Arrival

Eragon looked at Arya's sad face and felt his heart melt. A tear ran down her long face. Faolin still stared with love at Janfask, who had begun to
sniff around for something to eat. A small warble came from the green dragon. Arya looked away from Eragon and her face went to normal, an

emotionless mask. She instead turned her attention to Nasuada, who was coming nearer and nearer. With a noise like rock grating of rock her

guards followed. She seemed distracted by something. Eragon turned to see what she was looking at and noticed that Blodhgarm had appeared

among them. He looked at Nasuada and smiled. Nasuada was some distance away so Eragon started to walk toward her. As he pasted Arya he

whispered, "I need to talk with you." Then he walked past her and greeted Nasuada. "Greetings Nasuada. It is good to be back with the

Varden. I have someone with me that has offered us help." He turned around; ready to call Gridor, only to see that the Mecch had followed him.

He turned around again and said, "Nasuada, I would like to introduce you to Gridor." A small gasp of fear came from Nasuada as Gridor stepped

beside Eragon, with a movement more graceful then an elf's. Blodhgarm's ears twitched and he turned and ran to her side. Gridor smiled and

said, "As you know my name is Gridor. I am the leader of the Mecchs, or in your language the Elite Dragons." Nasuada gapped. "He can speak."

A jet of flame ripped from the Mecch's mouth, seeming without meaning to. He stepped back and said, "I apologize. That happens every so

often." Blodhgarm was almost glaring at the Mecch and his hand was on his sword. Nasuada placed a hand on his mane. He hesitantly lifted his

hand. Blodhgarm waved his mane and said, "What can this small Dragon do to help the Varden?" Gridor's eyes glimmered. "I would be delighted

to show you my capabilities."

Walking back several steps he stretched out his wings, pointed his head upward, and a huge river of flame shot from his mouth. The blast was

so hot and so strong that the clouds for over a league evaporated. Gridor snapped his mouth shut and closed his eyes for a moment. The air

around him began to crackly. He opened his mouth again and a bolt of lighting shot from it and hit a crow in the chest. Eragon was as

astonished as Nasuada. Until that moment he had thought that the only thing that Dragons, even the Elite, could breathe was fire.

Gridor walked back and said, "That is my ability in the smallest demonstration I could give. I am capable of far more then that. If you will give me

about fifty of your warriors, I can say for positive that they would be lying on the ground moaning with pain in under a minute." Nasuada blinked

and said, "Okay. Point proven." Eragon almost laughed at her shocked expression. Why had he doubted the ability of a Mecch in the first place?

He looked at Blodhgarm and saw a guarded expression. "Nasuada I want you to know that I too have grown in power." To this she looked at

him in a mixture of curiosity, interest, and hope. "I now hold a word in the Ancient Language which has enhanced me with more power then can

be measured. Magic, in and of itself, is now under my direct command. So I wish it, so it shall be." He had been about to continue when a blue

speck detached itself from the sky on the horizon. It flapped twice and then dived at Eragon. Joy filled him as he recognized Saphira. How long

had it been since last saw her? Week's maybe months. Leaping off Faolin's Janfask stared up at Saphira as she swopped maybe only fifteen feet
above them.

Eragon laughed and melded his mind with hers. He jumped onto her back and hugged her. Little one. Saphira hummed with joy. She landed and

Eragon would not get off her for the next few hours. When at last he did he walked to his tent. Pulling back the flap his heart began to beat

faster. Arya sat on his bed. She stood up with her arms crossed in front of her. "You wanted to see me?" Eragon nodded and tried to think past

the beating of his heart. Arya must be able to hear it. "Arya I want you to know that….I still love you. I did not mean to do what I did." Arya eye

quivered and she said, "I am half to believing that you did mean to and you liked it." Eragon walked to her until they were less then a foot apart.
Memories of long nights with her on the way to Fiom, spent under blankets that hid them, came to him. "Arya I would never betray you like that."
A tear again fell down her face. "Trianna maneuvered me into it." A sob leapt out of Arya. "You meant to. You meant to at least three times.

