Khori

Cool story. It's moving nicely along.

You need to make sure that everyone is in character. They seem to be

straying. It's not Murtaug, but Murtagh, unless you have a different

spelling in your book. And Murtagh's horse and old friend is Tornac. Caddoc

was Eragon's horse.

I like Ajin. She's cool, and her mood switching is fun, because it's

hard to predict how she will react.

Good work, and I hope you update soon!

-Khori

Thanks a lot! Khori, that the most helpful advise! I'm too lazy to check it the book for names, so I'm pretty much winging it. So, thanks a lot. It's Murtagh right? And Tornac, okay got it. Thanks! I'll remember that 3. So, the story flips back to Roran and Ajin. For the record, Brian got voted off survivor, so I'm mad.

Kelsey: Haha, you can't spell.

Dreamer: Hey, it was only one name.

Kelsey: Two…stupid…now, on to the story!

Warning: Might contain a little blood, for slightly squeamish people.

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Roran's eyes drooped slightly. They had been riding for hours. He watched Ajin's long blond hair swing back and forth as her horse trotted in front of him.

Back, and forth. Back, and forth. Back and-

"Roran, you're going the wrong way."

Roran looked up quickly.

"Hmm? Yah, just…dozing off." Said Roran.

"Okay, well, this way." Said Ajin as she headed down a different path.

Roran nodded slightly, turning Bryer around to follow her.

Roran tried to keep Katrina out of his mind.

'How did this happen?' he thought vaguely. 'How did I go from a simple farmer living outside of Carvahall, to traveling with a mood swapping elf to the Varden, too rescue Katrina.'

There it was again, that feeling that someone was there. He had felt it before he was knocked unconscious. He remembered Ajin telling him that you would feel it when someone was trying to listen to his thoughts, or brake into his 'mental barrier'.

"Ajin I-"

"It wasn't me." She said as the feeling went away.

"You felt it to?" he asked.

She looked at him sadly, "Yes, an all to common feeling."

Roran was not sure what she ment, but decided not to push the matter.

Roran shivered slightly.

"So, any one can be listening to my thoughts at any time?" he asked Ajin, as they continued moving.

"Well, if your properly prepared, no." she said.

"And that means?"

Ajin sighed. "Look at one strand of Bryer's hair, okay. You need to concentrate on it. Don't think of anything else, just that one hair."

Roran nodded, and did what he was instructed to.

He soon felt the familiar presence. He tried hard to concentrate, but his mind finally cracked, and a female voice entered his head.

"That wasn't good enough, try harder." It said.

Roran sighed. They worked on this for a while, until a rustle in the bushes finally broke his concentration.

"What was that?" Roran asked.

"Nothing, lets keep working"

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Roran and Ajin worked on magic for weeks on end. They had been traveling on unfamiliar trails, and ducking out of sight of passing traders.

Ajin had done her best to teach Roran small parts of magic. The best he could do was levitate a small pebble, heal small cuts, and scry.

"This is hard." Gasped Roran, as he tried to scry his farm.

He had held the wavering image of the remains for a minute before it faded.

If only Eragon could see him now, traveling with an elf, learning magic. He would be beside himself with jealousy.

For Roran, this was an uneasy journey. He kept getting the feeling that someone was watching them. He would hear small noises in the forests, and Ajin would just shake them off.

"Nothing is there." She would mutter.

But today, there was.

Roran stretched out his blanket on the ground, intent on falling asleep.

His eyes closed, slightly. He could still see the blurry image of Ajin sitting tensely against the tree, her eyes focused on the bush behind him.

Roran sighed.

'So much for a good sleep.'

"What's wrong?" yawned Roran.

"I-I thought I heard something." She stammered.

'Well, that was a new emotion.' Thought Roran dryly, 'fear.'

"I'm sure its fine." He said.

Ajin did not answer, just continued to stare at the bush.

"Look, Ajin there's nothing the-" Roran was cut off as he felt a cool blade rest against his neck.

"You move," said a low voice from behind him, "I'll slit his throat."

Ajin stayed were she was, not moving a mussel.

"Go ahead." She said yawning, "But I'm going to sleep." She closed her eyes, for the first time Roran had been with her.

'Roran' came a voice in his head. 'Don't move, I have a plan okay?'

