Chapter 33 – Elva

Elva's face was unwelcoming, to say the least, when she answered the door still sleepy to see Arya and Eragon standing on the hallway. They explained to her that she needed to go with Arya as soon as possible, but before, Eragon would keep his promise to let her touch the eggs in hopes one would hatch for her. Arya hated that agreement, mostly because she despised being watched and protected by a child like Elva, but also because she didn't want Eragon to be entangled in a pact with a suspicious creature like her.

They walked to the Hall of Colors, and Arya noticed how Elva was trying to control her anxiety by clenching her fists on her sides. From time to time, she would throw Arya a side look, surely sensing her distress over the fire in the north forest and her rushed departure but would keep her impressions to herself and get back to her own concerns.

Eragon opened the door to the Hall of Colors to let them in. There, they gathered near the dragon eggs, that displayed all the different colors possible.

"Now what?" Elva asked.

Arya watched as Eragon pointed at the eggs that were displayed around the room on cushions on the floor but also in niches on the wall. There were many of them. He said, "Now you touch them."

"If one is to hatch for me, it will happen immediately?"

"That's how it is expected to be in these times of peace. The dragons don't have to wait for a better moment to hatch, they feel safe now, especially here. Go ahead."

Arya crossed her arms on her chest to keep her hand from moving impatiently. She knew Elva wouldn't be chosen, or she hoped. Someone with her powers would unbalance the scale of justice. Arya feared that if Elva became a Rider, she would be unstoppable, not she or Eragon would be able to stop Elva if she decided to go against them. And she knew that Eragon shared the same opinion, for his eyes were attentive and dim.

Elva knelt before the first egg, a red one. She hesitated but touched it eventually. She waited while Arya and Eragon held their breaths.

Nothing happened.

Elva sighed and moved on to the next one. And the next one. And then the next. She was frustrated and angered by the time she reached the last one. Dozens of eggs and not one chose Elva. She threw a disgusted look at Eragon, that Arya could only interpret as envy. Elva rose to her feet and walked toward Eragon and Arya.

"Well, I guess I will try next time. I just hope it won't take me another ten years."

Arya received Eragon's look and knew what he was thinking. It had to be in ten years, for Arya wouldn't come east any sooner and he wouldn't agree with Elva leaving her behind. She hoped he was diplomatic enough not to oppose her with these matters.

"As I said, you are welcome to touch the eggs as many times as you wish, as long as you keep watching over Arya."

Elva displayed a smug smile and crossed her arm as well. The colors reflected by the Eldunarí danced on her pale skin and silver scar and gave her strange eyes a sinister look.

"You are a smart little snake, aren't you, Shadeslayer? Crafting an agreement without a date to end. I could spend my whole life walking on the elf's heels and still be without a dragon."

"Or you could have one hatching for you right now, and all the protection I had hoped for Arya would be ruined."

"Are you saying that you risk more than me with this agreement?"

"Of course. What do you have to lose? Some people would kill to be living in Ellesméra, but there you are, being sheltered and fed, away from trouble. All you had to do is to sense danger when it's close to Arya. Or if it's close to Arya. You don't even have to fight when it comes to it, you just have to warn her. In exchange for that, I let you have the chance to try to become a Rider one day. I don't see how it's bad for you in any way."

Her smug smile became meaner, and Arya feared that her manipulation skills would take him as a victim. Elva stepped closer to Eragon to look him eye to eye, which made Arya clench her fists, prepared to jump on the girl if needed.

"But for you it's bad, isn't it? What will you lose if I fail?"

Eragon swallowed hard. Arya knew that Elva could sense her heartbreak for being away from Eragon in Ellesméra, but she had never said a word about it. Elva knew about them, and if Arya could bet, she would say that the odd woman would not think twice in selling that information to the best buyer, despite working with Eragon in the plan to watch Dusan.

"Do I have to say it?"

Elva laughed.

"You don't, indeed. We all know. The entire land knows, it's in your eyes. But do you know that you still lose if I succeed?"

