Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places. They belong to Christopher Paolini

Murtagh's face flitted through Eragon's dreams. His face never stayed the same, flicking through expressions. Happiness. Sadness. Anger. Confusion. Betrayal. Loneliness.

Eragon's eyes jerked open, only to see the velvet sky, pricked with tiny specks of light. The moon was small, a slim crescent in the night sky. He shivered, for the night was still cold.

Eragon sighed, remembering where he was. Farthen Dûr was far behind him, with Murtagh in it. He was on his way to Ellesméra, heading north on the Âz Ragni.

For the hundredth time, Eragon wondered, Did I do the right thing? Should I have left him there alone?

His thoughts were strong, and Saphira awoke. Eragon, Saphira's voice cut through his thoughts. There is nothing you could have done to change the circumstances. You had to go to Ellesméra, and the Varden were unwilling to let Murtagh go. He will be taken care of. You were right to follow the elf.

I still left him by himself, he protested. What kind of friend am I?

One who does what is needed, she told him firmly. Now go back to sleep, Eragon. You must rest.

Eragon sighed once more and turned in his bedroll. A dark shape, bundled up as he was, laid a few yards away: Arya. Eragon frowned, thinking of how Arya acted. She always seemed so distant and lofty. Eragon wasn't sure if this was an attitude of all the elves, but he hoped that Arya would seem more, well, human.

How can you expect her to act human when she's an elf? He asked himself. Maybe she would thaw a little through the trip, for they still had many, many leagues to go.

Slightly more content, Eragon closed his eyes once more, only to feel a sense of wrongness. He sat up, confused. He hadn't ever felt this before. He was about to wake Saphira when Arya bolted upright, blankets falling around her.

"Urgals!" she spat, and quickly disentangled herself from the bedroll. Saphira woke. Eragon was about to ask Arya more, when she signaled for silence.

Moving so close that Eragon could feel her breath on his ear she whispered, "Urgals are close. We must go. Grab your pack and tell Saphira to fly above us, but below the treetops. We do not want her being seen. Quickly, gather your things and come to the canoe."

"Why don't we fight…" Eragon began, but a look from Arya quickly silenced him.

Eragon ran to the river and leaped in the canoe carefully with his pack. He had relayed Arya's message to Saphira and she took off silently, just barely skimming the river with her claws. Arya vaulted nimbly into the boat, handed Eragon a paddle and pushed off from the bank.

When they had reached the center of the river, Arya extended a hand towards the river bank. "Deloi moi," he heard Arya mutter and immediately, the bank looked as if they had never even been near the spot. The woods that surrounded them gave some shelter, but Eragon wished that the forest was denser.

The Âz Ragni was fast and swift, a blessing at this time. It carried them away quickly, and soon Eragon lost sight of their camp. Eragon and Arya paddled urgently, wishing to get as far away from the Urgals as possible. Eragon could hear them now, along the river banks as they grunted with the effort of keeping up with the canoe. The dark sky and shadows hid them from Eragon's sight, but he could tell there were a great many.

Eragon increased his efforts to paddle, digging the blade deeper into the water. Suprizingly, no arrows were being shot at them. Perhaps the Urgals were as blind as Eragon was in the dark. Or, the next thought that Eragon had was unpleasant. Galbatrox has ordered them to bring us to him, alive. Well, he won't get me, or Arya.

I would not let them touch you. They would have reason to fear my teeth and claws! Saphira assured him.

Suddenly, Arya's voice cut through the night. "Eragon, listen to me and do exactly as I say. You must do what I say. Do not be afraid. I would have not attempted this, but under the present circumstances…" she trailed off.

Eragon was about to ask what she was talking about when he saw choppy water ahead. Oh no. He thought. Not rapids, no please no rapids. But his plea was not answered.

Do not worry. Saphira assured him. I will save you if your boat tips though the rapids and I will catch you when you go over the waterfall.

Waterfall! He cried. There's a waterfall! We're going to die!

Eragon cursed his eyesight. The night was leaving him blind and he could not see more than a couple feet in front of him.

"I can't do this," he announced to Arya. "I will not go over a waterfall in the dark. I would not even go over it in the day."

"You must." Arya's voice was firm. "It is the only way to lose the Urgals. On either side of the river, there is a cliff. It takes days to navigate around it. We are going over the falls. You will not die if you listen to me. Just do as I say." Her voice chilled Eragon to the bone.

Eragon protested, but it was too late. Their boat had gone over the first bump in the rapids.

The cold water, fed by snowmelt splashed onto Eragon. Immediately he was soaked and freezing. He could hardly hear anything over the rushing of the water.

"Paddle on the right," called Arya's calm voice. She had to shout to be heard. Eragon switched the side he was paddling on.

"Paddle on the left." They had just narrowly missed a boulder the size of a horse. Eragon could feel the tension throughout his body, but he switched sides quickly, scared for his life.

"Right!" Arya's voice has a note of panic creep into it. They scraped a rock with the side of their boat. Eragon's chest tightened with terror.

"Left!" Eragon changed his paddle mechanically, to terrified to think.

"Harder!" Eragon obeyed.

"Switch sides!" His paddle flew to the other side of the boat. They were nearly going sideways.

"Harder, paddle harder!" Eragon found strength in him and he pushed his paddle as quickly as it would go through the cold, dark water. The boat began to straighten, right into a small rock.

"Left!" Arya's voice lost all traces of calmness, and Eragon was terrified. His eyes were wide and his mind began to stop.

"Switch!" He did.

"Harder!" He tried

He could see a huge rock, the water splashing around it menacingly. They were going to die. They were going to crash and be killed. Their blood would wash down the river in red waves. They were going to-

"Left backpaddle!" Left. Which way was left? Eragon's mind was clouded with terror. Left, left. Which way was left?

"BACKPADDLE ON THE LEFT!" Arya screamed. She sounded as terrified as Eragon was.

This side! Saphira entered Eragon's mind and he immediately switched sides and his stroke. The nose of the boat swung away from the rock and went into thin air. They were falling.