Chapter 10! Yey! -cheers loudly- This is a pretty interesting chapter, because Arya discovers something, a bit of what Melisande and Elva are up to, but decides to keep it a secret for now!

By the way...I guess my last quiz was insanely insane, cos only one person got it right...and he/she was only joking too! That would be the "somebody" who reviewed the answer...-mutters- wierd...anyway, the correct answer is actually a). Believe it or not, Melisande wanted to mix Arya up an' all, cos she has her own plans...I will reveal all soon!

XD Read on!

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Chapter 9- Gifts of the Jierda

"Remember what to do," the half elven girl whispered to her friend, who nodded almost miserably.

"I ken, I ken," she whispered back irritably. "I'll make sure she isn't revealed."

"Good." The girl looked assured, and laughed nervously.

Soon after dawn, the battle by the Jierda river commenced…

It was a bloody and very powerful battle, Eragon's idea with the spell weaving strategy worked very successfully, though it was frightening to see how well it worked, to see enemies by the rows keel over, defeated. It was a horrible talent to learn, but it was necessary. The thought of losing the battle was too much to bear, because it was crucial that the Varden win. Without the Varden, Alagäesia was lost.

The strength of the Varden was well enhanced by the aid of the Urgals. However, Galbatorix's armies were large by the numbers, and it wasn't wise to underestimate them. Everybody who knew of the magic of the ancient language knew that it was limited by your knowledge. The Varden together with Ellesméra had a fair portion of that knowledge in which they were certain no one else knew, but Galbatorix also knew things himself, having been trained in Ellesméra himself, but also having travelled far, and gained more darker knowledge of the ancient language, which he had taught to his own followers. That knowledge was black knowledge, and something better left forgotten, but it was now alive, and there was nothing that anyone could do about it, apart from fight it.

Arya fought furiously against the enemies too. They were hideous, and Arya cringed at just looking at them, but she fought on. It was life and death, after all, and Arya had not decided to be ambassador for Ellesméra for nothing. The flashing emerald on her silver headband helped with her, like the strength of an extra person, and Arya was much stronger than a powerful elf. It was rare to find an equal match fro Arya, as she fought ruthlessly. She didn't notice anything as she shot, darted, sparred, until nearly the end of the battle. Many of the enemies had tried to run away, and they had all been heedlessly killed, without any hesitation.

Arya turned to her left, and her blazing eyes flashed dangerously. The red rider. She watched from the cliff tops, as Eragon and the rider sparred. Her instinct suddenly urged her to hide behind a tree a few metres behind her, and she did. It wasn't long when she heard voices.

"What are we going to do?" a voice wailed. Arya recognised it as Melisande's voice. The voice of the respondent, Arya struggled to remember. It sounded vaguely familiar, as she said,

"I…I don't know. She says they aren't going to let her fight, but it's not like she's on their side. They haven't made her swear the oath yet, actually, because they've known her since she was born, so they naturally expect her to be on their side. I suppose they'll make her do it soon enough, perhaps when she is older."

Arya curiously peered over from behind the large trunk. Oh yes, it was Elva, no wonder it sounded familiar.

"Um," Melisande began tentatively, lowering her voice so that it took all of Arya's sharp senses to be able to hear, "What was the green dragon called again?"

Arya breathed in deeply in surprise. The green egg? Has it already hatched? Is this true, that all three dragons are now hatched and paired with dragons? Who is the green rider? Hell, who is the red one?

"His name is Hëithev, for some odd reason. It's a very unusual name. In fact," Elva remarked, "I don't think it was even a name until now."

"Poor Lisette," Melisande suddenly said. "She must be feeling so confused, but we'll always be there for her, right?"

Elva nodded, and Melisande said quickly,

"Let's go visit her again, I wonder who the red rider is?"

The two girls disappeared, and Arya, curious, followed them. Were they telling the truth? She remembered when she had first met Melisande, the poor, frightened girl in the forests, near nowhere.

Please, I need…to reach…the Varden…

I…have…important…message…trust no one…

Arya frowned. What was the message? Melisande had said she would know soon, but she still didn't know. The message was for Elva, and they seemed up to something very distrustful.

She headed down the cliff, where they had gone. Arya paused as she reached the bottom. Where did they go now? Arya looked around, and then saw a small foot print in the mud, and a walking track discreetly and cleverly hidden. Arya headed towards that direction, and after about 400 metres down the track, Arya noticed a stone cave, the entrance a little like a cave. Arya breathed in deeply. Elva can feel all sorts of things, don't get into strife. She peered through the dark hole, and heard voices; and it was Melisande and Elva, and another girl, which Arya assumed, would be, "Lisette."

Arya's eyes glowed pale, the colour of green jade, as she peered into the hole in the dark. It was all true, then, she thought. The green dragon- Hëithev. He has hatched. Arya paused as she stared at the strange scene. Three girls huddled together, and a green dragon. The third girl was the rider, Lisette, and she had mid-length dark-blonde hair, and sky-blue eyes, that looked confused, and frightened. It was almost as if she had been chosen as rider by mistake, and didn't know her place in the game. Arya suddenly stiffened. The dragon's fiery green eyes- the usual colour of her own- suddenly looked in her direction, and in no time, Arya fled back to the battlegrounds.

When she returned to the grounds, she found Eragon, sitting on a rock. Where did the others go? She thought, then shrugged carelessly.

"It's over," Eragon said suddenly, without looking at her.

"Good," Arya said coldly, and was about to leave, when Eragon said,

"Wait, don't leave."

Arya froze. Eragon turned to face her, his hazel eyes looking imploringly at her. Arya felt herself soften against her will, but soon, she stiffened again, narrowing her eyes.

"It was Murtagh," he said.

Arya looked at him, non-plussed.

"Murtagh is dead," she said, thinking that Eragon had a dream of some sort. Eragon shook his head at her.

"No, he isn't. The red rider- it's Murtagh."

Arya stared in surprise, but soon returned to her normal expression. I won't tell him yet, about the green dragon, she thought. I won't tell anyone yet.

"I- I'm sorry," she said uncertainly, looking at him sincerely. Eragon forced a smile.

"Thank you," he said. "That means a lot. I won't lose him."

Arya heard people approaching.

"You won't," she said with feeling. "We'll get him back, we'll win, and save everyone, bring them all back."

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Hehe! Wasn't that interesting or what? Please tell me...so review...but before that...the quiz!

Quiz: How did the emerald on Arya's head band aid her? What did it have in it?

This one's pretty easy, but -sighs- I forgot the hard ones, oh yeah, I think it was a multiple choice one with the eustion being something like "Why did Arya choose not to tell anyone about Lisette?"

Review! Lol...