Chapter 3: The Northern Army

The cool night's air brushed against Eragon's face as nightfall began to wrap itself around the world. The duo had followed the band of wolves deep into the forest of Sol, well past their turn at the river. During this time at least fifty wolves had joined the crows. I could never have imagined so many animals like wolves banding together and running in such large packs, Eragon thought with slight amazement.

'Yes, I agree little one. It certainly is odd behaviour for their kind.' Saphira's voice echoed through his mind.

'You're doing that mind-eavesdropping again,' Eragon stated, furrowing his brow.

Saphira shook him slightly on her back. 'I thought you said you didn't mind, little one.' Her voice came teasingly. She seemed to enjoy their little loving disputes, although Eragon sometimes found some irritation when these became drawn out.

'I never said that, I only thought it. Of course, that would be obvious if you hadn't eavesdropped on me!' he teased back.

'No, I would know nothing at all actually.'

Eragon took a second before breaking their connection and looking away into the clouds, unwilling to admit defeat. I'll best you one day, mark my words dragon, he thought to himself.

'Fat chance.' that oh-so-familiar voice came. Eragon promptly kicked her sides with his heels and she did a slight swerve, pretending as if he'd hurt her. Although sometimes irritating, Eragon did in fact enjoy their loving disputes as well. He felt it was just another way they both showed their love and caring for each other, that they weren't fed up yet. Even though he knew that would never occur, obviously.

They would soon find themselves on the ground, stealth spells invoked, and spying on the wolf meeting because the wolves they were following had just about reached their destination; a large open-spaced area surrounded by a ring of trees in the middle of the forest, littered with large rocks, one clearly the largest. Easily two hundred wolves gathered in this lush green field, some taking place atop the rocks, others getting comfortable on the ground. Within five minutes every rock but the highest had a single wolf on it, the other wolves looking at it with anticipation. They must involve a sort of ranking system, Eragon pondered, his mind already beginning to speculate the sorts of qualifications these wolves may have for such ranking, and who the leader may be.

Eragon began to wonder what these wolves must be doing, as he did not remember seeing a town in the forest. 'Saphira, do you think these-'

'Shush!'

Eragon was about to comment, but he soon realized his need for silence as a wolf finally perched atop the rock, and silence fell upon the others.

This one was a strong built male, dark brown pelt plotted with streaks of black. From his stature and posture, anybody could tell that he was the Alpha, even without a pack. His body was muscled and his jaws powerful, razor-sharp fangs clearly visible as he lifted his head into a deep-voiced howl. The rest of the wolves joined in chorus to what the two presumed to be the opening for the meeting. The Alpha's eyes deep red eyes fell down and met gaze with every single wolf in his large pack, each eagerly awaiting his orders.

"Wolves of Fehrla." he barked. "We have all come a long way from our homes tonight. Some, from the plains of Erhand. Others from even the mountains of Achler. But we all come for a purpose." Murmurs of humans and wolf killers echoed through the crowd. After a few seconds the Alpha raised his paw to silence them. "As our brethren lead by the white wolf Kain, we have joined to revolt against this pitiful excuse for a species. A kind even Fenris would be in disgust by. Kain's army of wolves have already ravished through countless human settlements. And what's more, they succeed in their goal!"

Cheers of excitement began to ring out through the crowd as he spoke these words. "The human forces are diminishing, and our wolves are taking back the land that was rightfully promised to us by Fenris! Already they have taken back Rita lake, and the forests of Achler!

"Now it is our turn to do the same," he growled, his tone becoming much more serious. "You have seen our work at Silverstein village on your way here. That was done with a mere 30 wolves. Now imagine the work that could be done with two hundred!" He gave a roar and everyone in the crowd shouted along, obviously eager to get into the action. "Tonight, we attack the human settlement Heath, and we take back Torra river!"

It was obvious the wolves were excited to get into this rebellion. Saphira and Eragon exchanged grieved glances, and began to try and intervene. However the mention of a name forced them to listen further.

