(A/N) Hey all. I wrote this chapter when I was sitting in my English 9 class, so it was quick and messy in my book, but I'll fix it up before I post it. Hopefully it'll be up in the next few days or so.

I STILL haven't gotten an email back from fanfic yet, so sorry, no reply's to reviewers. Hopefully next chapter!

Date Started: September 9, 2005

Date Finished: September 12, 2005

Date Posted: September 12, 2005

Chapter 12- Not Alone

Karlii stood there gaping at what Eragon was showing her. She glanced at her own palm, which was covered by her worn leather glove, but nonetheless. Karlii and Eragon both had the same thing gleaming on the palm of their right hand. Sitting plainly before her was the unmistakable gedwëy ignasia.

"You're a Rider?" she choked out with disbelief. Sure, she had heard rumours here and there about a new Rider in Alagaësia before she had found Kuthian's egg. But there were always rumours about that; at least one or two every few years. So when Kuthian had hatched, she had assumed she was the only other Rider other than Galbatorix himself.

When Eragon nodded and smiled, an overwhelming sense of reassurance covered Karlii.

She wasn't alone.

At that point, Murtagh got up and stretched.

"I'm going for a walk," he declared, and stalked off, muttering things like "two Riders now" and "still don't want to go to the Varden!" Karlii raised an eyebrow and shoved a thumb in Murtagh's direction.

"What's his problem?" she asked. Eragon shrugged.

"I don't know."

Karlii stared at Eragon. He shifted under her gaze, and finally looked away. After a bit he laughed silently, and Karlii assumed he was talking to his dragon in his mind.

"Where is your dragon?" she asked. Eragon looked up, and Karlii followed his gaze.

Diving down towards them was the most beautiful creature ever, besides Kuthian. A gleaming sapphire dragon landed with a hard thump, kicking up loose dirt. The dragon went over to Eragon and nuzzled his face with her snout. Eragon talked with it for a while, then pointed to Karlii. The dragon stared at her, and Karlii stared back. Eventually, Karlii looked at the ground and blinked out a piece of dirt from her eye. When she looked back up, the dragon gave a snort of approval.

"Karlii, this is Saphira. Saphira, meet Karlii." Eragon introduced them, and sat back to watch their reactions.

"Hi," Karlii said, at a loss of words.

A sweet female voice filled her head. Hello. Saphira replied.

She grinned widely. Reaching out with her mind, she contacted Kuthian and relayed all the details of the dragon and Eragon. When she was finished, Kuthian said, I would like to meet this Saphira and Eragon. They seem nice enough.

Yeah… Karlii replied. But not until later. I haven't showed Eragon my gedwëy ignasia yet, and I don't plan to until I can be sure Eragon, Saphira, and Murtagh can be trusted.

But he's another Rider! How can he not be trusted? He's obviously headed towards the Varden.

Still! You haven't been out in the real world as long as me, Kuthian. No one can be trusted until you are absolutely sure!

Okay…I'm right above you again.

Didn't you go hunting?

Yes, said Kuthian. But there are strange creatures in the Beor Mountains. And I couldn't find any deer, so I didn't eat.

Oh okay.

When Karlii finished talking, she noticed Murtagh was back. In his right had was a bloodied knife, and in his left was three dead rabbits. He held up a dead white rabbit and smiled at her.

"I figured you might be hungry, so I got one for you too."

Karlii smiled lopsidedly. "Thanks, Murtagh."

"Anytime." He replied. Karlii felt her face go hot. She realized that she was in the presence of two gorgeous guys, an unconscious woman, and another dragon. Actually, she wouldn't want to be anywhere else in Alagaësia right now. Even if these people might be killers and murder her in her sleep, she felt quite content.

Saphira curled around the woman. Karlii frowned and got up. She felt Eragon, Murtagh, and Saphira all staring at her as she stood up and walked over to the woman. She knelt by her and pushed her hair away from her face. It felt silky smooth and it fell and pooled around her face. Karlii examined her, and then she noticed her ears. They were pointed…so that must mean…

"She's an elf? A real bloody elf?" Karlii stared at Eragon and Murtagh with disbelief. "What in the world are you doing with an elf?"

"Well you see…" Eragon started, but abruptly stopped. He paused for a moment, and then said slowly, "We found her while we were crossing the desert. Uh…yeah. We found her in the desert."

Karlii rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the elf. Somehow, she thought Eragon was lying to her.

Karlii sat by the elf, occasionally looking back towards Eragon and Murtagh just to make sure they weren't coming up behind her with a knife. One time, when she looked back, and Murtagh narrowed his eyes at her.

"You and the elf look alike, except for the hair." Karlii had raised her eyebrow at this, but thought about it some more when Eragon agreed with him.

It was quite dark out when she stood up. She had only been sitting there for 20 minutes, but since the mountains were casting shadows, it got dark quickly. She sat back down in the circle of light, and instinctively leaned back, expecting Kuthian's bulk to be there. Instead, she toppled over onto the ground, and banged her head on a rock.

Eragon and Murtagh both stood up, but Murtagh got over to her first.

