While the Battle of the Burning Plains took place just after the height of summer, over the course of the month and the travelling in a northerly direction, nights began to turn cold. Tonight was no exception. I had a small belt knife masquerading as a splint on my arm and stood nervously on the edge of the canal that led up to the city. The wind gusted from the ocean to my right and the city was a dark, uninviting shadow on my left.

"Are you clear on what you have to do?" Arya asked me, barely audible. Like most elves, she spoke in the Ancient language whenever she could.

"Yea," I breathed back.

"What are you waiting for?"

"It's cold and I'm going to have to swim against the current and I can't use magic or I'll get caught."

"You have six hours." Instead of a reassuring word, Arya put a hand on my back and shoved me into the freezing water. I barely held back a gasping scream as my head went under.

I immediately started to swim towards the city, shivering. I glanced back and saw Arya disappear into the darkness. Despite the dagger against my arm, I felt utterly bare as I grabbed ahold of the bars lowered into the canal. A full-grown man or elf would have no chance at slipping through them. As I looked at them, I realized that there was a chance I wouldn't be able to slip through. The bars were thick and barely five inches apart, crossed with slats of metal. Careful not to splash, I stuck my feet into one of the holes just underneath the water. I turned my hips sideways. If someone caught me now, I would be dead. Without my wards, or even my necklace, I could easily become a sitting duck.

My hips slid through the gate with only a small bit of trouble and I took a deep breath before sliding under the water. I managed to slide through up to my armpits when I realized that my shoulders, layered with muscle and my arms upraised were a fair bit wider than my hips. With a motion I knew I would regret later, I grabbed my left arm with my right hand and yanked as hard as I could. Twice. The third time, with a disgusting, muted squelch, my arm slipped out of its socket. A small bubble erupted from my mouth. I barely managed to hold back the moan of pain as I slid through the gate.

Still underwater, I slid my arm back into its proper place. Pressing my injured arm against my chest, I swam up the canal to get as close as I could to Feinster's main gate before I climbed out and kept to the shadows, carefully fixing my cover story in my head. My father died in the Battle of the Burning Plains and my brother was stationed to defend the main gate of the city. I was sent to tell him our mother had just had her baby, a boy.

I repeated the story in my head as I hurried towards the gate. Twice, I had to resist the urge to slam up defenses as two magicians touched my mind.

When they tried to immobilize me, I had no choice but to repel them. They started to attack back. A dozen soldiers ran towards me. In the distance, I heard the Varden begin their attack. Somehow, four hours had already elapsed. I cursed under my breath as a dozen soldiers raced appeared between me and the gates.

"Halt!" The lead one called out. "Show yourself."

I couldn't slip around them or the magicians would point them directly towards me. A dangerous plan cropped into my head even as I shoved the magicians back and started to batter against their defenses. I stepped out into the middle of the street and recalled everything I could from my high school theater class. I had to believe every word I said.

I trembled and cradled my arm as I stepped out from the shadows.

Kill her! One of the magicians screamed at the soldiers before I could stop him.

I took control of the magician.

"You're out after curfew little girl," the lead soldier stated.

"I'm really sorry sir, but I have to find my big brother!"

She's lying, you fool! The other magician screamed. I forced them both to commit suicide.

"Do you know the punishment for breaking curfew?"

"But this is really important! I have to tell my big brother something really important! He's at the front gates!" Well, that was somewhat true. Behind the Varden, I saw a large shape blotting out stars as it sped towards the city.

"What's his name?"

Shit. The game was up. I hadn't been here long enough to know the common versus uncommon names. "Eragon," I answered smugly. The soldiers blanched. A loud roar punctuated the end of my sentence. "Yes, Rider Eragon." I leapt forward, drawing my dagger, and killed the lead soldier along with two others before any of them could shout an alarm. Saphira, attack the machines on top of the wall and draw the soldiers there, no one can know I'm inside the city. I killed four more soldiers before I finished my sentence.

