Sorry for the long wait. Hope this makes up to it. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Hope you enjoy it! I did!

Chapter Ten

Something wet tickled Elita's nose. She moved her nose a bit before turning her head slightly. Again, something wet tickled her nose. Wake up, Sleepyhead! Something said. She opened her eyes. She tried to scream but she could not muster it. A creature was sitting on her chest, peering down into her face. Elita sprang up, shoving blankets and the creature to the ground. The creature popped right back up and went to her legs. It came up to about her ankles. She bent down to get a better look. It was a midnight blue color. Small beady black eyes. Large yellow lips. Two tiny slits for a nose. It's hands and feet where very small. It's body was round but small too. It's head was the largest thing on it's body. And Elita noticed that it's large lips took up most of the face.

Elita looked around to see if anyone else thought that this was weird but Master Eragon, his dragon, and his friends were still sleeping. Elita went to pet it. It took a small little step backwards. "I'm not going to hurt you." She whispered, going out more. The creature grabbed Elita's index finger and smelled it. It smiled. It was actually quite cute. It stuck out a abnormally large green tongue and licked Elita's cheek. Elita giggled and scratched the creature under it's chin. It grabbed her arm and climbed up onto her shoulder. Eragon moved in his sleep, grumbling about something. Elita watched him, careful not to wake him up. After several minutes of silence, Elita glanced back at the creature. It's mouth was shaped into the perfect 'O' and was staring at Eragon.

Suddenly, it bounded down Elita's hand and stopped an inch away from Eragon's face. It sniffed around Eragon and to Saphira's saddlebags. It opened the pack. "Hey! Stop it!" Elita whispered frantically, eyeing the large, sapphire dragon. The dragon snorted a bit and placed her head on her feet. The creature pulled out a green cloth. It stuffed it down its mouth and hopped back to Elita, chewing happily. Elita stared at the creature in horror. It then loudly swallowed the cloth. "You...you stupid creature! How dare you eat..." Elita started saying. It looked to the left before running. Elita followed it quickly.

It led her to a large pond that had dark, green water. Lily pads covered one half of the pond and moss covered the other half. Elita was on the lily pad covered side and watched the creature hopped across to the middle of the pond, which was clear, and dive down in there. Elita sighed. How was she suppose to get that cloth now? A twig snapped caught Elita's attention. She turned and quickly ducked the swinging sword that was pointed for her head. An ugly creature with a horrible smell was brandishing the sword. One of the creatures that had killed Master Flanders.

It brought up the sword and came down to slice her in half! Elita cried out, holding her hands up. The shirt sleeve slipped down, showing the silvery tattoo on her wrist. It flashed violently then a force knocked the Urgal over on to its back. It sat up, shaking its head. Suddenly, a wall of crashing water fell down upon them but Elita did not get hurt. The Urgal cried out and got washed away from her. Elita turned quickly, looking for the source. A man made out of water stood in the water, the creature she just saw on his shoulder. He walked up to her. "Are you okay?" He asked, placing a wet hand on her shoulder. Elita stared up at the water man.

Then she fell to the floor, murmuring all the prayers of forgiveness and loyalty and more. The creature hopped off his shoulder and licked Elita's cheek. She looked up at the man. "Its okay. You are not hurt?" He asked again. His voice was loud, echoing, and booming. Elita shivered as he talked.

"Yes. Thank you. Oh thank you." She said quickly, bowing again.

"This is a Smeltie. I created him one day. I was bored. They love anything that is green. He didn't eat the cloth. He just put it away to put back in his cove. They are cute. Do you want him?" He told her, stroking the creature on the head. Elita shook her head.

"I have to take care of my master. A pet will take to much effort. Thank you though." She said carefully. He nodded in understanding.

"I...never mind." He started before turning to the water. He looked back at Elita before he melted back within the water. Elita looked down at the creature. It smiled and licked Elita's cheek again before doing a large back flip into the water. Elita then saw that its tiny feet were webbed.

Elita walked back to the group where Eragon was pacing with Ayra and Murtagh talking quietly to him. Saphira turned as Elita walked in the clearing. Eragon walked quickly over to her. "Where were you?" He asked hysterically, grabbing Elita and hugging her.

"Sorry, Master Eragon! There was this creature in the clearing and it took your green cloth.." Elita started to explain, terrified at what Eragon would do to her. His face turned from worry to horror.

"Green cloth? You mean my best tunic?" Eragon asked. He quickly opened Saphira's saddlebags and took out several shirts before looking up back at Elita. "And then what?"

"It... it ate it." She whispered, not meeting his gaze. Eragon groaned then glanced at Elita.

"It is okay. You're not in trouble." Eragon assured Elita. She smiled up at him, eyes shining brightly. She hugged Eragon and walked over to the fire, to start breakfast.

Elita moved slightly on the saddle, shivering. Being up in the sky all day was making her quite cold. Eragon was half asleep, blinking over and over again in an effort to wake up. His mouth was hanging open and he yawned widely. The ground was starting to turn a bit rocky and up above mountains showed. One mountain totally baffled Elita. It was huge, able to cover the sky for miles on end. If Elita laid down in the saddle on her back, she might be able to see the snow-capped peak. Eragon had said that they were getting closer to the Varden and Elita could not wait.

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Her eyes clouded over as a premonition occurred to her. Her skin turned deathly pale and her eyes cleared. She gasped loudly. Saphira turned and looked at her. What is it, child? She asked.

Elita looked up at Saphira, her eyes wet. "N...n...nothing. Nothing at all." She said but her voice cracked a bit. Saphira stared at the child before turning back. Tears began streaming down Elita's pale cheeks. The wind quickly wiped them off her face. They flew into the breeze then fell rapidly down. It fell into a large lake and made a small splash. The water suddenly bubbled violently. A large massive head popped out of the water, creating large waves. A fox near by, who happened to be drinking from the lake, looked up wildly. All the fox saw before it dashed away, was a large, navy blue eye.

What did Elita see? What was the thing that popped out of the lake? Read, Review, and find out!