"Are you okay? Why did you lean back? How does your head feel?" He helped her sit back upright. Karlii rubbed the back of her head and felt a small bump beginning to form.

"I'm alright. I have no clue why I did that, but I guess everyone has their acts of stupidity, and my head is fine. Only a bump and I'm starting to get a headache." She smiled when Kuthian asked the exact same questions as Murtagh just did.

Even though she said she was fine, they boiled a cloth for her. She held it to the lump, which was getting bigger. As she stared into the fire, she was aware of at least one pair of eyes on her. When she looked up, she noticed Saphira and Murtagh staring at her, and Eragon was deep in concentration. He suddenly stood up and walked over to the elf. When Karlii looked at Murtagh, he just shrugged and looked at Eragon again. He had put his palm on the elf's brow and was appearing to be wincing in pain.

"Should we help him?" Karlii asked, worried.

"No…leave him be." Answered Murtagh. Even so, Karlii was still worried.

After 10 minutes of him hovering over the elf, Karlii, Saphira, and Murtagh all got up and stood over him. Another 5 minutes passed before he opened his eyes.

"Are you all right?" asked Murtagh. "You've been kneeling here for almost fifteen minutes."

"I have?" Eragon asked.

"Yeah. You looked like you were in pain or something." Commented Karlii.

Eragon stood and winced. "I talked with Arya!" he exclaimed. Karlii frowned. Arya? What was he talking about? "The elf…that's her name." He said.

"What did she say?" asked Karlii, excited. The other three looked at her, as if she was a rabbit in a pack of wolves. She shrunk back a little, reminding herself that she still didn't know these people, and they had most likely travelled together for some ways, and that she just met them that day. They weren't her best friends or anything, so she kept quiet.

Karlii hung back from them as Eragon quickly told them the whole conversation. When he was finished, Murtagh asked, "How far away are the Varden?"

Eragon told them that he wasn't sure, but he guessed that it was as far as from here to Gil'ead. Karlii spoke up right about then.

"Did you come all the way from Gil'ead?" If they had, that would have explained why they looked so travel worn. Eragon was so rushed to tell them, he hastily nodded to her question.

Murtagh rolled his eyes and raised his voice at Eragon. "We're supposed to cover that distance in three or four days? It took us five long days to get here! What do you want to do, kill the horses?" Karlii took a swift glance at the horses grazing just outside the glow of the fire. The white and grey stood out, so she could spot them easily. "They're exhausted as it is."

"But if we do nothing she'll die! Saphira can carry me and Arya to the Varden and you can come catch up with us in a few days."

Karlii winced as Murtagh grunted and crossed his arms. "Of course." He said with an unnatural calm. "Murtagh the pack animal. Murtagh the horse leader."

And so Eragon and Murtagh got into a fight, ended up with Karlii getting punched in the eye because she was trying to split them up, and Saphira pinning both of them to the ground.

Karlii stared at them while they talked things out. Karlii touched her black eye and winced; the bruise was tender and it hurt when you touched it. It turned out, Murtagh didn't want to go to the Varden because he was…born? When he was talking, his eyes were brimming with tears, and he looked like he was going to cry. Karlii felt sorry for him; Murtagh seemed like a strong man, and if he was about to cry, then what he was going to say must hurt him a lot.

Just as Murtagh was about to tell them about his father, Saphira hissed and said, Look!

She must have told all three of them, because Eragon and Murtagh followed her gaze. Karlii looked too, and was amazed at what she saw.

About a league away, a line of soldiers was marching their way. Karlii stood up with lightning speed, her hair billowing. Eragon rushed and covered the fire with dirt.

"Those are Urgals, not men," said Murtagh slowly. Karlii's eyes widened. Urgals! She had never seen one, but she had heard that they were ruthless brutes that killed everything in their path.

"We have to flee!" Eragon said, saddling his white horse. Saphira took off with Arya and Eragon got on the horse. Meanwhile, Murtagh was preparing his grey horse, while Karlii was standing helplessly by the covered fire. Eragon trotted away, and Murtagh came over to her on his horse, holding out a hand.

"Come on. You can come on Tornac with me, and Eragon is on Snowfire. Saphira has the elf, and we can't leave you here. You'll be killed." Karlii nodded and climbed on. Murtagh spurred Tornac, and they sped away from the camp and the Urgals.

Where are you going? Asked Kuthian, obviously alarmed.

You might not be able to see from that high up and in the dark, but there's Urgals. Urgals! I have to run with Eragon and Murtagh. Otherwise, I'd most likely die.

You could've rode on me instead of that deer that you ride on.

It's called a horse. And I can't ride on you! You'd be seen.

Your safety is more important that if I'm seen. He said quietly.

Just follow along. Then you can keep an eye on the Urgals and me!

All right. I'm following you right now.

Relief and fright seeped through Karlii. Only when the night deepened and the Urgals faded out of sight did she feel safe.


(A/N) There you go, people. Chapter 12 is done and up and running! I want to be finished this story as quickly as possible because I have so many new cliffs and surprises in the sequel! Oh it'll be good. Well, as always, read and review! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update, since every review this story gets it makes me more inspired! Have fun with back to school everyone, and happy reading.

Love, Sarinati