A/N: Here's the 3rd chapter, I hope you've enjoyed the first two chapters.

Btw, thx 4 d reviews!

Brisingr slipped sliced through armour, embedding itself in flesh. Galbatorix howled in agony and fell to the ground, dead. Eragon stepped back, clearly exhausted. He too fell to the ground, unconscious.

Saphira looked back at Shruikan and growled in surprise. A nimbus of silver surrounded him. What's happening? She thought. He's changing colour! She realized.

When she looked back at him, she no longer saw a black dragon, but instead, she found a silver dragon whose eyes showed surprise. Saphira tentatively reached out her mind.

Shruikan? She asked. What's happening? Why have you changed colour?

When Galbatorix enslaved me with dark magic, he took over my will and mind and my scales changed colour to black. Now he is dead and his enchantment lifted, I am free from his rule! Shruikan roared in delight. The fighting soldiers quailed at the thought of another dragon fighting against them.

Saphira watched as Shruikan spread his wings and leapt back into the air. I am free! No longer am I a slave of the false king! He exclaimed. Saphira watched his flight until he was but a speck in the horizon.

She picked the unconscious Eragon and placed him on her back. Fly well, Shruikan, she thought.

--

Eragon opened his eyes. It was still dark, a few hours before dawn, he guessed. He tapped Saphira on her ribs and she lifted a wing, allowing him to move from his sleeping position.

He took out a book from his pack. It was a very rare book as Galbatorix had ordered all copies to be burned. Eragon stroked the cover lovingly, eyes wandering over the runes that made up the title, The Dominance of Fate. He flipped open the book and started reading.

Saphira groaned and opened her large sapphire eyes. Morning, little one, she greeted. In no time, she had joined Eragon by his side. He groaned too as he felt the ache in Saphira's muscles due to the previous days' flying.

As the sun's first rays fell on the Varden camp, Eragon and Saphira made their way towards Nasuada's tent. She had insisted that they postpone their meeting till the next day so that Saphira could rest first.

Nasuada was seated at her desk, her hair was pushed back behind her ears and a single bead of sweat trailed down her forehead. Her hand was flying over a parchment as she wrote a report.

Eragon sat down on one of the chairs, facing Nasuada and patiently waited for her to finish. He surveyed the inside of the tent; nothing had changed since his last visit. As usual, the six Nighthawks were positioned behind her chair, hands resting on the hilts of their swords, never relaxing.

Finally, Nasuada threw the pen down and rolled up the scroll. She pressed her personal seal to the hot wax on the scroll, sealing it. "Eragon, Saphira," she greeted.

Eragon twisted his hand and placed it over his sternum, a sign of loyalty and obedience that the elves used, as Arya had taught him a year ago. "Lady Nasuada," he inclined his head. "How fares the Varden?"

"All is well, the supplies have come in time and there seems to be no opposition from Galbatorix's soldiers. It seems that most of them ran back to their homes after he was killed," she paused. "Yesterday, Murtagh and Thorn offered to swear fealty to prove thir loyalty. I declined their offer,"

Eragon concealed his surprise with an inscrutable façade – a handy trick he had learned from the elves. Murtagh seems eager to prove his loyalty, he thought. He still did not fully trust his half brother.

Perhaps he is merely sick of being treated like a traitor and nothing more, suggested Saphira. Anyway, I don't see how he can betray the Varden by swearing fealty to Nasuada.

You're right, once again, I'm overreacting. I really should give him a second chance, thought Eragon.

He turned back to Nasuada. "What are we to do now?" he asked.

Nasuada glanced at the entrance flap of the tent. "We shall wait for Arya and the twelve spellcasters to arrive, then we will search the castle."

"Are you coming to search the castle as well?" asked Eragon.

"Nay, Jormundur and the Nighthawks strongly oppose my decision to go. He says that there might be lingering spells that might the Nighthawks would not be able to protect me from," she answered.

Jormundur is right, even with me, there is a risk that lingering spells might harm Eragon, said Saphira.

At that moment, Arya, followed by Blodhgarm and eleven other spellcasters emtered the tent.

He followed them to the castle. Even though he had seen it many times during the Batlle at Uru'baen, he still felt awed by the sight of the magnificent castle. He shivered, goose bumps appearing, the castle seemed to emit an aura of evil and dread.

They were split into five groups; Eragon, Saphira and Arya were grouped together while the spellcasters split into groups of three. Each group was assigned to one floor of the castle. Eragon's group was assigned to the top floor.

"Well, we better get started," said Eragon as he started to ascend the staircase. He was followed by Arya. Saphira, being too big for the staircase had to fly from the outside of the castle to get to the top floor.

You would think Galbatorix would have had dragon sized staircases for Shruikan, she grumbled.