Eragon narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

Elva uncrossed her arms and walked to circle him. When she came behind his back, she turned to wink at Arya.

"If I succeed in preserving her life, you still lose. She will never feel the need to flee from danger and come to you. She will thrive as the queen. Her power will be bigger than ever, and her people will worship her as a goddess. Her roots will be forever deep into the forest's ground, never inside your mountain. You are expandable. You, Shadeslayer, will be forgotten," the last words were whispered in his ears and they made Arya gasp.

Arya already held her fists tight, but she dug her nails even deeper in her palms. How does she dare to speak of what she didn't know? Speak to him as she knew their hearts, as she had the right to play with their feelings. Besides that, Elva was provoking him just for fun, since it wasn't a good deal for her to have Eragon as an enemy and have her agreement broke off. Arya saw Eragon's shoulders drop as he believed her dirty lie. A grunt came out of her throat and she grabbed Elva by the arm to speak to her face.

"Don't expect me to be as lenient as Eragon when listening to your mean lies. Your poison will not harm me."

Elva squinted and raised her chin in defiance, but Arya saw fear crossing her violet eyes. Arya gave her a feral smile.

"Oh, you can sense that? Good! Now go get your bags, we're leaving."

Elva struggled to free her arm, but once she did, she turned her back to Arya to talk to Eragon.

"How about Dusan and the letter?"

Eragon that seemed shaken by the interaction between the two women focused his eyes on Elva to answer her with a faint voice.

"Follow Arya and leave Dusan to me, but the rest of the plan will remain the same. I will let you know when the time comes for you to go meet his mysterious employer."

She nodded and turned to leave.

Eragon cleared his throat to address her again, "Did you find anything while following Dusan?"

Elva scoffed.

"It was just a couple of days. He competed, drank, and slept with that prostitute friend of yours last night, nothing else. If someone knows anything, it's her."

"Right. Another thing…" he started and walked closer to her, "what was the name of your swordmaster in Ceunon?"

"Why do you want to know?"

Eragon shrugged.

"I may know him."

"You don't, he would have told me if he knew the famous Shadeslayer. Anyway, his name is Urien. Sir Urien, member of the lord's guard."

"You are right, I don't know him," he lied, "you can go now."

Elva shook her head and rolled her eyes like a bratty child that Arya thought she was. She left, so Arya could finally relax.

"You didn't have to explode like that, you know?" Eragon said.

"She was clearly manipulating you, and you let her!"

How could he be so blind? How could he oppose her when she was trying to protect him? There were details in his personality that Arya felt she could never understand.

"Of course I let her for I don't want to antagonize her, and that's how I manipulate her, or do you take me as a defenseless child? Arya, try to understand. She is my first line of defense when it comes to you. If you're in danger, she will act first, not the Riders, not your queen's guard, not your army. Not even you, since you tend to take the threats against your life so lightly. I need her to believe we are equals in this pact, that she is not working for me, but with me, that's why I'm so passive to her provoking."

Arya forced herself to remember his words whenever he would act that way, secretive and cunning: I would do anything. Only that could justify his recklessness, right? It was what kept her from going insane with his desperate actions.

She breathed deeply to calm herself.

"I understand. I just couldn't let her say those words. They are too mean."

"Because they are true?"

"What? You believed her?"

"It makes sense, doesn't it?"

He walked away to sit in front of Glaedr's Eldunarí.

"It makes no sense unless you have a short memory and have forgotten everything that I promised you."

Arya saw his shoulders rising and falling back in a deep sigh.

"I haven't forgotten. I'm sorry, I believe you, not her."

Arya wondered sometimes if they would fight every day like that if they were together in definitive and forever. She wondered if this tense manner of looking at things was only because they didn't have much time to spend together or if it would always be like that. She feared it was the second case. But to be honest, would she have any other way? She couldn't help a faint smile from emerging on her lips with the thought of their complicated dynamics.

She walked closer to where he was sitting and placed her left hand on his right shoulder.

"Thank you," she said.

"For believing you? That's what I must do since we are mates, isn't it? You don't have to thank me for it," he said without emotion or looking up.