"But sir, what of the Kerl Luna?" a lone female wolfs voice rang out above the crowd. Their cheers were swiftly replaced by grunts and quiet thought over this. Eventually their murmurs were once again put to silence by the Alpha's paw.

"My dear Evasen, you worry too much. So what of the banished Kerl? How can she possibly stand up to a few hundred of our strongest wolves?"

"I heard from the crows that she's managed to stop a few of Kain's attacks," she replied grimly. The Alpha looked at her with dark eyes, staring at her coldly before shaking his head and returning to his bandwagon-inspiring tone.

"So what if a Kerl proved to be a little inconvenience in our war?" He asked rhetorically. "Besides, she is all the way down at the mountains of Achler, no where near us. She may be as fast as moonlight, but no magic in the world could get her here fast enough. My warlords, split the pack. We leave for attack now!"

The Alpha threw his head back in a howl before the wolves began organizing themselves. Pretty soon seven different teams of a little more than 25 were formed.

"This is madness, we must do something!" Eragon quietly whispered to himself. He had put up with enough sitting and waiting, and felt the need to go down there and put an end to this, once and for all. He grabbed his sword, turned to mount Saphira... 'Wait, Saphira? Where are you?'

He soon heard the panicked barks of many of the wolves in the meeting circle. He turned to look and witnessed Saphira flying about the wolves, spewing fire above their heads and roaring angrily. She swooped down and released a fury of flames, creating a wall of fire stopping them from their paths. She landed near with baring fangs, muscles tense and tail alert. Eragon gracefully dropped from the ledge which they were hiding from and unsheathed Brisingr, ready for battle.

All of the wolves held very confused faces, never having expected a dragon to spontaneously appear and scare them out of their coats. The Alpha, however, remained collected and unflinching. He casually had watched the entire scene occur, and now jumped from his perch, sitting on his behind and licking his paws.

"And what brings you two to our private meeting?" He asked cooly. The Alpha averted his gaze from his mundane task to glare at Eragon with his cold, fiery red eyes.

'I am Saphira Brightscales, daughter of Iormunger and Vervada, and this is my human rider Eragon."

"I am pleased to meet you, Saphira Brightscales," he bowed, obviously ignoring Eragons presence. "I am Ivailo leader of this pack of wolves. It is an honour, to have a dragon among our midst. Where have you come from, my dear Saphira?"

"The land Alagaesia from the south," she replied.

"Very interesting, indeed. I hadn't known any dragons were left there." Ivailo looked over at the fall of flames Saphira have created. "So, I take it you intend to stop us?"

Saphira only nodded to this, a deep growl emanating from the depths of her belly. Eragon swung his sword around impatiently. "What your doing is wrong. You have no right to hurt innocent-"

"You have no right to talk to me you filthy bastard human!" Ivailo spit angrily. Saphira roared and leaped at him, pinning him to the ground. 'You have NO RIGHT to talk to him that way. Do you UNDERSTAND!' she roared. Ivailo looked at her, totally unscathed by the whole situation.

"The only thing I fail to understand," he said coldly, "is how you can possibly live with a creature of such abomination."

Saphira eyed him angrily. 'I could kill him Eragon. I could end his life right now and live a perfectly happy life.'

'We still need him, Saphira,' Eragon mentally sighed. He walked up to Ivailo, pointing his blade towards his brown-pelted throat. Some of the higher ranks of wolves began to close in on the three, but Eragon raised a hand and, whispering a few words, created an impassable shield around them.

"We need information, and you seem to possess it. What can you tell us about Kain?"

"I don't need to explain anything to a hum-" Saphira clenched her claws around his throat and he began to choke. "Why should I tell you anything? You know nothing about us.

"Kain is a white wolf possessing great powers, brother of Luna the black wolf with equally great powers. Kain is holding some rebellion against the humans and Luna is trying to find him. I know this because we travelled with Luna."

Gasps filled the crowd as these words left his mouth. Even Ivailo held a look of disbelief for a brief moment.

"Kain is a great and powerful leader," he spoke slowly. "He will take back this land and return it to the wolves. He is surrounded by great mystical power and cannot be stopped. By anyone."

