Chapter Ten

A/N: Terribly sorry about the long wait! I've had so much going on that I had to cut back on my writing time, which is a shame if you ask me. Alas, college comes first. I do hope you enjoy the continuation of the story.

The days grew longer, or so it seemed, for Brom who had to depend on Saphira to keep in contact with Sareh. Oftentimes he found himself daydreaming

about her and their future, and of course if her dreams had returned as of late. He missed her terribly, a feeling he hadn't felt before, about anything or anyone. He was normally very contented to stay atop the back of his dragon, searching for anything nefarious in nature to attend to.

The Spine seemed quiet.

Brom grew bored of this post quickly and wished the mind-numbing duty would end quickly. Saphira looked at things quite open-mindedly, Brom attributed her cheerfulness to the fact that she was in constant communication with Sareh, while Brom had to survive on snippets of conversation and the occasional question from Sareh. It was as though he was waiting for a message that had been sent months ago, only to receive it when the information was old. It wasn't pleasant.

Weeks passed and finally Brom and Saphira were relieved from The Spine to journey to the Hadarac Desert. Brom was happy to have a change of scenery and Saphira was glad to have him stop complaining about not having a change of scenery.

Sareh had briefly let Saphira know that she was fine; Saphira in turn shared this with Brom. He let his chronic worry slide off his shoulders and made his way about his duty, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

The day had barely begun when a fellow dragon rider and his steed entered the their territory at full speed. The dragon was exhausted from its journey and panted while trying to keep trembling wings flapping. Brom steady the rider who was also fighting to stay astride his saddle.

"My friend, what has caused you to cross such a great distance?" the man blinked blearily, looking for the strength to relay his message.

"Brom, it's Galbatorix." Brom's eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about?"

"Galbatorix," the man murmured tiredly.

"Galbatorix, but… He doesn't even have a dragon!" the man nodded once more.

"Galbatorix did not take the council's decision to deny him another egg well. He has disappeared Brom and the council has decided several riders will be needed to find him." Brom looked at the rider across from him,

"And, I take it the council has already decided which riders will be sent." The man nodded.

"You are one of them Brom. You and your dragon are to join the search for Galbatorix. He has lost his mind Brom, he will become a threat to the Riders if he is not found." Brom looked out across the horizon, just to the right of Saphira's shoulder. His month at the Hadarac Desert could turn into much more time than planned. His thoughts centered on Sareh, he wouldn't see her until Galbatorix was found.

Inwardly he cursed Galbatorix. It was almost unfortunate he had survived the raid that had killed his dragon. Now his madness was to cause more lives to be put on hold.

"When am I to leave?" the man followed Brom's gaze, looking to see what he saw.

"Now, Brom, they want him found as soon as possible. I am to take your place at the outskirts while you search for him." Brom sighed and spoke with Saphira.

"We must find him Brom… I remember Sareh sharing a moment of her dream with me, she heard a man gone mad with loss. I believe now, that it was Galbatorix."

"Are you sure?"

"The man was mumbling about the council being wrong to forbid him another egg." Brom sighed once more. Galbatorix seemed to have crossed into madness. A thin line to be sure but with the loss of a dragon, the council should have seen what Galbatorix could have been capable of.

"We must tell Sareh." Brom glanced at the messenger; he had been waiting expectantly for Brom to leave. The man was thrilled that it wasn't required of him to follow a mad man. Brom gave him a curt nod and directed Saphira to fly towards their next destination. It was far from his objective of choice.

"We will have to tell her on the way." Saphira threw her head back for a moment of agreement. Brom shared his thoughts with her, hoping to hear Sareh's as the two spoke.

"Sareh?" Saphira questioned, it seemed the message was hitting black, bouncing off into space. Brom had begun to worry for a moment, knowing Sareh answered even during her busiest moments. He felt Saphira's rising panic as well until Sareh's thoughts came through to them. They sounded sleepy, disjointed as though she had just woken.

"Saphira? Brom?" Saphira answered in the affirmative. Sareh was quiet once more.

"Sareh? Are you all right? Sareh!" Saphira questioned, Brom could feel her strong heart beat, strike against his legs. He was surprised to have felt it over his own thumping heart, his chest nearly cracking as his panic filled him. Sareh answered again.

"I did not mean to scare you two—it appears I fainted in the fields and I am trying to figure out why." Brom was slightly appeased by this, knowing that if she was talking to them she was at least not in danger, however hearing of this latest event made him feel uneasy.

"Does this have something to do with your gifts?" he thought through Saphira. He could almost see Sareh shrugging.

"I do not know." Brom lifted one gloved hand from the pommel of his saddle to rub his face.

"Will you be all right?"

"My mother is caring for me now, she says I'll be fine." Saphira shifted one of her great shoulders, reminding Brom that he had to tell her that they had been sent on a mission.

"Sareh, I am sorry to have to tell you this now, but Saphira and I have been ordered away from our last position." There was a moment of blank again, Brom not sure if she had fainted again held his breath.

"I see, may you tell me why?"

"Do you remember the man you heard my friend Morzan talking about that night, when you were testing your gifts?"

"Yes."

"His claim was denied and in the council's doing so, he has fled. He is insane Sareh, and must be found."

"And, you must find him?" Brom nodded into the fast moving wind as Saphira flapped her long wings taking them further away from Sareh.

"One of several Riders. We have been sent to locate him and bring him back to the council."

"When will you return?" Saphira interjected, slightly disconcerted by the conversation taking place in her mind, but without her own participation. This power of Sareh's was truly more than they had thought.

"We do not know, most likely when he is found—that could take days even months. If Galbatorix was any Dragon Rider, he would have learned the lands of Alagaësía like the back of his hand."

"I can see there is no way you can avoid this duty." Sareh said, her thoughts quiet, as though she were thinking outside of their conversation.

