Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the original characters. (Miriah, Niana, Torier, Nàylor, Loresté, etc.) Everything else belongs to Christopher Paolini.
A/N: Geeze, it's been three months since I updated. I'm sorry! I got sidetracked, and didn't get around to finishing this until last week. I hope that you haven't all given up on me as a lost cause. Anyway, the next chapter's already in progress, but, for now, enjoy this one!

ChiefEditor - Thanks for pointing out my unintentional near creation of a Mary-Sue. I was trying to hint at some of her flaws, but I guess I didn't do a good job at that. You needn't worry about it anymore. If this chapter doesn't bring some of them to light, I have plans, and lots of them. Thanks for reviewing!!

Miriah walked silently after them, her mind drifting off to other things while she did. For a moment, as she followed the elves, she stopped watching where she was going.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. A large spider fell from the trees and landed on her head. When that happened, Miriah let out an earsplitting screech. Brie shied away from her, while Niana leaped forward in an effort to see what was distressing her Rider.

"Get it off!" Miriah shrieked, too petrified to move. She hated spiders – absolutely hated them. They scared her, and anything that scared her, she hated with a passion.

Torier, who was nearest to her, sighed, and scooped the spider off of her. While she held it, she backed away from him, her green eyes wide as she watched the spider, which was as big as his hand.

Then, as she couldn't see where she was backing up to, she tripped over a tree root. That sent her tumbling down a hill. She yelped as she rolled over sharp twigs, rocks and all manner of things.

By the time she was at the bottom of the hill she was covered in slightly muddy leaf bits, and anything that got caught in her hair.

The part that annoyed her most was at the very base of the hill there was a tree. A perfectly placed tree.

Tumbling as she was, she couldn't stop herself, and she slammed into the tree trunk. She felt her breath rush out from the impact while her vision spun.

Her last sight before everything went black was the elves rushing down the slope toward her with Niana on their heels.

Miriah woke to the darkness of the forest, the soft light of a fire, and the hushed whispered of soft elfin voices.

A soft moan escaped her lips as her awareness returned. Her head ached, and a dull throbbing emanated from her abdomen. She turned her head toward the warm glow of the crackling fire, fighting to clear her vision.

She let out a slightly louder groan, stretching the stiff muscles in her body. She hissed when a sharp pain shot through her lower back and her belly. She must have broken a rib, she thought dully.

Her hand slipped down to the area that was smarting. She rested her hand there for a moment, then gently probed the tender spot. She was rewarded in an instant when she did.

"Ouch," she muttered. "Definitely either bruised or cracked it." She had done that once before. She'd been helping her grandfather fix the roof, and she'd tripped over the edge of the ladder and landed on a rock half-buried in the sand. She'd been fourteen that time, and it hadn't been an experience that she'd wanted to repeat.

She berated herself mentally for being so clumsy, again. She was always doing things like that, when it was clear that she could avoid them. She glanced around; Niana was asleep – and snoring – a few meters away, she noticed,

Finally, she shifted, and got out of the blankets that the elves had wrapped around her to keep her comfortable while she was unconscious. They were soft, a luxury for her, just like all of the trees.

The three elves stopped talking when they saw that she was awake. Torier even got up and moved over to her, giving her sleeping dragon a wide berth. He raised a questioning brow as he approached.

"Our new Rider is afraid of spiders?" He asked softly. Miriah nodded sheepishly, not daring to look him straight in the eye. Realizing that he'd made her uncomfortable, he offered a slight smile.

"Don't worry, there aren't many spiders in Ellesméra, and they stay a good distance from the Riders' quarters." Miriah acknowledged his statement with a nod. Her jade eyes flicked from his face to the fire, where Nàylor and Loresté sat, silently watching her and their friend.

Everything was so new to her, the scenery, the people, and just the experience. Just a few months ago, she never would have thought that this would be the direction her life would go. She never would have thought that she'd be a Dragon Rider, that she'd have Niana.

Now, she didn't know what she'd do if she didn't have Niana; the idea was so foreign to her that it seemed strange that she'd lived so long without her dragon.

She continued to watch the fire, sadly, now. She missed her grandparents, and she missed Lorievi, even though she had been so desperate to get away from it. She had been desperate to get away, but not in the sense that she had actually wanted the betrothal that had been arranged for her.

She'd been so mad when she found out what her grandparents were planning that she'd actually managed to crack a gourd when she'd kicked it…and she'd also bruised her foot doing that. It hadn't been a pleasant experience either – Miriah hadn't been able to walk for more than two weeks after the incident.

And that was just one of the many times she'd let her temper get the better of her. She had descent restraint and self-discipline, but that didn't always help much when she got mad or upset. The funny thing was, while she was short tempered, it also took alot to get her going.

She sighed, and glanced back at the elf, who continued to watch her. She could feel Loresté's and Nàylor's eyes on her as well. They watched her thoughtfully, seeming to wonder why she was so quiet. They probably hadn't been uprooted from their homes like she had…

Miriah sighed. "When are we going to move on? Tomorrow?" Torier nodded,

"Tomorrow morning, after we eat." Miriah nodded, drifting off to her thoughts again. After a moment, Torier got up again and walked back to his friends, once more staying away from the dragon.

The Rider's eyes drifted to the great violet beast. She thought her dragon was absolutely gorgeous. Even if she could go back in time, she wouldn't trade anything for Niana, not even if it was the whole of Alagaësia, without a fight.

Miriah made up her mind then. She would never let Galbatorix get his hands on her dragon.

He would fall. And she was going to help.

A/N: Review and let me know what you think! It'll only take a minute or two, and it'll mean alot to me!

Posted 1/25/08