Good hunting, älfa-dautr, Saphira responded as I killed another soldier. Two turned to flee and two advanced, swinging their swords.

Good hunting, Brightscales. I responded while darting inside the shield of one of the soldiers then gutted him. As he fell, I threw the knife into the neck of the other, followed the blade and threw it at one of the retreating soldiers. It stuck in his skull and I bounded after the last soldier, leaving the others to bleed out in the street. I caught the last soldier before he could make it around the corner, breaking his neck. I turned back to slinking through the shadows towards the gate and grabbed my knife as I passed by the dead soldier. In two minutes, I made it to the gates. After a minute of fumbling in the dark, I watched a soldier returning from his rounds entering a door at the base of the wall. I slid in after him, not making a sound.

He trudged up the stairs and opened a second door. I stuck as close to him as I dared.

"Who's the little girl?" Someone inside asked as my eyes adjusted. I looked around and bit my lip. There was at least twenty soldiers backed into the room. I could take twelve by surprise, but twenty soldiers ready to fight was not among my capabilities. Especially when I suspected two of them to be magicians.

The soldier I followed whipped out his sword and pressed the tip against my collarbone.

"Who are you?"

"Letta. I live here in the city." I almost patted myself on the back, startled by my own genius. Nothing in the Ancient Language stopped me from saying easily misinterpreted words. With one word, I had frozen the entire room while everyone thought it was my name. The magicians attacked my mind and I responded with equal ferocity, taking my time in walking through the room methodically killing each of the soldiers. One of the magicians began a spell, but I was already inside his mind, even though he didn't realize it, and directed the spell against his partner before killing him.

I guess twenty soldiers weren't outside of my capabilities. A second later I remembered Arya warning me not to use magic. As I rushed to barricade the door, three other magicians from the surrounding area started attacking me. A minute later, I had killed them, but the effort left me gasping on my knees. I forced myself to the center of the room where a large wheel sported a game of cards. Gathering what strength I had left, I started to turn the wheel, thankful the gate was exceptionally well-built and didn't require more than one person to open. A cheer went up from the Varden as they entered the city. When the gate was halfway open, pounding erupted on the door along with shouts to close the gates. I stopped and ran towards the window, swinging myself over the edge. As promised, Blödhgarm was looking up at me, my glider in hand. It was a bit less than two hours before dawn. He muttered a spell and it shot up towards me. I caught it and snapped it open, leaping out over the Varden. A second cheer went up as the soldiers recognized me.

I dove towards Nasuada and landed in front of her, soothing her horse with a touch. Arya was with her.

"Alongside Eragon, they can handle the rest, thank you, Ella," Nasuada said. Arya grabbed my arm as I wobbled. "Did anyone see you?"

"Right, I'm really tired, and dirty, so that's my top priority right now. I killed anyone who saw me, but I briefly fought a trio of magicians before I got out."

"Good job, älfa-dautr," Arya said and handed me my necklace. I quickly put it on, drawing a small bit of energy to sustain myself. "How many magicians did you kill?"

"Four, I killed thirty soldiers as well."

Nasuada and Arya shared a dark look.

"What?"

"By everyone's standards, you are still a child."

"So?" For a minute, I was confused, then I remembered, I wasn't an adult anymore, I looked like an elementary kid. "Right. Does that mean I can go strike fear in the hearts of Galbatorix's soldiers now? Psychological warfare is extremely effective on conscripted men."

"You would scare our men as well."

Nar Garzvog thundered up to us and called out in a guttural voice. "Demand that your Herndall allow my tribe to join the fighting!" I winced, the Kull was too angry to speak in the common tongue. Not good.

I turned to Nasuada and relayed a polite version of his demand as Arya excused herself.

"The people of Feinster are not your enemy."

"They stand between the Urgals and Galbatorix!"

I relayed the message.

Nasuada fell silent, waiting for Nar Garzvog's anger to abate.