Eragon stared him down for a moment, taking in his words and deciding their truth. "What sorts of powers?"

"He has more power than a thousand wolves, more speed than the birds. He can control the world to his will, and control the minds of others."

This surprised Eragon. Up until now, he had been basing his expectations on Kain based on what he'd seen of Luna, and even then he wasn't sure if Kain would have magical powers. 'This wolf seems to be more dangerous than we thought,' he shared. 'Indeed he sounds as it. But let's not forget who he's up against.'

Eragon began to lower his blade before thinking of a last question. "What do you know of Luna?"

Ivailo gave Eragon a long, hard stare. "She is Kerl for a reason."

With a nod from Eragon, Saphira let go of Ivailo. He quickly jumped back on his perch while Saphira and Eragon turned away. 'Come, let's go. We can stay at the town of Hearth tonight to make sure they do not attack.' Saphira told Eragon, as he was about to mount her.

"What, leaving so soon?" Ivailo's voice boomed from behind. Saphira turned her massive head and was instantly greeted by the bodies of several lethal wolves on her face. Saphira roared angrily as she began to claw at the wolves who were quickly jumping on top of her.

"Saphira!" Eragon screamed, unsheathing Brisingr and quickly running to her, only to be stopped by another wolf jumping on top of him. Eragon hit the ground with a thud as the wolf pinned him to the floor, fangs snarling and hungry drool dripping down onto his face. Using all of his might, Eragon flipped the wolf off of him and quickly scampered to his feet, taking his blade and slashing at the wolves. He injured one, but three more took it's place, and then three more for those three. They were out numbered and he knew it. Wolves of all coats, shapes, and sizes, all angry, all snarling, all hungry, all staring at him and Saphira.

With a final angry roar, Saphira let out a jet of flames, engulfing several wolves as they whimpered in pain. Following suit, Eragon yelled out the word "Brisingr!", his sword instantly erupting in flames and backing off all the wolves around them.

The two of them stood there at the edge of the fray, the wolves staying back away from fear of the flames.

'Perhaps this would be a good time to fly out of here,' Eragon suggested nervously.

'Perhaps,' and Eragon promptly jumped on her back.

"You can't stop this war by trying to win a few meaningless battles," Ivaoli's voice rang strong with pride. "With numbers we are strong, and we cannot be stopped!"

'This wolf is really getting on my nerves,' Saphira commented angrily. She leaped up and took flight, making sure to shoot a couple fireballs into the crowd, and one at Ivaoli. In a matter of seconds they were high in the sky, far away from the danger of the battle.

'I suppose that didn't go exactly as planned, did it?' Eragon said once they were safely away.

'No, it didn't. We have learned much though.'

'Yes. Especially that these wolves can be stronger than we thought.'

'They are loyal to their Alpha,' Saphira commented. 'Their loyalty makes them persistent, even to the point of death.'

'Setting them all on fire wouldn't work either,' Eragon joked. 'Besides, your flame wouldn't last long enough.'

'Hey! I'll have you know my fire has improved significantly in the past few months!' she revolted. Eragon only chuckled and hugged his dragon. Their battles were yet from over, however Eragon still enjoyed his time with his beloved Saphira, even if their initial vacation never really turned out.

Hey All. It's been a bit since an authors note right?

This chapter turned out much longer. Trying to get back into my regular stride of about 2K words a chapter. Not entirely sure how this one came out; partly because i'm tired and it's now 5am. Hopefully it's good? Tried to make it interesting. Could probably work on the ending, maybe I will tomorrow.

What do you guys think of this so far? I have no idea because no one has reviewed :p Don't worry, the story will definitely get better. For this I have a notebook with a plan written down. And a Plot point that will come up much later that I've always wanted to do. Always. So much to the point that after I'll write another Eragon Saphira story with the same point, but that the main focus. It'll be good 3

Anyways, I'd like some reviews please :D I hope your enjoing this. Going to try for a chapter a night, we'll see how that goes. Kay?

~Dragnerz