Murtagh squinted into the morning light as Thorn flew eastward, towards the source of the attempted spell. He had felt a significant drain on his energy as the wards he surrounded himself with counteracted and traced a scrying spell towards the Hadarac Desert. It was most interesting that a spell of such strength would come from one of the wandering tribes, but whoever cast it clearly wished to see him, and see him they shall.

He turned to check the cargo. An elongated package was wrapped in cloth and tied to the back of his saddle. It reeked horribly, but it was downwind of him, so he barely noticed. Thorn, who had grown tremendously since their emancipation from the clutches of Galbatorix, had been flying for two days and barely seemed to be affected by it. His enormous sums of energy were seemingly endless, as most of Murtagh's wards drew their strength from him, and he had never had cause to reduce or eliminate any of them. We should be there by sundown. Thorn said.

Perfect. I really would like to get rid of this.

xxxxx

Arya sat at the head of a table, joined by King Ott on her right, Queen Silvertail in her human form on her left, and Kulkarvek across from her, sitting on the ground. They had been eating dinner and going over the logistics of their journey, trying to assess how many boats they would need to build in order to hold all of them and their supplies. King Ott couldn't keep himself from glancing at the Urgal King every few seconds, seemingly reassuring himself that he wasn't about to become a snack for Kulkarvek.

"I believe we would require no fewer than a hundred boats, if each one can accommodate three hundred of your kind. That would be sufficient for two hundred Urgals, or one hundred and fifty Kull." Kulkarvek stated.

Arya mentally sighed. She had not expected the Urgals to arrive in such vast quantities. She knew the company that had come with Kulkarvek was larger than she thought, but the one after them dwarfed them in numbers. Five thousand Kull had run with Kulkarvek, and over ten thousand Urgals had arrived a few days later.

"I believe we will be able to make that happen." Arya said. "I might need to send more of my Riders to help with the construction, though. Would you be able to give me a score of Urgal Riders to help fill in with the duties my Riders will have to abandon here?"

Kulkarvek thought for a long time before replying, "As you need them. They will report to you tomorrow, but when we leave they shall fall under my command again."

Arya sighed out loud this time, "Some of their duties might carry over into our journey across the Hadarac."

"Then we will have to discuss that when we get to such a point." Kulkarvek said.

"Very well." Arya said. "King Ott, will the humans still be able to ride on just 300 ships?"

King Ott snapped his attention away from the enormous Urgal sitting on his right and looked at her. "Yes, yes 300 ships for the humans will be sufficient."

"And Queen Silvertail, do the werecats still wish to travel with the elves?" Arya asked.

The werecat looked up at her and smiled, not saying anything.

"Very well. The dwarves informed me last night that they will be arriving in three days' time." Arya said.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't they?" Came King Ott's response. "We'll be leaving just three days after that. What if they are delayed?"

Arya shrugged. "They said that they intended to make it one long journey, not several small ones. They told me it would be much more troublesome to pack and unpack several times than to just meet with us and continue marching."

"Dwarves." King Ott sighed.

At this, Arya had to restrain herself from smiling, but Queen Silvertail's mouth spread into a wide grin, and Kulkarvek laughed uproariously. "Dwarves indeed, good King. Dwarves indeed!"

A dragon approaches over the western horizon. Firnen said. I do not recognize him, nor do any of the wild dragons. He is very… large.

Arya smiled widely and stood. "You had all better come with me. We have a visitor approaching." Then she left the tent and called out to Firnen, Come and get me! We should go and meet them.

A minute later, Firnen descended out of the clouds, a mass of shimmering green that reminded Arya of dew on the needles of the trees. Her smile grew even wider as he landed, his muscles rippling and the ground cracking open at the weight of his enormous body. She bounded up his leg to her saddle on his back. I've missed you. She said.

And I, you. He replied. As he took off, he exchanged with her an onslaught of memories from dealing with the wild dragons. She got the sense that while they were willing to leave, they were upset at the notion of helping the other races flee as well. Who are our guests? He asked when he had finished relaying his information.

Old friends. One of them helped Eragon and Saphira rescue me from Gil'ead. The dragon on which he rides was the third egg held in captivity with you and Saphira.

Thorn? Firnen asked.

Yes. Came a reply from the red gleam on the horizon. Hello, Firnen. Hello Arya.

Greetings. Arya replied. Have you come to join us?

No. Murtagh's reply was blunt. We came because someone tried to scry me, and I thought it might be related to this. He sent the two of them an image of the cargo strapped to his saddle.

What is that? Firnen asked.

Something neither of us have ever seen before. Thorn replied.

It would be best if we continue this discussion face-to-face, away from any eavesdroppers. Murtagh said, and cut off the connection.

Firnen continued his flight towards them, and in a few minutes Thorn descended towards a large dune, and landed on the far side of it. It barely hid his massive form. Firnen soon arrived at the dune as well, and Arya jumped down. As she approached Murtagh, he stood tall and proud. He did not give her the gesture of fealty, but he did address her in the Ancient Language.

"May good fortune rule over you." He said.

"Peace live in your heart." Arya replied.

He did not finish the greeting, but went to his saddle and unstrapped the package. He jumped down with it, and unrolled it on the ground. Inside was what looked like an elf. She had wounds all over her torso, and one fatal stab wound through her heart. She was covered in blood and an awful smell filled the air. Although she had pointed ears, her skin was gray as ashes, and she was quite taller than a normal elf. Her arms and legs were longer, and she seemed emaciated, as if she hadn't eaten in years. Arya could pick out every individual bone underneath her skin.

"She tried lifting me into the air, but Thorn was returning from his hunt. He saw her, and attacked her. When her focus was broken, I was able to grab hold of her magic and unravel the spell that she used. Their magic is not like ours, Arya." Murtagh said, looking dead in her eyes. "The true name of the Ancient Language had no effect on it or her. However, Thorn was able to mentally subdue her and keep her from casting anything while she and I dueled. We both almost died several times, but we were able to prevail in the end, as you can see."

At that moment, Angela suddenly appeared between the two of them. She saw the being on the ground, and shrieked. She looked at Arya, then at Murtagh and said, "You! It was you! Have you any idea what you have done?! You've doomed all of Alagaesia, you blockhead!"

xxxxx

A return of an old friend, a dead member of the Grey Folk, and Eragon still unheard from! Hope to hear from you soon!

Replies to Reviews

SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta: I would certainly hope so! And I hope that this does as well! By the way, I absolutely love your name :)

In the words of Porky the Pig,

Th-th-th-that's all, folks!

Love,

ReviewMaster