"For protecting me. Again."

Eragon looked up and she met his brown eyes. They were her doom, for she already missed him and their home, and his eyes showed her how much she would lose when she would fly back west.

He nodded and looked back at the golden rock. It hurt her a bit that he wasn't as affectionate as he usually was.

"If Glaedr and the others agree, would you take a few Eldunarí to help you in the north?"

"You know I would. It would be an honor," she replied and sat by his side.

Eragon closed his eyes and contacted the elders. Arya was included in their mental bond and through it, she could see several images passing fast, but above all, she felt their anger.

What is happening? She asked Eragon in private.

They are not happy that Saphira wandered so far away without being ready for it. She could have been hurt. Now, they are scouting the forest, looking for the source of the explosions.

We know the source. It's the dark magicians.

An image stuck in their head before Eragon could confirm or deny. It was the fire, still far away from the cities of the elves – as they could perceive by the snow in the middle of summer – but consuming their trees. In the center of a spiral of flames, they could see a group of hooded people, she didn't know how many. Their hands glowed with energy, and Arya could notice they were manipulating with great effort the fire around them without letting themselves be touched by it.

How many of them? Eragon asked.

Glaedr counted inside their link and they knew without his use of words. Ten. They were ten magicians, burning the forest.

Why are they doing this? Arya asked the Edunarí.

Umaroth rose from his introspective rage caused by the event and said, My guess is that they are practicing.

Practicing?

Practicing for when they must attack your cities and the human villages. Look at their powers, still hectic and wild. They are simply learning to control it.

Whatever it is they are doing, it's more than what our Riders can. Arya, you go now with Renir and the others, but start their training in speechless magic as soon as possible, since you are proficient in it, Eragon instructed.

Agreed, Arya. You must go, now. But tend to the forest only, for I believe that if they are still there when you arrive, they will flee as soon as they sense your presence, but you must not follow. This is important. Do not follow! We don't know the full extent of their powers, Umaroth said, and Arya had to oblige, even if her instincts told her to hunt those monsters and chop off their heads one by one.

I won't follow, master, I promise.

Good. Now go.

Master, Eragon called, I wish to ask if some of you would go with Arya and Fírnen to offer them strength and support.

Umaroth silenced for a few seconds. Arya heard a low chattering on the back of their mental connection, so she looked at Eragon. He had expectant eyes when he stared back at her. The silence was too long and too deafening.

Master? He called again.

Patience, child. We are working on your request, Glaedr finally addressed them with words.

A few minutes passed and no response from Umaroth, so Arya reached for Eragon's hand as they waited. She traced the calluses on his right hand where he had altered his knuckles so they were thicker and more resistant to impact. It looked horrible, but they were functional, that she could agree. Functional for fighting, for war, not for teaching, building, administrating.

He must have read the thoughts in her head, and she checked to see if she was indeed keeping her consideration to herself. She was, still he knew what she was thinking.

"I should've turned it back to normal," he flexed his fingers inside her grip, "but I thought I should keep it as a reminder of darker times."

"Just like you do with your nightmares?"

He was surprised by her comment by the look in his eyes. Soon, his surprise turned into embarrassment.

"I guess. Maybe I will get rid of all those reminders someday."

She smiled with fondness and squeezed his hand.

"Whenever you're ready. You don't need to rush."

Eragon smiled back and nodded. One day he would succeed in taming his damaging thoughts, Arya had no doubt. She had faith in his capability to always improve himself and show signs of evolution each day. Forgetting his traumas, however, wasn't a matter of being better or skilled, for they didn't turn him into a bad or broken person. She considered them a dark company that anyone could have. Whenever she felt the presence of her own dark companion in her mind, she knew it would be the beginning of some hard times. Managing to keep it a bay would take a lot of practice and self-knowledge that in nothing had to do with one's power or ability, it is simply a matter of looking at one's own heart and finding the meaning true self, a work in progress for her still. He would get there, she was sure of it.

All right, Shadeslayer, we have our volunteers. Umaroth said, breaking Arya's line of thought and bringing her back to their link.

