Lilyon was lucky enough to escape with one of Alaric's Riders, despite her lack of energy, and meet up with the others outside the city. They flew as far as they could before it got dark, and then they met among some hills north of Gil'ead. All the Riders loyal to Alaric who had not been captured in the battle were here with their Dragons. They were eight in total, including Alaric himself. No one wanted to say it, but they had lost.

They sat around a large campfire, a couple of them cooking some meat they had brought, bathing in the fire's soft glow. Most of their faces were solemn or depressed. Alaric sat farther away from them, in the dark, and no one asked why. Lilyon did not know all of what happened, but she thought they were taking this loss rather hard.

Lilyon knew some of the Riders, but some were unknown to her. There were the Elders Kaesdir and Hvirag of course, and Karasi and Valvesz, and others whose names she had learned were Nardra and Risteárd. She was disappointed but not surprised to see that Volyeth was not there, as she had no expectations of loyalty from her. She was also concerned that Lynde wasn't there, but she might have been still training in the Unknown Lands. Before she could learn the names of the last two Riders, Alaric walked into the light of the fire.

Alaric looked most defeated. His face was solemn, and his sword was missing from his person. While it was hard to tell through the shadows, it looked like he had been crying as well. When he spoke it was clear, though it seemed like he was more performing a play than anything else. "I have decided that I should leave you all."

Immediately there were objections, most prominent was the Elder Hvirag due to his Knurlan voice. "Alaric, you can't just back down now. We've practically started a war and we need a leader and a fighter."

Alaric shook his head. "I am afraid that I am too much of one to be the other. Karasi and Valvesz know what I did and why I should not be leader, but the rest of you do not." He paused to take a breath, which Lilyon suspected was because he had difficulty with this subject. "I… killed a Rider." Even Lilyon gasped at that.

To kill a Rider, especially now when there were so few, was the ultimate crime. While there was no punishment any nation could impose upon Alaric, he would face judgement from his fellow Riders. Or at least, that was what Lilyon believed was true—she didn't know much about the intricacies of this.

Alaric sighed and said, "You know my shame. Now I must depart for the good of the cause."

"No, you cannot," Karasi objected as she stood up. "You must stay and lead us, no matter your crimes."

"To do that would invite corruption, and not the sort affecting Eragon," Alaric declared. "It would be a corruption of our beliefs and laws. To excuse one man's crime would be to say that he is better than all others, who had greater reasons than I. I did not intend to kill a Rider; I killed a woman I was enraged with. I did not know she was a Rider."

"Then you cannot be responsible," Karasi countered.

"Someone must be held responsible," Kaesdir pointed out. "It was his sword and his swing that ended her life, so it must be his responsibility."

"Oh really?" Hvirag said accusingly. "It was your orders that left Fyrn'hjarta in Ilirea, so does that make it your fault that she died?"

"I can't believe you would compare the two," Kaesdir replied. "It was Trianna's greed that caused her to die, not my orders."

Lilyon thought it was somewhat fascinating to see the Riders implode like this. They were no better than children now arguing over who was right. But she decided to intervene to try and resolve the crisis before it ended in all the Riders splitting up. Lilyon stood up and said, "If Alaric's going to leave, then let him. If he's going to stay, let him. There's no point in trying to change his mind."

Alaric looked to Lilyon and said dispassionately, "You're right. Now I'm going to leave for the good of the Riders." As he marched toward Magnora, the other Riders tried to stop him but failed. He took off and headed into the darkness, not to be seen by anyone around that campfire.

Kaesdir sighed and Hvirag pulled out a blade of grass from the ground and threw it. "Now what?" the Knurlan said. "Without Alaric, we don't stand much of a chance against Eragon."

Lilyon was surprised with the Riders. She thought they were smart, but if they didn't see the obvious, then she'd have to point it out. "What about calling upon the Elves or the Dwarves? Won't they help us in this battle?"

At first Hvirag gave her hostile look, probably because she had been the one that helped Alaric leave, but he soon calmed. "That's a good plan," he admitted. "Kaesdir could handle the Elves and I'll handle convincing King Orik to give us help. Between the two of them, they should be able to give some amount of help. Queen Arya is a Rider after all, so she should make an excellent ally."

"Yes, but what of here?" Kaesdir asked. "We need the bulk of our forces to stay in the Empire to prevent Eragon from wreaking havoc around here. Who do you think is best qualified to lead these Riders in our absence?"

Hvirag stroked his beard, and Lilyon thought on the matter as well. Obviously she was out of the question as leader, seeing as how she wasn't a Rider and her involvement with convincing Alaric to leave. Karasi and Valvesz were the next most senior Riders, but while one was an Urgal who might have trouble commanding respect amongst former enemies, the other had just been on the other side. Karasi could not yet be trusted with such an important role so soon after switching sides. Someone had to lead and no one seemed like a good leader.

That's when Kaesdir said, "What about Haldthin?" Lilyon was surprised with his suggestion to say the least. A Dragon to lead Riders? As much as Dragons were as intelligent as anyone else, it could be hard to command the respect of those around him. "I believe I can run to Du Weldenvarden from here, and Haldthin is as good as anyone I can think of to lead," Kaesdir declared.

There seemed to be a consensus, much to Lilyon's surprise, that Haldthin would do well as leader. "It's settled then," Hvirag said. "Haldthin's in command and we're going to get aid from the Elf Queen and Dwarf King."

"In the morning," Kaesdir pointed out. "For now we should eat and get some sleep." The Riders and Dragons followed Kaesdir's suggestion easily and the discussion ended for most of them.

As Lilyon got some of the meat, she began to consider some things. She had no way of knowing if this side was in the right or if they weren't. She had no way of knowing if she had chosen the right or the wrong side. She didn't know the details of Eragon's corruption, but it could have easily been nonexistent and an excuse by the Elders to grab power for themselves. While unlikely, it was very easy to imagine that the Elders were acting as the Forsworn had so long ago, with Alaric in the position that Galbatorix had been in so long ago.

She also had no reason not to believe them. She knew that Kaesdir was exceptionally honest for an Elf, so it didn't seem within his character to try something. While they could have been being manipulated by Alaric, he just left so that wouldn't be in keeping with his supposed dark character. Overall it seemed unlikely they would try to deceive the younger Riders like this, so why bother?

What was more interesting was that these Riders were fighting at all. They were always few in number, and they were fewer now, so why would they continue to fight if not for a good cause? They believed what they were doing was right so much that they didn't even care about doing the easy thing and giving up. They were going to fight until they couldn't any more or they were victorious, and that was what convinced her that they were the heroes and Eragon was the villain of this legend.