"Nar Garzvog, with all due respect, the relationship between humans and Urgals is rocky at best," I said instead.

He grunted.

"The Varden has barely accepted your presence, to fight alongside them in any but the most desperate of situations could end very badly."

He grunted again.

"Your rams want a fight, correct?"

He nodded then grunted for a third time.

"Then let's give them one. When we first met, you expressed a desire to test yourself against me."

He thought for a moment. "That will appease my rams. It will be a fight to be remembered in our stories."

I acknowledged his answer and turned to Nasuada to explain the agreement.

She wasn't happy, but when I assured her we both would survive the fight, she acquiesced. Nar Garzvog asked me to meet him at the entrance to the Urgal camp when I had changed into my normal clothes. He advised me to bring my weapons and armor before baring his throat respectfully and departing.

"This is a fool's errand," Nasuada grumbled to herself.

"It may be, but it will satisfy the Urgals."

"You assured me you would survive!"

"And I will, my lady. The Urgals want fighting, not necessarily death and destruction, though they are not adverse to the idea. Yes, many rams die in challenges, but fights to the death are not common. If you want to control their anger and lust for conflict, you have to let me do this."

Without waiting for her response, I returned to Arya's tent where my weapons and clothes were still lying where I left them.

I grimaced at the slime and mud from the canal caked onto my skin and clothes. Wishing for a bath, I cleaned up the best I could before hurrying towards the Urgal camp.

Nar Garzvog met me with a surprising number of Urgals at his back trembling with excitement.

I greeted him politely in his language, ignoring the skeptical looks from the Urgals. Much of his formal introduction went over my head.

I yelped as an Urgal lifted me onto his shoulder without warning and the excited cheering began.

As we marched towards the center of the camp, the Urgal explained the contest to me. I was allowed one weapon and no magic, not even wards. Other than that, almost anything went. It would not only be a battle of arms, but of mind as well. Apparently, among Urgals, the ability to touch another's mind was learned, but few bothered to try. I found it interesting and made a note to ask about it later along with a number of other questions that cropped up as the Urgal carried me through the camp. It was clean, much cleaner than the Varden's camp. Who knew Urgal were OCD? I wondered if Nasuada would let me camp with them instead. No horses meant no horse poop everywhere, true, but their tents were lined up in neat rows, unlike the Varden's, which were scattered all over the place. In the very center, there was a large ring taped off in which two rams were wrestling and the Urgals were cheering them on.

I stood on the Urgal's shoulder to better see the match, and he grabbed my ankle to help me balance, not that I needed it, but the thought was nice.

I found myself cheering with everyone else, my voice drowned out by the roars of the Urgals and Kull.

The match ended with a particularly vicious charge by the larger Urgal that threw the other out of the circle.

The winner bellowed his victory. Nar Garzvog pushed his way into the circle as the winner left. He shouted his challenge to me and his words were greeted with enthusiasm. I accepted and those gathered roared.

Nar Garzvog stated the rules of the challenge and asked me what weapon I would use. I held up my staff. The Urgals seemed skeptical as I exchanged the blades for weights, but they accepted. Nar Garzvog brandished his sword, which was as large as me, and donned a few scraps of armor. I took off my quiver and stuck my dagger and necklace(to which my wards were attached) inside before handing it to the nearest Urgal. He bared his throat in my direction. I returned the gesture and turned towards Nar Garzvog as he warmed up his arm. I spun my staff and tried to look intimidating. I probably looked like an idiot, but it made me less intimidated by the Kull five times my size.

"You are brave, Shadow Stalker," he said as we circled each other.

"Is it bravery if you have nothing to fear?"

He laughed.

"Why do you call me 'Shadow Stalker'?"

"Because you are the shadow of Lady Nightstalker."

