Chapter 2

Joden gasped as he hit the water, its icy claws digging in the second he and the egg submerged. Just about the surface, a dark shadow was slithering out of the castle overhead. At the sight of it, the elf's heart skipped a beat. Shruikan was going to follow after the thief!

He tore out of the castle's moat, swimming with one hand and kicking off some of the tattered sheet that covered his legs as the drenched material flapped wildly. Not so far up, Shruikan let out a fearsome roar and a gust of black flames to the sky as his entire bulk breached over to opening his sleeping chamber had to the sky.

Up the muddy embankment the elf climbed, his boots skidding and sliding from the muck. Aided by adrenaline, Joden bolted the second he could, into the bulk of Uru'baen. He had to hand it to Galbatorix for the location of the castle, right smack in the center of the massive city. No matter which direction he turned now, each was would have exactly the same distance between the castle and the outer wall.

But he didn't just choose a side a random, Joden rushed into the section where the poorer class of Uru'baen lived. They were the peasants that eked a living by doing things unknown to Joden. There were no farmers in the lot, or else they'd be living outside the borders of the city to be with their crops and outside the crowded area of the city. The majority were either the really ancient, or the really young. Anyone in the middle had already left Uru'baen, drafted for war and most never to see their families again.

The houses were close together, so thinly spaced that Shruikan's snout wouldn't manage to fit the gap without destroying the houses. Joden knew what would happen to the residents, had already rehearsed the escape in his mind, but regretted being the reason for it.

As Joden entered the space between the first two houses, a forceful gale that was not unlike a storm's tempest started to blow from above. Galbatorix's dragon did not roar, yet instead pushed his head down and exhaled forcefully. A waterfall of black fire drenched and destroyed all it touched, its hissing attack catching the entire area on fire in seconds. Cheaply thatched roofs caught alight and spread to thin wooden walls. And the spell that Joden muttered only protected his form and that of the egg. The gale of Shruikan's wings did much against the damage of his mouth, and yet shrill cries had begun to come forth.

He turned a corner, and then another one, moving with agility unmatchable by any mortal man. Joden dared not look back at the wreckage or the dragon, he feared he would loose control over himself at the sight. The elf wasn't getting ahead, he knew that, but the dragon also wasn't getting anywhere close to him yet, though his scorching mark was pretty close.

A crash, and the crunch of wood on claw sounded immediately behind him, followed by an identical sound, and two more. The wind stopped, and Shruikan pushed his tail around at the elf. A building was felled in half, and another, the one next to Joden was crushed, and he had only a second to jump before the dark tail lashed directly under him.

The sounds had finally awoken the majority of the dwellers in that area, lanterns the occasional oil lamp flickered to light again. Shruikan paused for just long enough for Joden to weave back into the gaps, and was out of sight from the big dragon soon afterward. There was another pause, in which Shruikan's massive head turned to one side, and then the other, and he reached out with his mind, an ancient thing that left Joden's defenses in turmoil for long enough for the dragon to pass on his ominous message.

"This little victory is meaningless. There is nowhere to run. I follow, Galbatorix follows. Your fate is sealed!" And finally, his tone cracked, the dragon's maniac words hissed louder than his restarting wing beats, "THERE IS NO ESCAPE!"

Then Shruikan turned his body and angled back towards the castle, quickly moving out of sight. The black dragon must have decided that keeping his identity a secret was more important than the egg…

When the last echoes of his speech died down, Joden stumbled, yet the elf continued to run, even though the wind from Shruikan's powerful wings died down to a dull gust, and he didn't attack again. He'd worry later, getting away was most important. Joden only stopped close to the outer wall, turning around to check, just to make sure that there wasn't a jet black creature just beyond his hearing, waiting for Joden to get into open ground where he'd make easy pickings. But there was nothing, just the gently twinkling stars glittering in the night sky.

Joden finally turned back to the gate, where it was still open for late merchant caravans to come though. The guards didn't question the man they saw passing by, holding a little bundle all wrapped with black cloth, nor did they mention the sounds that had come from the city to him.

When Joden had gotten far enough, he paused for a breath, and to look back at Uru'baen. The large city, with its dark and twisted castle in its center, appeared to be in a state of disorder. Now that he could look at it from a distance, Joden saw that the northern half-which was the one he'd escaped through-had a sizable chunk of the houses and area charred or destroyed.

How many people had just perished by the actions that had occurred last night, asleep in their beds and never to wake again? How many were wounded beyond the abilities of a healer, and would eventually pass on, the ones that did survive branded for life? How, how, how? The extent of the damage sickened Joden. He'd caused this…

The elf would be a fool to point his finger at anyone but himself. Sure, it was Shruikan's doing that had caused it. But Joden had been the one that stole the egg. Of course, it could be Galbatorix's fault, for coming across the egg in the first place. But Joden had still stolen it.