"I cannot Sareh. It is a direct order. The sooner we locate him, the sooner I can return."

"Then go, but promise me," Sareh asked, her thought-voice grim, like she had seen something that gave her cause to worry, "promise me you will be careful, both of you. I fear this Galbatorix is much more than a threat to the politics of the Riders." Saphira tilted her head back for a moment to look at Brom, to take heed of Sareh's warning seemed appropriate.

"Of course Sareh."

"We will."

"Go with my love." Sareh said, ending their conversation. Brom gripped the pommel of the saddle tightly, his gloves cutting into the hands encased in them. He loved Sareh very much, however he felt as though she was keeping something from him, and it had begun on the mountainside when had asked her to wait for him. She knew something and either she felt it meant nothing, or it was a vision of a future Brom wouldn't wish to see.

Either way, he couldn't help but feel somewhat chagrined by her lack of informing him. He hoped that would change, and soon.

­­­­­­­­­­­ Sareh shifted on her bed, the feathered prison her mother had forced her into. She felt fine, just confused as to how she had gotten there. According to her mother, she had been working in the fields with her father, a detail she remembered clearly, when she had simply frozen in mid weed pull, her father had noticed just before she had fallen to the ground. A detail Sareh did not remember.

What was happening to her?

Her mother came up the stairs, her plump shadow crossing the wooden floor between them. Sareh smiled as her mother handed her a clay mug of water.

"How do you feel dear? No soreness or dizzy spells?" Sareh shook her head.

"No Mama. Nothing, I feel fine." Her mother smiled and touched her daughter's forehead, checking for any sign that could tell them why she had fainted as she had. Sareh's skin was cool to the touch, no fever, no cold sweats, nothing. Her mother was truly puzzled, after years of marriage and children; Caitir had felt positive that she had seen it all, only to be stumped by this. Sareh grasped the cup tighter and made to stand.

"Mama, I feel just fine, I can go back to the fields and help Papa…" She was stopped by her mother's small hand, small, but amazingly strong after a lifetime of childcare and hard work.

"Sareh, you fainted, I don't know why, now you're going to stay here where I can watch you."

"Mama—" Sareh began to fuss only to be stopped by a look from her mother.

"No more. You will stay in bed. Rest Sareh, heaven knows you've been working twice as hard since Brom left." Sareh found that she couldn't argue with her. Not that it had ever been an option, but when her mother decided that something was going to happen, it was going to happen. So she slid back on the bed and lifted her water up.

"Thank you for the water Mama." Caitir smiled at her daughter. Pleased that she had gotten the desired reaction climbed back down the stairs, bemoaning sore knees and that age had left her falling apart at the seams. Sareh smiled at her mother's groans and laments. She sat there, a shaft of light falling across her face. She watched specks of dust float through the light, sparkling as they journeyed into the light. She imagined Brom and Saphira as one of those specks, twisting and turning through the air.

When she had warned Brom to be careful, she had thought she had done it out of worry. After scrutinizing her dream, Sareh had come to the conclusion that the young man she had seen was none other than the Galbatorix she had heard Brom's friend discussing. After realizing this, she had also deduced that Galbatorix was the one to be blamed for the destruction of the rider's, including Saphira. The sooner Brom caught him the less of a threat he would be. Perhaps the future she had seen in her nightmare would be changed, denied by Galbatorix's capture.

As she thought this she began to feel dizzy, her vision starting to blacken at the edges. Sareh's eyes rolled back and she swayed on the bed, the clay mug slipping from her limp fingers, crashing against the floor. She heard her mother's cry of surprise and the scurry of feet up stairs as her hearing became plugged. Finally she fell back on the bed, completely still.

Flashes of light caught Sareh's sight, pictures of more death, more dragons and their riders lying dead. Blood, so much blood. A man with red hair and eyes dark crimson, was he a man?

He stood in the dark, just ahead, back turned and arms outstretched. Words were uttered in languages that were unintelligible. In one dramatic move, he had turned, eyes blazing.

Sareh felt as though her mind were being pulled apart as he stared. She screamed, fire tearing through her.

"Do you see me little girl?" the red-eyed man shouted, sharp teeth glinting in the flickering light. Sareh could not answer for the pain in her head. The man laughed as she writhed in pain.

"Because, I see you!" he moved forward, looking to grab her. Sareh in a moment of fear pulled back, running. It felt as though she weren't moving at all, the pain in her psyche intensifying. The man seemed surprised as she ran, he roared in anger and followed, but it was too late. Sareh's mental jarring had loosened his hold.

There was only black now.


Durza's maroon eyes opened in shock. How had the little chit gotten away? Cold, dark eyes met his surprised gaze; the pale, gaunt face of Galbatorix loomed ahead of him. The man stared at him; no emotion upon his face, even for Durza, a Shade overtaken by three spirits feared this man. Completely mad and lusting for revenge Durza had joined Galbatorix's plan of domination, the Shade wanting nothing more than the fall of the Rider's and their arrogant claim to power.

"Well?" Galbatorix demanded, no longer willing to wait patiently for an answer. Durza looked at him grimly.

"She escaped me milord. She is much more powerful than we originally thought." He hoped his shock was not evident as Galbatorix leaned back against a tree smiling, the grove they had entered providing cover as they hid from the patrol of Riders sure to follow them. A feral laugh rushed from Galbatorix's throat.

"Perfect Durza. She is the key to our success." Durza looked at his master in confusion.

"How so milord?" Galbatorix sneered at him from his resting place.

"Because, you ignorant fool, she has the power to eliminate the Riders all together. She will bring their end." Durza's sharp teeth showed themselves once more as he grinned in tandem with his master.

This woman was the undoing of the peace in Alagaësía.