A group of five dragons announced themselves to Eragon and Arya, and their Heart of Hearts glowed brighter among the others. Eragon collected them and passed it to Arya, who performed the spell that opened an invisible pocket behind and above her. Eragon said the words and she repeated, carefully drawing energy from the Eldunarí. When it was over, the colorful stones were hidden in space and time.

"Time to go," she announced.

The warm wind was rushing through her hair as she flew on Fírnen's back heading west. Arya could feel the energy emanating from the Eldunarí behind her back, but most of all she felt the consciousness of Saphira and Eragon flying beside them.

They had said goodbye in the eyrie, where she held him tight for what felt like an entire hour, as Fírnen entangled his neck around Saphira's neck and also stayed like that for a long time. Arya spoke in Eragon's ear nothing more than necessary, for she wouldn't make him promises she couldn't keep. All she said was her true name, engraved with the love she had for him and the promise she had made of joining him in the future if he couldn't come to her. His hands grabbed her back with more eagerness to the sound of it and the feeling of her words running her through her core. Then she said his name, carefully studied by her in the last years. To her surprise, it failed to move him.

She stepped back in his embrace to look at him. He was smiling at her.

"Try again," he said.

Arya ran the possibilities in her head, remembering all that she knew about him. She combined words from his previous names, invented new ones, but still, they weren't enough to shake his being completely, only parts of it.

Eragon laughed at her frustration and pulled her close again. In her ear, he whispered his essence, and it amazed her.

What she hadn't been capable of figuring out was the impact of her words of love and acceptance to his constitution. He was modified once he heard of her love for him, forever changed, turned into a blessed man. Fírnen had been right all along, Eragon needed to hear it, not only know it or feel it.

So she said it again, and again until it was time to go.

We must go, my darling. Fírnen said and stirred to make his saddle accessible. They would fly from the eyrie and meet the other at the mountain's foot.

I know. But I hate it. It's too soon.

It would never be late enough. Now come.

Arya pressed her lips tight on Eragon's in a desperate kiss. They clasped to it as it was their last one. Finally, she fought her way out of his embrace and stepped closer to Saphira to receive a warm touch on the forehead, standing under her smoky breath.

Goodbye, Saphira. I will miss you.

I will miss you as well, Arya, but our goodbye doesn't have to be now.

Arya frowned and looked at Eragon, that said, "would you mind if we fly with you and the others for a few miles?"

If she minded? She would love to fly with them, it was one of her favorite things in the world.

Fírnen and Saphira flew ahead, side by side. Behind them, Vance and Runalla, and Lorgas, Inqen, Walbor, Norfir, they all formed an amazing image. Beautiful, but worthy of fear.

That's where we part ways, friends, said Saphira to Arya and Fírnen.

They were approaching a curve in the river that was thirty miles away from Mount Arngor.

All right, goodbye Eragon and Saphira, Fírnen said and Arya could feel his heartbreak form the bond, We'll send news.

Thank you, Fírnen. We look forward to it. And be careful the two of you.

We will be, my love.

Arya turned to look as Saphira slowed the speed of her flight to let them pass her. Slowly she was staying behind. The dragons roared in a respectful goodbye, but Arya wasn't ready to cut their connection just yet, so she lingered in their bond until Saphira and Eragon were just a thread of consciousness inside her head. It was enough, though, for her to hear his last words, Goodbye, my queen. I love you.

A/N: Hi! I'm back with a smaller chapter. I don't know how often the updates will be with Christmas being around the corner, but I will try my best to update one more time before going away on vacation in the first week of January. So, you can expect either a new chapter by the end of next week or only in the second half of next month. If I'm not back until January, merry Christmas and happy new year! Thank you for all the support and love throughout this year, and for the criticism too, why not? I hope for the next year to improve my writing more and more so you could have a good ending to this story. See you next time!

P.S.: If you're a fan of Spider-Man, check out my new story placed in the Spiderverse fandom. It's a oneshot, short and fast. If you feel like it, tell me what did you think of it. Thanks!