fun really."

Eragon laughed.

Blankets and spare clothes were sacrificed to form ropes long enough to create ropes long enough to encircle Saphira's girth.

Eragon carried the elf over to Saphira and wrapped her in one of his blankets. They then strapped her, back first, onto Saphira's belly, her head hung between Saphira's front legs.

"Let's hope this one doesn't slip and choke her, after all that hard work I really don't want to kill her" Murtagh spared him, and his morbidity, a glance, then looked at rope Eragon eyed, it was wrapped just above her breasts, another went round her waist and a final one round her ankles.

"That could be bad... we could shove it under her arms. Then make sure her arms are in beneath this one so it'll hold them down and they won't wave about" Murtagh poked the one round her waist.

"Yeah, we better, I mean I really, really don't want to have killed her accidently."

"But purposefully is fine" joked Murtagh adding his own morbidity into the mix.

Eragon just snorted.

After making sure she wouldn't choke, Murtagh asked a good question "When will she wake up?"

"Hell if I know" was Eragon's witty response.

"It's been about three days since Gilead and yet she's still sleeping, silent as a grave, but still alive" Murtagh gazed at her "How?"

"Some elven trick maybe."

Murtagh nodded.

"Anyway, we can consider that later, for now..."

"You said you had a plan to get water?"

Eragon grinned "I was getting to that. Come over here."

He led him a small ways from the river, and dug a small pit with his hands "There's water in the ground."

"Yeah, but we can't exactly dig a well whenever we need one... can we?"

"Better, watch. Adurna reisa" water trickled into the small hole "See water."

Murtagh watched it, amazed by the magic "Here yes, but can you do it in the desert, the water will be deeper... and... about what you were just saying, before about using magic."

"Thats what I meant, using magic that much on a day to day basis, I can get us water every day, easy, but heal her at the same time... it's drain me and... well... there are other things I plan to use magic for in the desert so every drop of magic counts... I need to be careful with it."

Murtagh nodded "I see" there was a moment pause where Eragon and Murtagh just watched the water "Well it's our best bet, so the deserts open?"

Eragon grinned back at him "Yeah" they sat quite amicably for several minutes "We better get some sleep now. We'll start towards the desert tomorrow."

"Alright" said Murtagh.

'Eragon.'

Eragon yawned and sat up from the cold hard earth where he lay, it didn't bother him in fact he barely noticed the cold anymore 'What's up Saphira?'

'The elf.'

Turning his crimson gaze to the slender figure who lay on his bedroll he asked 'What about her?'

'It has been three days since we rescued her from Gilead and still she doesn't wake."

'I noticed' Eragon looked over to Saphira 'But we can consider that when we're safe Saphira.'

'I know that Eragon, but she hasn't eaten or drunk anything in that time, and look at her. I know little about the elves but I doubt she can survive much longer without nourishment.'

'So what do you want me to do? Force food down her throat?' it was a genuine question, there was no sarcasm in his tone.

'No, even I know that would be stupid. But surely you could, I don't know, do something?'

They were silent for a while, listening to the river as it flowed along next to their camp.

'Saphira, you should be sleeping, not worrying about the elf that you will have to fly with tomorrow.'

'Then why aren't you?' she growled at him 'You'll have to ride long and hard hours tomorrow and yet you aren't sleeping. I am a dragon you are a human, don't think you are above me!'

'Honestly Saphira, there's no need to get angry' with a sigh he got to his feet and grabbed his water skin 'Here.'

He sat the elf up, leaning her against his leg 'She's breathing, always a good sign' he thought to himself watching the steady rise and fall of her chest, he then placed the mouth of the skin to the elf sculpted lips, and let water flow gently into her mouth.

'If she chokes this is your fault' he said to Saphira, receiving an amused growl in response.

Eragon watched carefully as the water went down her throat, word of the ancient language already on the tip of his tongue, in case she choked, but she drank it without incident.

'Satisfied?' he asked the dragon, after refilling his water skin and lying back down on his patch of earth.

'Yes, thank you.'

"Good, now if you don't mind, yawn, I've got sleep to get."

They had ridden through nonstop since waking. Often running alongside the horses to give them a rest, other times riding them to the limits of their speed.

But it was worth it as soon the ground became soft and gave way under their feet.

With the sun high over their heads, glaring down at them with a heat previously unknown to Eragon, they stopped.

The Ramr was nothing but a fuzzy line on the horizon.

They had reached the Hadarac desert.