Chapter Fifty Five
When we wake up the dragons are still fast asleep. The sun has just risen and it looks beautiful hear. I connect with Eragon's mind and his thoughts are a little depressed and anxious. So I take his hand and give him a smile. He smiles back at me and I lean in to kiss him. 'You are my world' I tell him.
'And you are mine.'
And we make love once more. We are still laying there naked together holding each other when the sky darkens and it starts to snow. We both laugh and hurry to get dressed before going in search of some firewood. He holds my hand as we walk together.
As we make our way into the forest Eragon frowns. 'There is a sense of darkness here that I do not like. I have never been in a forest that felt so menacing before. Do you feel it?'
I try to focus then. I have been in a good mood recently despite everything going on in our life. I have been closer to Eragon and had privacy with him. That made me feel better and pushed the troubles out of my mind for a few moments. But now I can notice what he's saying though only slightly. It does seem rather…eerie here but I don't want to jump to any conclusions. He lets go of my hand then and pulls out his sword so naturally I pull mine out too.
That's when Eragon steps in some moss and the ground sinks. His leg falls into a hole a little bit before I grab onto him and pull him to me, to safety. We stare with a mix of fascination and disgust as a whole swarm of grubs making strange noises run all around the moss. His fall must have disturbed them. They sink back into the earth. Neither Eragon nor I have seen any bugs like this before.
'Is your palm itching?' he asks, turning to face me.
I move my hand with the gedwey ignasia on it, staring at my own palm before my gaze meets his again. And I nod. There is a distinct tingling in my palm that always warns of danger close by. This is a very bad sign.
As we head back towards our camp Eragon stops by a stream to wash his face and hands. I stand beside him with my sword still in my hands. That's when a bunch of shadow figures come near us. They have blank white eyes and are chattering. It wasn't squirrels after all. It's these things.
Eragon tells them that we are friends and riders in the ancient language. They seem to calm down but when he makes a move to grab his own sword, they get alarmed. They vanish quickly, making high pitched noises, then odd looking owls come in their place.
We both turn and hurry back to the dragons. We kneel beside them and together we cast every single ward we can think of. We discuss some plans with the dragons but Saphira insists that she is hungry and must eat now. Eragon convinces her that it's not safe since it's almost dark so she says she will go in the morning then her and Crystalina go back to sleep. Eragon and I build a small fire together and eat a little meal. Glaedr tells us all about the history of this place then asks us if we would like to see it as it was long ago. We agree so he connects with our minds and shows us. It is an odd feeling at first, having my surroundings change like this, so I grab onto Eragon's hand instinctively. He squeezes my hand firmly, keeping me grounded, as we look at the visions Glaedr is giving us.
'It was beautiful,' Eragon says
'Yes but not anymore,' Glaedr replies.
Eventually Eragon and I put the fire out and go to sleep snuggled up together beneath the blankets. We wake to Glaedr's voice. He is telling us and the dragons to wake and he sounds urgent. It's dark as Eragon and I both quickly jump to our feet, pulling our swords out in unison.
That's when we see it. A giant snail moving across the grass towards us. Eragon yelps and scrambles backwards, shocked. I gasp, eyes wide. It's over five feet tall and it makes an alarming hissing noise before coming at us even faster. Eragon is on the ground and there is no time for him to get up and fight with his sword. So I move in front of him to protect him automatically. But there is no need. Saphira reacts even faster than me. She grabs the snail in her mouth, shell cracking between her teeth. Then she swallows it whole.
There are about four others in the distance and they seem to be retreating. She goes after them and eats one more of them. Crystalina decides to join in and snatches up two before Saphira bathes the last one in flames. She drops it in front of us and we eye it suspiciously but it seems dead. 'Now you can have a proper breakfast,' She announces to us.
Eragon starts laughing and doesn't stop until he is doubled over. I rub his back. "Shh…Eragon," I mutter.
'You are very odd sometimes Eragon,' Saphira tells him, seeming amused.
Eragon stands up straight and grins. I wrap my arms around him and smile as well. 'I love you so much Eragon. Always and forever.'
'I love you too,' he embraces me tightly and kisses my lips. 'Always and forever.'
Glaedr explains to us his theory about the creatures. He says the snails have always lived here and have been a food the dragons liked to dine on. But he thinks the other creatures have been altered by magic. He says there was a lot of magic and energy loosed during the battle that took place here. Those who survived said for a time the world went mad and nothing they saw or heard could be trusted. Some of the magic must have settled on the ancestors of these grubs and owls and such, and altered them.
'If these snails are just ordinary animals then why did they get past my wards?' Eragon questions.
'Magic did not create these snails but that does not mean it has not affected them in some ways. We should not stay here longer than necessary.'
Eragon and I go back to sleep but this time Eragon wants to sleep closer to Saphira. We sleep holding each other with her wing over us protectively.
In the morning we cook up that snail together. The dragons crack the shell open for us then we get all of the meat out which is not pretty. But in the end it tastes surprisingly good. Eragon and I fill our stomachs as much as we can then we offer the rest to Saphira and Crystalina. Finally after our meal we take off to the Rock of Kuthian.
[A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I'm sorry for the delay. I was planning on updating this about a week ago and then my 18 year old cousin was in a car accident. He died. I was very close to him. We just had his funeral Thursday. I am doing my best to get through it. Please be understanding. I will update again as soon as I can.]