Twice in Farthen Dur and once on the road." Eragon took a deep breath and went to a description of how Trianna had used the Seduction Ring

on him and how; even then, he had not meant to do it. Then he told her of how it was his responsibility to do what he did while they were on

the road. Ever time he said the word love and Trianna in the same sentence a sob came out of her. When he was done she stopped crying and

said. "Very well, I will think about what you have said. Until the time when I reach my decision our relationship will be that as before we became

mates. I have my mate and you have yours." Eragon nodded and thought, "That's the most I'll get out of her for now." "Alright. Just please

remember that I still love you." Arya took a deep breath and seemed to be holding in tears. Eragon placed a hand on her shoulder and she burst
into crying. The entrance flaps to his tent flow open and Faolin walked in and held Arya as she cried. "What did you do to her? The last time I

know of her crying was when we were talking after we were reunited. Before that I don't even think she cried when she was a baby."

"I didn't do anything to her. And as for you, Faolin, you were not invited in," Eragon snapped. Faolin put Arya's head on his shoulder and glared

with the most hatred he had ever seen at Eragon. Under his breath he whispered, "Talk to her again and you won't like the consequences."

Then he left. Eragon stood in the center of his room and shook his head. "That was badly handled." Eragon jumped as he heard the voice of a

teenage girl from behind him. He turned and saw a semi tall girl crawling out from under his bed. She had long brown hair and was extremely

beautiful. "Can I help you?" The girl smiled and said, "Well ordinarily I would say that you have done enough." She tossed back her hair and a

shimmer came from her forehead. Surprise shot up Eragon. "Elva?" The girl laughed and said, "You'd think that since you know hold the power

word that you recognize a girl you cursed." Eragon smiled and said, "You really can't blame me for that now that I've removed my part of the

blessing/curse." Elva smiled and walked up to him. "How old are you now?" Elva shrugged. "Well theoretically I'm about two. But due to

Saphira's mark I'm more around the age of 17." Eragon blinked. That was around his age. "Are you going to age much more?" Elva doubled over

and laughed. "You think I'm going to continue to age at this pace until I'm an old woman? No, the process of aging stopped about a week ago. I

guess I age normally now." Eragon chuckled for a moment and looked at her. When he had left the Varden a couple of months ago she had

been so pale she was almost frightening. Now her skin was a slight brown color.

In other words she looked like a perfectly sound teenager. Eragon could not help but notice that by the standards of men she was exceptionally

beautiful girl. He couldn't help but ask, "So have you decided who will fall in love with yet?" Elva's eyes sparked and she grinned. "You're not the

first to ask that. If you're question is wither or not I have decided I like someone it's a no. More then several boys in the Varden decided they're

deeply in love with me. I thought it worked that you were cuter as a baby and as a child then as a woman? When I was a child most men were

afraid of me. Now I'm practically answering the door of my tent every few minutes." Eragon laughed and said, "That must be annoying." He had

meant the comment to amuse her but she did not laugh, or even smile. Instead she stared at the ground and said, "Actually it's really nice.

Knowing that they want to just talk with me. I never really had that." She seemed perilously close to tears. He placed a comforting hand on her

shoulder as she began to sniff and then began to cry. He hugged her as she cried on his shoulder. "It's alright, Elva." She sobbed and through

her tears she said, "No it isn't. They died and abandoned me." Eragon kissed her on the forehead, on her gedwëy ignasia. "It's alright." Elva

sobbed for a full ten minutes and when she was done she said, "Well I should go." Smiling he said, "Go if you want to. Remember, it's not like

you're parents meant to die." She left and Eragon felt good about himself. So as the day was drawing to a close Eragon slipped out and found

Saphira, and slept under her warmth.

I still hate Trianna. I wrote this chapter so fast because I fell bad about not writing it for a week. :( sorry.