Thankfully Eragon was able to deal with the group of Dwarves without lying to them too much. His explanation revealed to the Dwarves that he was scarred by the shade during the siege of Farthen Dûr, the scar caused seizures and that was the Dwarves had witnessed earlier. Eragon left out that his body currently hosted a spirit from Durza and the real reason for why he ran into the woods. Eragon told them that the seizure he suffered left his mind fevered and confused which made him flee. Judging by the convinced looks from the Dwarves Eragon assumed that his little story was a success.

'Arya seems to be wrong about your inability to lie' Saphira said as Eragon walked over to her side carrying his meal.

'Is that a good thing?' Eragon asked, even though he knew that he would never tell the Dwarves what he had revealed in the woods with Arya. He didn't get an answer.

Saphira growled as Eragon tried to sit at her side, 'Not there, up front this time'. Eragon rolled his eyes before venturing to the front of Saphira and sitting down with his back against her chest. Now properly settled Saphira's rumbling became peaceful, turning into calming hums.

'Saphira I'm sorry that I pushed you away' Eragon told Saphira as he ate his dinner.

Saphira lowered her head, gently rubbing her scaled jaw against Eragon's head 'I understand Eragon, I am not happy that you ran, but this time I think I can forgive you'.

Eragon rubbed his hand against the underside of Saphira's head, showing his appreciation to Saphira as they both sat together. This affection continued for several minutes as Eragon sated Saphira's protective nature, though surprisingly Saphira was the one to pull away first. 'Eragon there is something we need to discuss' Saphira told her rider as a slither of anxiety and fear flowed through their bond.

'What is it?' Eragon said, looking up at Saphira's head.

'You won't try to… to kill yourself again?' Saphira asked, her tone nervous and scared for the first time that Eragon could recall.

Eragon's eyes grew in shock 'No! I wouldn't do that to you Saphira. Why are you even asking me this?'

'We never talked about what occurred in the forest, with us escaping from Carvahall to journeying with Brom it got pushed away' Saphira explained 'but when you relived those events it brought my own feelings back. I need to know you won't try again' Saphira finished, her body shivering slightly.

'I have you now Saphira, I couldn't leave you' Eragon told the anxious dragon 'and you know I only tried to end my life because of the situation I was in'.

'It was a dumb decision' Saphira said, smoke billowing out of her nostrils, 'I didn't even know if I could have saved your life, I can't even imagine what I would do if you had… if you ha…' Saphira cut herself off, a low moan emanating from the Dragoness.

Eragon quickly rose from his spot and wrapped his arms around Saphira's neck, sending all of the warmth and love he could muster through their shared bond, 'I won't leave you Saphira, nothing in the world could change my mind'.

Eragon stayed as he was, clinging to Saphira's neck until her distressed state faded. When he pulled away Saphira lowered her head and began to lick his face. Eragon didn't try and stop Saphira, he knew that she needed this, the relief that flowed from Saphira's mind to his proved as much.

'I'm surprised you haven't ripped my face off yet' Eragon pondered, genuinely astonished that the barbs on Saphira's tongue hadn't parted his skin from his face.

'I can be gentle when it is needed' Saphira responded, showing her tongue to Eragon, the barbs that were ever-present where now retracted, though the tips were still visible. Before Eragon could ask Saphira about the new development she resumed her licking, silencing the rider. It was when the saliva from Saphira's tongue started to seep into his scalp that Eragon tried to escape from Saphira's cleaning, though his attempt failed spectacularly.

'Saphira could you please stop' Eragon asked as he pushed at her front paw, which pinned him to the ground. Saphira ignored his request and continued her persistence licking.

'Is it always so loving?'

Eragon recognised the voice as Maria, though he didn't dare open his eyes or mouth. Moving his hands to push away at Saphira's maw he momentarily gained some respite to respond, 'Saphira finds this calming, though my participation isn't voluntary that I can assure you'.

