As the adults out side fought their way in battle no one seemed to be minding the children. They were free to wander as they pleased. Not Carilisia. The way the young child sat there and watched the ice filled rain drop heavily to the ground made him wonder. This was strange since he never wondered before.
Angela bent down and scratched the mischievous werecat that had wound his way between her legs. 'She has potential, that one. Yes much potential. She knows.'
'Does she now?'
'Yes.' was the only reply.
"The clouds are dark." The tiny child stated. "Even though it is just mid way through this lovely day, the evening falls in a dishearting way." Her misty eyes seemed to hold a deal of knowing sadness, though they did not seem to hold the look of one who is feeling sad. "The battle has only just begun, yet there are more wounded than there are fighting.."
"Do you think they will lose?"
"What more than their lives do they have to lose? What more can any of us lose? We have but the simple treasure of life. After that there is nothing more they can take from us. Yet with every life that is taken, the more trouble the king shall have. We will lose this fight yes, but will we lose the war?" Her words spoke of something Angela had yet to see.
"What do you see that makes you so sure we will lose?"
"There is another force. They come with a great number. Once the enemy knew the rider was here, he sent his serpents eyes."
"I do not understand what you see. Explain it to me."
"In the dark I can see an old man. With eyes so cold. I can't get away from him. He calls to me every day in my dreams. He tells me his plans. He tells me what he wishes to do for me, if I help him. He will give me a preasent. He will give me my mommy. I want her back, but I know this man is evil."
"Tell me about his plans little one. What does he want from you?"
"He wants me to tell him what I see. I know that I could tell him and have my mommy back, but some how I know not to go to him. My mommy is gone. She cannot come back. Just like Papa, and Tommy. They are all gone. Gone forever in the darkend waters of eternal sleep."
The child just sat there and watched the rain fall. Angela knew better than to press the matter. She walked over to Solembum.
'Go to Eragon and tell him we need to get the people out. There is another army coming. I fear the Ra'zac are among them. We must get as many people as we can as far away from her as we can.'
'I know.' With that he seemed to fade into the rain. Angela went to the tent of the wounded.
"Can I help you?"
"Yes actualy, I wish to speak with whom ever may be in charge." She had turned to see a young teen standing over a man with one arrow in his calf and another in his shoulder blade.
"That would be me." He said as he bent down and snaped one arrows end and puled it out quickly followed with a dab of a strange green liquid. "What is it you need?" He asked as he pulled the other from the mans leg and dabbed it with the liquid. He let the liquids set for a moment before he wraped the wounds.
"What I need is most of the people removed from here. There is a second army that is being led by the Ra'Zac. We need to get the people here out."
"I see. However this is a complication not ment for this time. If you will excuse me, I have a new patient. What you need to do is speak with Miss. Harumi. She is on the other side of the tent." He moved quickly to a badly wounded teen. "Nice Job Z. It only took you three hours."
"Oh Burn you evil being. If I didn't have legs... Oh how this task would have been more simple." She moved her hand to her forehead in a mockery of drama.
"Oh grow up a little. Stay still long enough for me to clean and bandage that. After that you can go back to slashing monsters."
"with a wound like that?" Angela couldn't believe how calmly they spoke. The wound on the young girls leg was awful. The slash went from the center of her muscle to her ankle.
"Meh. Once the wound is cleaned it will heal it's self. Thats bonus number one of being a sprite; Healers Blood. It's the nick name from the shades. It basicaly means" She paused and poke a small wound on her arm. It healed in a matter of moments. " I heal my self." She smiled warmly and poked the other. "Don't tell me I have to wait for you to finish... you allways take an hour." She looked bored some how.
Instead of staying to watch the strange pair she went in search of the women the teen had talked of. She found her helping a man who had his legs slashed badly.
"We need to get everyone out of here."
"Excuse me?"
"There is a danger. There is a path to the south west that will allow us to head to the desert. If it is followed we may have a chance."
"What are you talking about." the women asked annoyed as if Angela were attempting to tell a joke.
"There is a second army. They are comming here. We need to get as many as we can out of here. I came here first since it will take the longets amount of time to move the sick and wounded." With that Angela turned to leave.
'I told the rider. He requested of me to find you. He says to find Murtagh and Arya and to meet Saphira and himself in the center square.'
'Well lets split up to find the two. I'll head North.' With that she went North. It only took her about five minutes to find Murtagh.
"Do you need anything?"
"Yes. I need a great many things, but that is not why I came to look for you silly! All of our group needs to meet in the center square in twenty minutes. Be quick in getting there." She spoke quickly and once the words left her lips she went on to center square.
"What is this all about? Standing around when there is a battle to be fought." The old women had appeared. Her old grey green eyes showed a sign of weariness.
"It wont be a battle in three hours time. It will be a slaughter."
"Thats silly. The enemy is leaving, and we are wining the battle."
"They are falling back for another attack. We are going to lose this battle."
If you lose a battle have you already lost the war?" Carilisia's soft spoken words penetrated the mixture of arguments. "Do you really thing the one battle determines who will win, or who will lose?"
"Perhaps it could indeed decide." The old women sugested.
"Depending on the time frame in which it took place." Angela added.
"Other than the time frame, what is it that determines the winner in a war?"
"The side with the most people left?" Murtagh asked with an oddly straight face.
"No. The side that has trusted their beliefes more than the otehr. The side that had the greater will to win.:
"Perhaps that can be true, how else could someone like Galbatorix win? Oh wait he cheated, so that rules that out." again Murtagh blessed the others with a quip of sarcasim.
"Yes allways. You did not concider time. Time tells all, knows all, is all. Without time there is nothing. WIthout anything there is no time. Esentialy time chooses the winner. Yeats ago Galbatorix defeated the last of the Dragon Riders, or so the tales say, though is it not true that, here standing before us, is yet another rider? In time the true winnders shall arise. In time Galbatorix will fall, but in time the riders will fall and the world will pass them to stories, legends, then into myths, until finaly they are forgoten. Time brings new knowlidge, but it also over shadows the past causeing us to forget our history.
Your waging war against the corrupted government built on lies and deceit, whether time is in your favor of not, we shall see soon enough." She spoke not one word to anyone else for quite some time. She may have been just a child of seven years in age, but her wisdom far surpassed her years.
"Come we don't have much time. We need to get the wounded and sick out first. They will take the longest." The women from the medical tent had appeared.
"Miss Harumi! So glad you could join us this wounderful eve!" Murtagh stroled over to her and began talking to her about somehting.
"Which group are you going to be part of in all of this Angela?" Eragon casualy inquired.
"Which ever group needs me the most." With that Angela chanced a glance to the West. "We could get out that way. There are around 30 that way at the most. The otehrs are around the three gates. I doubt the expect us to go that direction any ways."
"I just hope we can get out of here."
With that Eragon steped over to Saphira.
'I hope that boy does realise the trouble that dragon of his is going to cause. It would make my job childs play without him.'
'Perhaps you need a challenge.'
'I suppose.'