I smiled and attacked. The first hit was mine. And the second, but neither did me any good. After that, I was fully on the defensive. Instead of blocking his strikes, I dodged them when I could and deflected them when I couldn't, trying to frustrate the Kull into making a mistake. He didn't. He continued to smile, even smirking. That irritated me. I lashed out with a furious flurry of attacks, all of which were blocked. Now angry, I committed my entire weight and strength towards his left knee. He stabbed his sword into the ground and jumped over my staff. I swore. In that split second, I had two choices: hang onto my staff and get caught by his arms, or let go and get out of the way. I chose to get out of the way. Even being part elf, there was no way I could escape his grip. I let go of my staff and ducked under his arms and rolled through his legs. I reached out to grab my staff as it bounced off his sword, but I missed and landed with my toes on the edge of the circle. I spun around and dashed back towards the Kull in an attempt to reacquire my staff, but I had to leap into the air to avoid his attack with my staff. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn't avoid his sword. The blade struck me in the stomach. I barely had enough wits to hang on, lest he throw me across camp.

Only then did I realize that I fell for the same trick I was trying to maneuver him into and swore colorfully. I grabbed the crossguard of his blade and threw myself towards his face. He jerked his head to the side, but I caught one of his horns and held on. He dropped my staff and tried to grab me instead. I stood on his broad shoulder, stepped onto his head, then the back of his hand, before diving for my weapon, wheezing. I attacked his mind like a mother dragon to cover how much damage his blade had done. It tore a part of my habergeon and gave me a nasty bruise across my abdomen, but thankfully it barely drew blood. The intensity of my attack faded as I regained my breath, allowing the Kull to attack back, physically and mentally. I returned to my earlier tactic of deflect and dodge.

After a minute, I realized I had underestimated the Kull's mental abilities. He was nearly as good as Oromis when Glaedr wasn't helping. While I had never managed to defeat the old Rider, I came quite close on multiple occasions and I could keep both him and Glaedr out of my head for a decent amount of time. Without warning, I swung my staff at the Kull. He barely managed to parry the physical attack and his concentration slipped for a brief moment, which I exploited, forcing him to freeze.

Ready to continue? I asked

He grunted and I released him and solidified my mental shields as he swung his sword. I winced at the loud clang of metal on metal. I could barely defend myself and when my foot caught on a loose ridge of churned earth, we both knew the match was over and grounded our weapons. Neither of us could help laughing as the Urgals started to bellow, outraged at the abrupt end of what was promising to be a very good fight. The outrage quickly turned to confusion as Nar Garzvog explained that had we faced each other in purely mental combat, I was the winner, but purely physical combat would leave him victorious. He didn't leave it there. With a handful of words, he spun it to mean that humans were leaving the Urgals as a final trump card, the final domino to knock down Galbatorix's reign.

Halfway through his final words, I received an urgent message from Trianna saying that the Du Vrangr Gata had just encountered a Shade who had already killed a quarter of the order and I was needed immediately as a spellcaster.

The Urgals fell silent as I started to tremble.

"What is wrong, Shadow Stalker?" Nar Garzvog asked.

"Another Shade," I responded quietly. If possible, the Urgals went even quieter. The sound of fighting from the city could be heard faintly. "I need to get to the city as fast as possible."

There was a long silence before one of the younger Urgals stepped forward. "I, Yarbog of the Bolvek Tribe, will take you, Shadow Stalker, to face this Shade."

I realized he was the one I handed my quiver to. He returned it and seconds later we were racing for the city. In the time it took for us to reach the gates, I strung my bow, put on my necklace, and replaced the weights on the ends of my staff with blades.

Had it been a particularly powerful Galbatorix lackey, I would have only been upset, but a Shade was a third party who destroyed for the sake of destruction. In short, I was pissed.

Yarbog waded through the flood of people, soldiers, both Varden and Empire, along with civilians, fleeing the city. In the center of the main street, the Shade stood, brandishing a giant bastard sword.