Saphira's growling caused Eragon to resume his pushing at her paw 'Saphira also prefers to be called be called a she' he added, before finally freeing himself from Saphira's clutches.

Maria apologised to Eragon, and then turned to Saphira and apologised, realising who she had really offended. Disheartened by the escape of her rider Saphira curled up and took to watching her rider as he sat down around the campfire with Maria and some of the other Dwarves.

'Tell me rider does these… attacks happen often?' Thorv said, referring to Eragon's seizures.

'Often enough to keep me on my feet' Eragon answered the Dwarf.

Orik soon joined the conversation with his own question 'is there no way to avoid them? Or cure your affliction?'

Eragon shrugged 'I could stay bedridden, but that would only create more problems. With regards to curing my seizures, it is one of the many reasons why I travel to the Elven kingdom'.

'I won't lie lad, you bear a curse that would crush most of us, I hope you do not let it consume you' Thorv said gruffly, the rest of the Dwarves that were gathered around the fire nodded in grim agreement.

Eragon tried to remain with his Dwarven guards for the rest of the evening but his fatigue was consuming his remaining energy, reluctantly Eragon retreated to his tent and its warm bedding. The tent itself had two entrances allowing Saphira to poke her head through the back so she could keep watch of Eragon, which was what Eragon found as he entered the tent. Lying down on his bed Eragon paid no mind as Saphira began to breathe warm air into the tent, finding the sensation more comforting than irritating. Despite the hectic day that occurred Eragon was too exhausted to worry about what had happened and quickly fell into a deep sleep.


The following morning was a rushed one, Eragon was immediately drafted into helping move supplies from the camp back onto the rafts with Stormfire being especially difficult and having to be blindfolded to calm the easily startled creature. Eventually every task was completed and the group were again drifting down the river, and Eragon was able to eat his rushed breakfast while Saphira stretched her wings and flew high into the sky, becoming a mere blue speck in the sky. Eragon's peaceful late morning was soon interrupted by Saphira.

'Eragon you must see this!' Saphira exclaimed as she forced an image into her rider's mind. The picture shown to Eragon was that of several birded creatures, ranging from greys and browns, though one thing was continuous about them, they were scaled and held a similar resemblance to Saphira, albeit smaller.

'Are they dragons?' Eragon asked, equally excited by Saphira's discovery. After a few tense seconds Saphira answered.

'No, though I think I may be related to them' she said, her sad tone revealing her disappointment. Saphira then pulled away from Eragon's mind and returned to the flowing river with a not so elegant splash, thankfully Eragon was seated at the center of the raft and wasn't caught in the watery barrage that followed.

The rest of the day pasted slowly, though Eragon was able to talk with Orik and Maria to pass the time. By midday Eragon was sat at the front of the raft with Zar'roc on his lap, its scabbard discarded by his side. Looking down at the blade Eragon realised that even though it was his sword, Zar'roc hungry glow still unnerved him as though the blade's only purpose was to feed off the chaos of battle. Frowning at the thought Eragon sheathed the blood red blade, only to be joined by Arya who sat by his side.

'Hello Arya' Eragon greeted, though his eyes didn't move to look at the Elf, preferring to watching the running water flow under the raft.

'Greetings Eragon' Arya responded, her musical voice a stark contrast to his dull tone, 'I hope you are well'.

Eragon rolled his shoulders, knowing the aches and pains that surrounded body weren't going away anytime soon, 'I feel fine' was his short response.

'Then I guess you will not mind if I ask you some questions then'.

Eragon blanched at the idea, but Saphira soon scolded him, 'come now Eragon, you should try and be a little less hostile to others who want to talk to you'.

'You are the one who threatened to eat Brom and Murtagh if they overstepped their boundaries' Eragon retorted though he already knew he lost the argument when Saphira threatened to bathe him, properly this time.

'What do you want to know?' Eragon asked to Arya.

