And another one. Let us know if you're still reading by review, thank you! :)

Niyene and Ayod had been riding over the forest path to the north for some days now. They had not run into anyone thus far except some seemingly innocent travellers that greeted them and passed them without causing further trouble. Ayod gestured at a sign beside the road that showed a few place names and the amount of kilometres that remained between the place they were now and these towns. He pointed at the name on top.
"Varttunut, about 15 kilometres. It should be safe for you there because we're quite far from Kivimetsän by now. The inhabitants of Varttunut do not know the people of our village so the chance of someone betraying you is small. "
She nodded reluctantly. It would probably be all right there, but the idea that he would leave her once they reached the village and that she wouldn't see him for a long time - or maybe not ever again - did not sit right with her at all.

Besides, she was afraid to travel alone. She could not stay in the village forever, and what about the dragon? Couldn't she just leave him in the forest somewhere? That would be a whole lot easier, for sure, but it was also quite pointless since the men already knew about her and likely would not stop chasing her even with the dragon gone.
The environment started changing. The forests disappeared and changed into meadows and acres. In the distance she could see a river and a bridge across it, and something that looked like a wooden wall. That was likely the village. She wanted to slow down, postpone the moment, but it would come eventually..

The guards posted on each side of the bridge greeted the duo and did not give them any more attention after that. It was clear that nobody in this place was looking for her. They traversed the short road between the bridge and the wall and ran into some guards again. These seemed to be a bit more vigilant.
"Your name?" the one on the right asked, a grumpy looking man in his mid-thirties. Niyene exchanged looks with Ayod, and from the way he looked at her she knew it was best not to give her real name.
"Eden." she said quickly, thinking about a character from a story she read once.
"Eden who?"
"Bernewelt."
"Where are you from?"
"I'm a traveller from the south, sir, and I wish to stay here."
"All right, miss Bernewelt. You may pass. And who might you be?"
Ayod hesitated visibly if he should change his name as well.
"Her brother, Alec Bernewelt, I've accompanied her to this village." he answered. The guard smiled reluctantly and opened the gate for him, as well.
The inn in this village was not difficult to find, it was at the end of the main road, clearly recognisable because of an image of a moon hanging above a river and the text Waterglow Inn. Niyene was afraid Ayod would leave right away, but it seemed like he wasn't planning to yet.
"I'll stay until midnight, Niyene. Then I'm heading homewards before too many people notice I'm missing. If I stay until the next morning, it would be a lot harder to think of an excuse for the fact I was gone for so long."
"You're right.. and I think I'll manage."
He smiled and touched her shoulder, but she could read in his eyes that he was worried, and scared, and he was not the only one..

That night, Niyene enjoyed herself. They dined in the inn that evening and had a few drinks. It was as if they wanted to live to the fullest during this last evening they could still hang out together because after that, they would have to do without each other for a long time. Niyene had not fully processed everything that had happened to her in the previous days.
"Where is..?" Ayod asked.
"In my room, in a travel bag. I hope he keeps quiet." she whispered.
"I think he's likely a very intelligent creature."
"I don't know, maybe.."
"Either way, he has chosen you to come out of his egg for."
She stared at him with big eyes and stood up from her chair.
"What?" Ayod didn't seem to understand what had gotten into her.
"Follow me to my room. It's not safe here."
"Why not?" he still did not get it.
"Someone was staring at us all the time. I couldn't really see what kind of person he was, but he was in some dark corner and it seemed like he was trying to eavesdrop."
"Why would he want that? We're normal travellers, and we might as well be talking about a cat."
"Yeah, sure, a cat that hatches from an egg." she cast a deadly glance in his direction.
"All right, we'll continue our conversation in your room."

It was past twelve when Ayod left the inn, after he and Niyene had taken their time saying their goodbyes. She was not as sad as she should have been, she was simply too stunned lately to feel anything like that. After she had led him to the exit, she returned to her room to get some sleep. The next morning she would think of what to do next. Perhaps she could book a room for the next night, or maybe she would travel onwards. It was probably wisest not to stay in the same location for too long.
The moment she wanted to open her door she heard a person in heavy boots coming up the stairs. She wanted to hastily continue and pull the door closed behind her, but for some reason, couldn't.
The figure appeared in the stairwell opening, and her heart skipped a beat. It had to be the guy that was watching her before, although it was not clear what kind of person was hiding behind the cape. The man bowed slightly as a greeting and walked past her to enter his own room a few doors down the hallway. Niyene did not trust this man, whoever he was, so she decided it was better to go to sleep. The little dragon was curled up in the travel basket, so he was doing fine. She lay down in her bed and realised just how tired she was, so she did not have to wait for long until the sleep came.

All dressed up, Niyene left her room the next morning to go downstairs for breakfast. The first thing she noticed when she reached the lower floor was the expression on the face of the innkeeper. He had a vacant stare and his mouth twisted in a weird way, as if he was concerned about something. Niyene scanned the room and saw nobody she knew, the strange man was gone as well, until she focused her gaze on the balcony. There were several tables on the top floor, and at one of them were men that looked oddly familiar to her. They were wearing soldier's uniforms, but she did not even need that to recognise them. She would never forget the faces of the men that had terrorised her village.
Get out of there, Niyene! Flee, run, take your dragon and run! It was the woman's voice again, although without a vision this time, the real world remained clear before her eyes. Niyene turned around, got her bag, and headed for the exit.
"Farewell, miss Bernewelt." the innkeeper said. Niyene muttered a response and hurried out of the door.