He would have time in the future to repay for what had happened that night. Now that he was outside of Uru'baen, Joden could shed his black sheet overcoat and have the now bundled egg in a pouch by his side. Even though Shruikan had come very close to killing him, the dragon still couldn't have recognized Joden by sight or smell-since he never did catch a whiff of the elf beforehand. The worst thing that could happen if he was captured by enemy troops would be to show them his Shadow Hand badge. (There was a use for that thing after all!)

That was, if Shruikan hadn't have memorized the very thoughts out of Joden. When he'd touched the elf's mind, he could have gotten enough information that his Rider would recognize who it was.

No. It wouldn't work. No matter what he'd planned before, it just wouldn't work.

He was to be an exile until he made contact with another on the right side. The chances of running across the Rider Eragon this close to Uru'baen were slim to none; the last reports of Eragon had said he was off on a personal duty.

This was where the elf's plan came to an abrupt end, where he appeared to have fled to the North, back to Ellesméra. But with the wide Ramr River in the way, he would have to take a long horizontal path first, and that would just take up too much time. Instead, he was going to circle around Uru'baen, back south, where he'd travel to the closest possible friendly civilization, the Dwarf town of Furnost. There… well, Joden had enough time to plan.

As he began to head off down the grasslands, a tiny thought perturbed him. Are Dwarves members of the Shadow Hand too?

Joden's pace quickened.

There had been something in Joden's pride that had made him refuse to have help posted along the way to the town. That little part was what he wished had a substantial form, so he could kick it. The first day's travel was coated with a bitter film of fear, where the elf had to reassure himself that there was nothing with big, scaly wings following. Atop the film of fear was a thinner coat, one of hunger. He didn't trust the wrinkled green berries, resisted the imaginary, dry whispers coming from them. Joden hated to be hungry, even for the first day's touch of it.

The land was mostly the same, boring tufts of yellowing grass, starved of water from the relentless sun's glare. Knobby little trees, their twisted branches groaning under the weight of their fruit-the unhealthy green fruits-with leaves the same sickly color, made mostly unwelcome additions to the scenery. Joden was soon very, very bored of his chosen path.

Think, idiot elf! Bored is better than the kind of excitement you're in for! From time to time, a biting voice popped up to shred his traveling thoughts. Joden supposed it was for the better, though he grew tired of it after a while. The voice was a magical defense, for all it's worth… a simple spell, cast to keep awareness up… If only Joden knew the counter spell for it, it'd be gone in a minute.

When night began to fall, Joden finally stopped running and found a place where two of the gruesome trees were growing together, their branches fouled together well enough to make a small shelter under them. He supposed, as he lay on the crunchy grass under them, without a blanket to protect him from their slightly sharp points, that he was meant to sleep. Joden's head pointed in sync with his sore legs, his gaze fixed upon the tangled branches above, where the last light of the sun was reducing to a dull glow that was barely visible through the makeshift roof.

The elf unconsciously took the dragon egg's pouch and brought it against his chest, holding it there with both hands. Everything slowly grew darker, Joden found his eyelids falling…

It wasn't light yet when Joden's eyes opened. Something had disturbed his sleep, like a tiny jolt of electricity that shot through his dream bubble. Whatever it was, something was not right, he could almost feel it.

Crunch… crunch… crunch… Slow sounds caught Joden's attention, and he finally realized the problem. The egg, it was gone! Cursing, Joden got to his feet and ran in the direction the footsteps were coming from, feeling for his dagger. The other pace picked up drastically, but it was at least not as fast as Joden's, his fatigue forgotten in a rush of adrenaline.

Finally getting a grip on the dagger hilt, Joden whipped it out and tossed it forward, watching as the blade was lit up for only a second in the faint starlight. A loud curse in dwarf tongue sounded out in a female voice, and a dull thud signaled that the egg thief had fallen. "Barzuln!" The same female voice hissed when Joden approached her. "Ey! Misva! Make haste!"

Joden murmured a word of magic and a silver orb of light materialized in his palm. On the ground in front of him, the female dwarf had one of her thick hands around the hilt of his dagger as she pulled it out of her upper leg, and the other grasped the black pouch where the dragon egg glimmered dully in the light. "Give me the egg." He ordered, right as the wind changed.

Forward and down, the unnatural gale made it a challenge to stand. But what forced Joden to his knees was not the wind; it was a shriek that cut through his mind, forcing his thoughts into little ribbons. He couldn't think, didn't know what to do when the dwarf got back to her feet and dropped his dagger at his feet before turning away, except grasp the weapon.