'It is about what you told me yesterday' Arya said, her voice falling to a whisper as though she wished to hide the conversation.

Eragon sighed at the thought of thinking about that day, 'I already told you about what I did, I doubt you could ask more'. Eragon then looked at Arya to see her staring intently at him.

'I want to know why you chose a bear' Arya responded.

'Oh'

Eragon sighed, his reasoning for letting a bear kill him wasn't a straightforward explanation. 'It was the only option that made sense' he confessed 'I feared going back to the Carvahall, if one of the villagers found me they could have stopped me'. Swallowing Eragon continued, mindful to keep his voice low, 'even if I had found a knife or blade to do the deed, I didn't even know if I could do it… I knew that a bear or a pack of wolves would have little restraint in killing me'.

'I see' Arya said, her face hiding any emotion she may be holding.

'Is that all, or is there anything else?' Eragon asked, suddenly wishing to be on the other side of the raft.

Arya's hand seemed to wander closer to his own, but Eragon pulled his hand away 'I was wondering if you would care to duel me again this evening' Arya said as she pulled her own hand back to her lap, 'this is if you are well enough'.

Eragon jumped at the opportunity, if only so he could get some proper practising in before he reached the Elves 'Of course' Eragon responded, gripping Zar'roc as he spoke.

'You enjoy using Zar'roc?' Arya spoke, though the way she said it made it sound like more a statement.

'It has served me well, though I still do not know what Zar'roc means' Eragon responded, returning the blade to his side.

'Zar'roc is misery in the ancient language' Arya answered, her gaze following the break in Eragon's expression 'though in your hands I feel the blade's name is no longer appropriate'.

Eragon looked at his blade with sudden revolt, he knew that Morzan had performed terrible deeds with Zar'roc, but to name his blade misery seemed as though Morzan knew what he would become and that he would use his blade to kill riders. Struggling with his disgust Eragon felt the urge to toss Zar'roc into the raging river that flowed beneath his feet, though he quickly crushed such thoughts knowing it would be impractical.

Looking back at Arya, Eragon was faced with the familiar soft gaze of the elf however, instead of causing petty frustration in Eragon as he felt the sympathetic eyes wash over him Eragon felt queasy as strange pangs were going off in his stomach. Before Eragon could say or do anything Arya rose from her spot next to the confused rider, crouching momentarily her hand shot out and gently caressed the back of his neck causing Eragon to shudder as a jolt was sent down his back, Arya then left without another word.

'What was that?' Saphira asked, equally confused by the Elf's sudden action.

Eragon released his breath, not realising he had been holding it, 'I wish I knew' he responded.

'There is little point in guessing little one, come why don't you sit with me for a while' Saphira suggested, knowing all too well her rider's thought process. Eragon eagerly ran to the side of the raft, throwing his boots and shirt off and jumping into the river, swimming to Saphira with a surprising vigor.


As the sun began to set the rafts were once again brought inland and tied down to great oaks. The camp was soon set up, seven large tents littered around the riverside, a large opening near the encroaching woods allowed Saphira to rest her whole body behind the tents. During dinner Eragon sat with some of the Dwarven guards that accompanied him, one of them in particular called Shrrignien fascinated Eragon as he regaled him in how he acquired him metal knuckles, including the process of drilling into the knuckles and how different attachments could be locked into place. At the end of the description Eragon's mind was made up, he would get a set of these metal knuckles.

'No you aren't' Saphira scolded, 'I will not have my rider disfigure his hands with metal'.

'But they could help me fight if I lost my sword' Eragon argued.

'You heard Orik's warning your bones are too small' Saphira reasoned, forcing Eragon to recall Orik's earlier interjection.

'You are no fun Saphira' Eragon told the dragon.

Saphira snorted 'I am just keeping you safe little one, something that you have difficulty in doing'.