Niyene did not dare to breathe again until she had left the village. This was exactly as she had feared, the men had followed her..

She continued her journey down the road through the forest, on horseback, because she had just gotten her horse out of the stables. She would find another village in the evening and if not, she could sleep in the forest if necessary, as long as she could stay out of the hands of the soldiers.

Hopefully they had heard the innkeeper call her Bernewelt and hadn't realised she had already left the inn because of that. A gust of wind rushed through the trees and the silence in this vast forest was broken by the sounds of a murder of crows in the distance. She shivered. Crows were always said to be a bad omen. She quickened her pace and calm returned to the woods, and a few moments later, she let go of all her worries.
Niyene reached a fork in the road, and got off her horse. While she was thinking about which direction she had to take, she heard a noise again. Rustling in the bushes, as if there was an animal approaching. No rabbit or something of the like, but a large, fast animal, perhaps a boar, a wolf, or a bear. The noise got louder and closer, but she knew running was not going to help her if she was right..

The creature that jumped out of the brushwood and threw itself on top of her was none of these things; it resembled a wolf, but was way larger. Niyene was floored and could not move under the weight of the animal resting on her chest. It had fierce eyes, but they did not seem like an animal's, they were too intelligent and too calculating for that. The crows she had seen before approached and landed on the grass. Not all of them, however, only three. The moment they hit the ground they stretched out to human size. Before her were three of the soldiers, in the middle of them their leader.
I knew they were no ordinary soldiers! One of the men grabbed her right hand, tore the glove off, and studied her palm. Roughly he let it go again.
"Well, well. Sad it is, huh, that this young Rider is going to die before she could soar above the mountains. Very unfortunate, but that is the fate of the weak and the unworthy. A dragon deserves more than this farmer girl. It would undoubtedly feel more at home by Lord Galbatorix's side."
The leader silenced him, scolded him, and the man turned back into a crow.
"Unless she chooses a different fate, of course. Perhaps she has more potential. The dragon hasn't chosen her without a reason. You could come with us to Lord Galbatorix's castle. You could meet him. He could train you, teach you magic and all the secrets of a Rider, and you could ride by his side, the likeness of the Shur'tugal of yore."
What all of this meant was a great mystery to Niyene, but she knew one thing: she was not going to king Galbatorix.
"No way." she turned her head towards the ground, ready to feel the teeth of the wolves in her throat.
"Okay, if you are so certain, we'll kill you and take your dragon. Don't worry, we will take good care of him. Men, let's get the dra.."
Niyene heard a whooshing sound which caused the man to stop talking, followed by a loud thud. The wolf more or less let go of her so she could breathe again. She turned around to see what had happened.
The leader was lying in the middle of the road, two arrows had pierced his head. His human shape started to fade and he changed into something she could best describe as darkness, after that he was gone. The other two, who had changed back into their crow forms, had already taken to the sky. The wolf tried to follow, but it was too late for him. Three arrows landed in his chest, he fell down, changed into a man with ginger hair for a brief moment, and vanished.

Niyene tried to get up, but it was with difficulty. She hoped her wounds were not severe, or she would die here anyway.
"Stay down, I'm coming over." a calm voice with an accent she did not recognise sounded behind her, it came from the forest.
"Despicable creatures, whatever they are.." the person mumbled, and it seemed like he was standing in front of her now. She felt two arms grab her hands and carefully pull her up. She blinked a few times before she looked who had saved her. She almost fell down again in surprise. It was the man from the inn. He looked a lot scarier and more mysterious than his voice had sounded, so she certainly wasn't expecting that.
"Who are you?"
The man lowered his hood, and Niyene was surprised again. The person before her was a young man in his early to mid-twenties with striking deep green eyes and medium length dark hair. He smiled, and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Not what you were expecting, huh? Don't be deceived by my appearance, I'm a lot more capable than I look. My name is Jonah. I have to admit I was listening to your conversation before, at the inn. I think you might have noticed that, I was supposed to stay hidden but I didn't quite succeed, I'm afraid. I was given an important task by the forces of light: keep an eye out for the new Rider, and make sure he or she is safe. I wasn't going to show myself yet, since I wanted you to find your own way for now. But since you were attacked, I had no other choice but to step in. You're Eden, if I recall correctly?"
Niyene wanted to nod, but for some reason she could not lie. Something about him made her feel at ease, and he seemed to know about the situation she was in.
"Actually, it's Niyene.."
"Thought so, I mean, it's only logical someone like you would use a false name. It's an honour to meet a Rider. Although I have met Eragon, I thought he would be the last for sure.. on our side, at least." he grabbed her right hand, a lot more gentle than the soldier had done, and touched the mark.
"The Gedwëy Ignasia, without a doubt. Do you know what it means?"
Niyene shook her head. She felt like she was going to faint, it was all a bit too much for her. He caught her just in time.
"My apologies, I got a little overexcited. Your horse is over there, I've noticed. Mine is still in the forest, where I jumped off of him when I noticed you were in danger, at least I hope so." He gave her the travel bag, supported her, and brought her to her horse.
"You think you can ride by yourself?" he inquired while studying her various bruises and cuts.
"I think so. The wounds turned out to be minor. I'm mostly just a little shaken, is all."
He nodded, and headed back into the forest. Not much later he returned, leading his own horse along by the reigns. He climbed on the mount and spurred the horse, and Niyene followed his example.