I screamed in anger as the Shade sliced a young boy from shoulder to hip as he shielded his younger sister then beheaded the girl who couldn't have been older than four. The Shade turned to me as I leapt off Yarbog's back. The Urgal jerked another fleeing child out of my way and shoved the boy into the arms of a passing soldier.

"A little girl seeks to challenge me?"

I cast my thoughts towards the keep and contacted one of Blodgharm's spellcasters, telling them there was a Shade and I needed Eragon's help. They told me it wasn't going to happen, because there was a Shade in the keep. I didn't think I could get angrier, but somehow I managed it. Yarbog started directing people towards the other gates with loud bellows and the Shade lunged for me. I spun my staff defensively and attacked him mentally. I was never more thankful for Rhunön's craftsmanship as I was in that next minute. Any other staff would have broken under the power behind the Shade's strikes.

"We are Raighur! We will not be denied!" The creature roared, nearly overwhelming me.

"You will not hurt these people!" I screamed back. Yarbog grabbed the back of my tunic and jerked me backwards to avoid a strike that would have taken my arm off. As the Shade focused his attention on Yarbog, I managed to isolate one of the spirits and detach it from the binding magic. In the process, Yarbog lost his arm. He stumbled backwards as the Shade turned back to me, screaming in anger.

I backed away, but the Shade knocked the staff out of my hands. I stiffened as thoughts that were not my own invaded my mind. I tried to slam up shields against the individual spearheading the assault but it was no use, it was like trying to stop the tide. I dropped to one knee, struggling to keep them out, but it was no use and it washed through every iota of my being

We won't harm you or your kin, little one, the entity said in the Ancient Language.

What are you? I demanded, but even my thoughts were fragile in comparison.

Open your eyes, little one and fight.

I had no choice but to obey. No longer focused inside of myself, I saw the Shade lunging to stab me through the heart as if in slow motion. I felt the pressure of the Shade attacking my mind, but the entity protected me.

Fight, little one, it repeated. I jerked to the side and realized that time around me had slowed and the air was so thick with magic I could barely breathe. I drew my dagger and ran forward, ducking under the Shade's defensive arm, and stabbed him through the heart. Time returned to normal and the Shade disintegrated in front of me. Something detonated behind me, striking me in the back and pinning me under rubble. Well done, little one. The entity started to pull away but I clung to it as tightly as my remaining strength would allow.

Wait! What are you? Why did you help me?

I could feel the entity continue to pull away. I clung to it like I was drowning. I got the impression it was frightened of something.

Who are you?

We are the watchers of Alagaësia.

Well, I'm sure you've done your job watching so you can tell me what's going on and have some idea of how to dethrone the tyrant trying to eradicate the people you just saved from the Shade.

The entity let out the mental equivalent of a sigh. We have watched and we will help when the time is right. We failed to stop Galbatorix and the Forsworn once and—

It broke off as I recognized his words as an inadvertent hint. You fought when they came to power. I concluded. The only ones who made a stand were the Riders and the elves. You're certainly not elves, their minds are quite unique, that means you're either human riders or their dragons or both—

That's quite the leap in logic.

Quit being a teacher for a second, am I right?

The entity didn't respond.

You don't have much of a choice but to help us. Galbatorix will eventually find you, whether it takes a thousand years or a million. Are you willing to wait until you're the last sane members of your kind to face Eragon, Saphira, Thorn, Murtaugh, Oromis, and Glaedr, possibly Galbatorix and Shruikan alone?

We will help, but not yet.

When?

When we are needed.

You are needed now, fighting, not hiding.

Dragons don't hide!

So you're dragons, I said. But somehow you can't fight.

Your brother is looking for you.

I was lying prostrate, unable to gather the strength to move away from the awful smell of blood covering the stones or out from underneath whatever was crushing me. Please don't leave! I begged them, but they pulled away and I couldn't stop them.

"Ella!" Eragon cried out, my name echoed by the elves. I tried to cough, or reach out with my mind, but Eragon and all the elves still had their mental shields up and I couldn't fight through them.