No, the egg! It was the voice of the conscious spell that broke into a small island of calm as the roaring in his ears and mind continued their assault. He could see again through watering eyes, the dwarf climbing onto the back of a muddy brown and mottled green… dragon? It was smaller than he'd even imagine a dragon to be, especially after seeing Shruikan. The giant had left an imprint of hugeness in the elf's mind. The shriek… was coming from the dragon's open mouth, where the fangs were impossibly long to Joden's partly open mind.

The conscious spell spoke up again, and directed enough of Joden's thoughts that he knew what to do. As the small dragon righted itself and the shriek dropped in intensity while it prepared to take off, the elf shot forward and jumped onto its back behind the dwarf. They were up in the air before the dwarf realized he was there.

The shriek had stopped now, as the dragon had to focus itself on gaining altitude with so much weight upon its back. Joden grabbed onto the saddle the dwarf was seated upon and repeated over the wing, "Give me the egg!"

"Are you crazy?" The dwarf screamed back. The serpentine dragon's sides heaved and Joden clenched his teeth and held onto the saddle for dear life.

"The egg!" Joden demanded again, "I won't let you return it!"

"I'm delivering it to its rightful place, you're just in the way!"

"No-"

"Reyah!" The dragon cried shrilly.

"Down Misva!" The dwarf didn't miss a beat, and temporarily turned away from Joden as the serpentine dragon wound its way downward with such speed that he knew that once they hit the ground, he'd be sent flying. And once the jarring stop in motion came around, it was the truth, and the elf's groan was loud upon impact.

The dragon-Joden guessed it was 'Misva'-chirped weakly and collapsed. "Now look what you did." The dwarf said sourly to Joden, "Your weight was too much for her."

"Excuse me, but this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't stolen the egg." He grumbled.

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't have the egg. Why'd Galbatorix choose you to carry it anyway?"

Joden paused as the meaning of her words struck. "Wait…" He said, "I stole that egg for my Queen, Islanzadí."

The dwarf grunted once and stroked her serpentine dragon's sharply pointed head. "Prove it. The penalty for traitorous actions against Galbatorix is death by torture, and you look very much alive."

Joden put his hand up and said clearly in the Ancient Language, "Upon my word as an elf, I am the sworn enemy of Galbatorix."

There was a pause, in which the dwarf gave him a measured look, and finally grunted, "You elves and your fancy words. If I didn't understand that, you'd have problems, elf. Meh, werg." She rubbed her forehead with two fingers, and groaned, "The knurlagn leader, she said to watch for an elf. Watch for an elf! She wanted me to help your sorry hide, not take the egg."

"Uh… you do know, I didn't understand that at all?" Joden replied.

"Werg." The dwarf's hands dropped to her lap, "You, elf, are you familiar with the human Nasuada? She asked me to come to your rescue, basically."

"I don't need rescuing."

She snorted, "If I was one of Galbatorix's troops, right now your throat would be slit, the egg taken and locked up… need I continue?"

"No, I've got the point." Joden muttered, knowing she was right, and hating the way she rubbed it in, "So… what kind of dragon is that?" He asked in an awkward attempt to change the subject.

"Fanghur." The dwarf grunted, "There aren't many Fanghur riders." She added, with a small spark of pride inching it's way into her voice, "They have to be tamed, and for a Fanghur, that's almost impossible. But I trained Misva from the egg."

And after a pause, the dwarf added slowly, "And I'm Sharra, daughter of Noriv. You dropped this, by the way." She tossed him the dragon egg with a slightly mocking smile.

Joden leaned forward and snagged it out of the air, "So, how long are you gracing my company?" He added awkwardly, "…And I'm Joden…"

Their conversation continued on like that, speaking in short bursts. Neither Joden nor Sharra had anything in common, which proved to be the factor that killed any chance of them getting along.

Joden soon figured out why Sharra looked so… strange though, the only other female dwarf he'd seen had been older and pudgy. This dwarf was nothing like her, her limbs were thick and her hips broad, but she was a great deal thinner than other dwarves-male and female alike. From the hints she gave about her lifestyle, the absence of weight was to lessen the strain on Misva's back in flight.

Misva herself had curled up and was asleep by the time the sun's first rays illuminated the field they had landed in. No more of the gruesome trees were around; they were a piece of scenery that was not missed anyway. Instead, there were endless rows of golden wheat, and it was soon obvious what they place was. And the farmer would be missing the patch of grain that had been utterly flattened by the Fanghur, dwarf, and elf.

"It would appear that we're stuck here." Joden murmured as a change in subject, motioning to the unmoving, scaled form of Misva. "What's going to happen when the owner of this farm comes out and sees us here?"

"We're going to have problems when-and if-that happens." Sharra replied. She cast her gaze around and shrugged, "Shouldn't worry about that until it happens. Are you taking first watch?"

Not waiting for the elf's reply, she leaned against Misva's side and yawned, "Of course you are, you had more rest then I did." Before Joden could argue, she was already fast asleep…