"Ha, don't act like you don't care." Laughed the voice.

"Act? Really do it. I don't care at all."

The man pressed the blade tighter against Roran's neck, causing a small amount of blood to drip from it.

Roran winced involuntarily.

Ajin did not say a word, but when her eyes opened, they were filled with hurt, and regret.

'I'm sorry.'

Faster than either men in front of her could see, Ajin stood up, and grabbed the knife out of the mans hand.

She kicked Roran in the back of the legs, causing his knees to buckle so she was standing over him.

"You don't get him just yet." She snarled.

She drove the blade right into the man's chest, his face finally coming into view for Roran. He had jet-black hair, and a rugged face. His eyes were dark blue, almost black to match his hair.

With the last ounce of strength, he took a dagger from his boot, and hit Ajin in the side.

She yelled out in pain, and glared at the man at her feet. With one foul swoop, she swung the blade around, removing his head.

Roran gagged slightly, as a bloody head fell next to his feet. The eyes wide with triumph.

Ajin staggered backwards, removing the bloody dagger from her side.

She cursed loudly as she fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" asked Roran, running to her side.

She shook her head.

"No." she whispered before she fell unconscious.

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Roran picked up the unconscious elf, and carried her to were his blanket that was laid out.

'She'll be okay, she'll be okay.' He told himself, but it sure didn't seem that way.

Crimson blood splattered the ground, and his blanket was soon covered in it.

He opened his pack, and removed some thin scraps of cloth. He began to bind her wounds, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.

I will not go through this again' he told himself, 'I will not loose someone else.'

When he was finally done, all he could do was wait.

Roran had never seen her with her eyes closed before, or had he seen her sleeping.

She was always awake, and never looked as peaceful as she did now. A few strands of hair covered her face.

Roran carefully moved them out of the way, and tucked them behind her ears.

Roran sighed, if he didn't do anything, then he would surely go insane.

He poured a small glass of water out of his water skin, and looked at his reflection, in the clear cup.

'Maybe I could practice scrying." He thought to himself.

He thought of Katrina, pictured her face, and looked down into the water, "draumr kópa"

The water only turned to black.

Roran's heart began to beat faster. 'Why had it not shown Katrina?'

Slowly, Ajin's words drifted into his head. 'If only darkness shows, it means that their soul had been enveloped by darkness, and are no longer living.'

"No, no!" whispered Roran.

Trying again, he pictured Horst. The same image of black covered the water.

The affect of the magic had begun to weaken his body, but he would not give up.

In one last desperate attempt to find them he scryed Carvahall,

Burning buildings came into view. The smoke billowing out of windows, and roofs. There was screaming coming from the blood-covered road, and bodies scattered around the town.

Tears began to flow down Roran's face. "No!" he yelled, slamming his fists on the ground. The picture of the destroyed village wavered, and then disappeared completely.

Katrina was gone, killed. So was Horst and the rest of the village. He had lost everything. He looked at the unconscious elf beside him. He hadn't lost Ajin, not yet.

He pressed the bottom of his palms to his temples, and sobbed uncontrollably.

How would he live without Katrina? She had been his reason for getting up in the morning, and now she was gone. That was it! He wouldn't live without her. He couldn't.

He pulled a small dagger out of his bag, and ran his finger along the edge.

Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a flicker of movement. But it didn't matter now.

He held the blade to his chest, and pushed. Roran braced himself for the bust of pain, but none came. Roran saw a drop of blood land on his shoe. He followed it up to see Ajin, with his dagger in her shoulder.

She coughed, spraying the ground with blood. Ripping the knife out of her arm, she threw it into the ground.

"I wouldn't try that again, not if I were you." She said, blood running down her arm.

Roran stared at her wide-eyed.

"Why did you-"

"Because," she said coughing again, "I told them I would protect you from every danger, and that includes yourself.

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Well, that's all for this chapter. Sorry if it was a little bit bloody, but believe me, the next chapter with Roran will be MUCH worse. Just so you have a fair warning.

Kelsey: Ha Ha, Ajin died.

Dreamer: She did not, well; maybe…I'm not sure.

Kelsey: Eh, Jacey…you wrote the story you should know…

Dreamer: Should I?