After dinner several smaller fires were started around the camp, Orik told Eragon that it was to ward of creatures that would be tempted to attack. When the last of the fires was set up Arya caught Eragon's eye and he knew that now was the time for their duel. Un-sheathing Zar'roc Eragon walked over to Arya in the opening behind the tents, both of them muttered words of magic that blunted their blades.

'Will you need my aid?' Saphira asked, referencing their previous duel when Eragon had used Saphira's enhanced senses to help him block Arya's swift strikes.

Eragon hefted Zar'roc in his right hand, 'It would be good to see how well I can do without your assistance'. Saphira agreed with Eragon's reasoning and withdrew slightly from their bond to allow him to concentrate.

Arya was the one to make the first move, she crossed the distance between them in three quick strides, swinging her thin blade directly at Eragon's head. Eragon just barely met Arya's blade with his own, the action sending him staggering slightly from the strength of her blow. Arya's second strike was aimed at his legs, to which Eragon blocked again. This movement continued for several minutes, Arya keeping Eragon on the defence, this meant he couldn't find a moment to retaliate as Arya's blows. Before Arya hadn't known Eragon's fighting style but this time she seemed to have keyed onto his analytical fighting behaviour and was effectively depleting his energy and waiting for his defence to fall.

'What do I do?!' Eragon asked Saphira desperately as he ran to the side of Arya's relentless swipe, reversing their positions giving Eragon more space while Arya now had her back to the dense forest.

'You need to change your methods, she already knows your tactics' Saphira advised, watching as her rider's blade was caught Arya's blade in a painful block, Eragon releasing a small gasp from the pain he felt from the reverberations from the strike. Eragon recalled Brom's advice for fighting an elf, running, but apart from that he knew little of fighting offensively against an equally skilled opponent, his nature of waiting for a weak point was something he leaned on heavily, and now it seemed to have become his crutch.

The one sided fight continued with Eragon's wrists taking an unholy beating from Arya's unnaturally strength, the strain was fully revealed when he tried to parry one of Arya's blows with just his right hand on Zar'roc's hilt. As the swords collided a resounding crack erupted from Eragon's hand, pain exploding from his wrist. Once again Eragon backpedalled, swapping his blade to his un-injured hand and holding his other hand closer to his chest. Arya gave no indication that she wanted to stop the fight, and Eragon was too enthralled with adrenaline to want to stop.

'Eragon there is no shame in stopping' Saphira told her rider as she felt the pain emanating from Eragon's fractured wrist.

'No! Not yet, I want to try something!' Eragon exclaimed, still rejecting Saphira's assistance.

Eragon slowed his breathing, taking longer breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart. When Arya closed in she swung her blade downwards aiming for his chest. Eragon sidestepped her first blow, moving back slightly as he did so, when Arya tried to move closer to allow her sword reach Eragon swung his first offensive strike. His sword lunging upwards, Zar'roc's eager glint was to be satisfied, or so Eragon thought. Arya bent herself back just enough for Zar'roc to miss its mark, and left Eragon open.

Arya grabbed Eragon's outstretched arm and twisted, forcing the rider to release Zar'roc from the swift pain that flowed from Arya' manipulation. Arya then pulled Eragon forward, and kicked his legs. Eragon fell face first onto the ground, reminiscent of what had happened to Arya during their first duel. Rolling over Eragon already knew he had lost, his blade was out of his reach and the painful soreness that flowed through his body was growing in volume.

What Eragon didn't expect was Arya to jump down upon him, pinning him to the ground while her free hand grabbing his shirt, pulling his neck towards her thin sword, 'do you yield?' she muttered, her face disturbing animated, her eyes alight with a strange fire while her breathing was causing her to shaking rhythmically.

Eragon nodded, too tired to speak. Arya withdrew her blade from Eragon's neck, though her eyes continued to search Eragon's face for a moment longer before she stood. Now removed from Eragon the elf offered her hand to the rider, which he took gratefully, unsure of whether he could get up by himself.