"She's here somewhere, Eragon. We'll find her," Arya reassured him. She was standing barely five steps away.

"There was a Shade here, Arya! Every second she could be farther away or a step closer to dying! The two of us, plus Saphira and the elves barely survived Varaug. Half the Du Vragnr Gata are dead and have you not seen all of the dead soldiers and civilians?"

"Calm down, Eragon! She might be hiding and if you're angry and shouting, she won't come out."

"I should've brought her with me to Ellesméra and left her there."

"She's not helpless!"

"I'm helpless against a Shade!"

"That's not true," Arya tried to protest, but Saphira snarled from a distance away and they returned to searching. Awareness of my surroundings gradually returned to me, but the voices were moving away from me.

"Firesword!" Nar Garzvog called out. I felt the stones shake beneath me as he pounded past. Eragon must have acknowledged him because he continued. "One of my rams brought Shadow Stalker here when she informed us of a Shade. A group of us tried to follow, but were caught up in protecting the civilians and could not follow."

"You let her—"

"Svarvok protected her," Nar Garzvog interrupted firmly. "She is weak, but she lives, we wish to find her."

"How do you know?" Eragon choked. Their voices started to move away. I tried to call out, but the dust choked me. I couldn't even cough, the weight on my back was crushing the air out of me. I tried to cast my mind in their direction, but he was already too far away. I concluded that it was something wooden crushing me, there was a large stone partially crushing my knee and any time I tried to move or take too large of a breath, pain shot through my body.

Night had fallen by the time anyone else passed close enough to touch my suffocating mind. It was a child, a girl, probably not much older than I appeared.

Please help me! I begged her.

"Where are you?" She asked into the air.

You can't help me but you can find someone who can. Will you help?

"Yes!"

Good, what's your name?

"Lamella."

Okay, Lamella, you need to do exactly what I tell you, okay? Can you do that?

"Yes!"

Good. I need you to look underneath the rubble beside you, just like that, can you see me?

"Yes."

Reach inside and take my necklace. She obeyed and the knot of tension in my gut released slightly as she managed to take it and clutched the gem in her hand. Good, hide it in your hands, just like that, good. Now, I need you to do something that will be really scary, but you won't get hurt, I promise, okay?

"Okay."

Good, I need you to find the giant blue dragon that has been flying around. When you do, say this exactly: 'Brightscales, Ella needs help and she asked me to bring you and Argetlam to her.' Wait until a man appears and show him the necklace. He might ask you a question, but no matter what he says, answer: 'Argetlam, eka weohnata néit haina ono. Ella needs your help and asked me to bring you to her immediately.'

The girl repeated everything perfectly.

Good job, give him my necklace and lead him back here. If he gets mad or seems mean, don't be scared, he won't hurt you, he is only really worried and frightened, okay?

The girl nodded and dashed off.

I lay there and forced myself to remain patient, even though I knew I wouldn't have the strength to continue breathing the dusty, stale air for much longer. I wasn't sure how I made it through most of the day, but I hoped the girl managed to bring Eragon quickly.

What felt like hours later, someone lifted the weight off my back. I felt Saphira's claw nick my calf as she pulled the stone off my leg.

Eragon pressed his fingers against my neck. "Blodgharm! She's still alive!"

The addressed elf answered something I couldn't understand. Someone performed a spell that cleared the dust and debris from my lungs, making it easier for me to breathe. Blodgharm ran his fingers down either side of my spine then checked my skull for fractures. "Turn her onto her back," the elf ordered and multiple hands turned me over.

"She's used too much magic," Eragon concluded. A small fraction of energy flowed into me.

"That's enough, Eragon, there isn't much energy to go around," Arya interrupted. "She alive and as soon as she can properly rest, she'll recover just fine. Pick her up and we'll take her somewhere cleaner and safer than the streets. In the morning, when everyone is recovered, we can speed along her healing. She's not going to die."