Arya yanked Eragon up effortless, her free hand moving from his un-injured hand to his broken one. 'Waíse heill' she said, healing the swelling that had rapidly appeared and removing most of the discomfort that surrounded the fracture.

'Thank you' Eragon croaked, as he rubbed the newly healed wrist.

Arya nodded 'I did not intend to hurt you, I am sorry'. The fire that was present in her eyes moments ago had been extinguished, and her normal emotionless gaze had returned.

Eragon shrugged 'Don't be, I should have guarded with both my hands, it was my own mistake and I paid for it'.

As Eragon went to retrieve Zar'roc Arya stopped him by gripping his arm, she noticed his instinctual flinch but she made no comment, 'you were slower this time, why?' she asked as Eragon looked back at the Elf.

'During our first duel Saphira helped me by lending her eyes, she didn't aid me this time' Eragon explained, tugging at Arya's grip though she held firm.

Arya raised one of her eyebrows 'So you cheated?'

'Ummh… I suppose it is cheating' Eragon blustered.

'It isn't cheating when your opponent can break your wrists like that' Saphira said, voicing her own opinion 'it was making it an even playing field'.

'Regardless, you fought well' Arya told Eragon, 'I am glad that your wound hasn't reduced your ability to wield a sword'.

Eragon disagreed with Arya's conclusion, throughout the fight his back was screaming in protest, in truth he had backed away from many of her blows in fear that it was spark another mind destroying fit, though he didn't tell Arya, as to not worry her. Arya eventually released Eragon, her gaze was different from the ones she had given him previously, and allowed him to gather Zar'roc. With the sword sheathed in his scabbard Eragon noticed that most of the Dwarves had been watching the duel, some were even muttering to each other and handing coins around.

'That was impressive lad' Orik said as Eragon approached and sat with him 'even though you lost'.

'Did you bet on me winning?' Eragon asked as he accepted a wineskin pouch offered by Maria.

Orik smiled 'nay, I don't bet on fights, though your guards had no such restraint'.

'Eragon did Arya break something in your hand? Maria asked, as she sat beside Eragon. 'You swapped your sword hand halfway through the fight' she explained when she saw Eragon's surprised face.

'She did' Eragon answered, showing his healed wrist to the Dwarf 'though she fixed it'.

'How generous' Thorv interjected 'though I agree with Orik, you fight well for a child'. Eragon's anger was tickled by the captain's remark, but brushed it off, not wanting to start an argument or fight at such a late hour.

'I am curious as to why the Elf decided to straddle you' Maria said, earning some chuckles from the other Dwarves. Just as Eragon was about to speak Orik spoke.

'Most likely Arya was caught up in the heat of the duel, right Eragon?'

Eragon nodded, wishing the subject would change as the other Dwarves looked over to the tired rider.

Thankfully the Dwarves quickly moved to discuss other aspects of the fight, which moved to an argument about whether a hammer or an axe was a more appropriate weapon with swords being ignored. Soon the passion of the Dwarves caused them to talk in frantic Dwarvish, resulting in Eragon moving to his tent due to his limited knowledge in the language.

'I think you did well' Saphira told Eragon as he lay on his bedding, kicking his boots off lazily.

'I still lost' Eragon retorted, though he knew that his first victory was more of a fluke than a show of his mastery.

Saphira chuckled at her rider 'that you did, but I am still proud in you'.

Eragon didn't respond, his loud snoring evident that the duel had taken a lot of energy out of the young rider.

'Sleep well Eragon' Saphira hummed into her rider's mind as she too drifted into a warm sleep.


A/N

Kind of a filler chapter, but these kind of chapters are always going to happen.

I put the duel in because I wanted to show that Arya can still kick ass, and that Eragon wasn't somehow stronger than he was in the books, in retrospect he's probably weaker.

I wonder what fire was in Arya's eyes, hopefully not the burning type, but you never know.

Also go vote in the poll in my profile, I needs to know what you guys/galls want.