Eragon…

The voice was ghostly, barely a whisper. It sent chills down Eragon's back. He knew that voice. Rune.

Eragon…

His name was stretched, drawn out. A plee for freedom. Eragon felt his heart beat faster. He wanted to run away, but he couldn't move.

In front of him, a pair of cold green eyes snapped open, the only illumination in the darkness of his mind. They stared at him, unblinking and hard.

Eragon.

The single, flat word bounced and echoed through Eragon's mind. The voice – Rune's voice, but hateful and…dead – was emotionless.

Failure!

Failure…failure…failure. It seemed as though the word was hissed from different directions, all around. A cold, evil kind of joy shone in the green eyes. Eragon tried to turn to face the source of the voices, but he couldn't. A cruel laugh rung out, again from all directions.

Eragon opened his mouth to scream. Nothing came out. The last thing he saw was those eyes. Rune's eyes.

Spiteful.

Full of hate and vehemence.

Evil.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

Eragon sat straight up, breathing heavily. He was coated in sweat.

He blinked, trying to adjust his eyes to the dim light. The moon shone through some clouds, giving the world a supernatural glow.

"Your watch isn't for an hour, Eragon."

Eragon turned to the voice. Shay sat in the semi-darkness, fiddling with a dagger.

"You didn't have to get up yet. I would have woken you."

Eragon shook the perspiration from his hair. He wasn't ready to speak, his breath still hadn't returned.

Shay stood up, coming to sit next to him. "Bad dreams?"

He nodded. "Of her."

Shay looked at the ground. "I see. Do you want to talk about them?"

Eragon sighed. "She was taunting me. I couldn't move, couldn't scream. Her eyes were so hateful. She called me a failure."

"Eragon, you may be many things, but you aren't a failure."

"I know. It's just…coming from her, it scared me. I've never had dreams about her before."

Shay shrugged. "Her soul sleeps within you. Maybe she's…calling."

"With nightmares? That doesn't sound like her." He shivered, flicking his head towards the sleeping girl, who lay motionlessly a few feet away. "I haven't slept that close to her since we shared chambers. Maybe that's why."

Shay shrugged. "Eragon, may I ask you something…personal?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you love her?"

Eragon's breath caught in his throat. Did he? He wasn't sure. He felt something for her, but he wasn't sure if it was love or not… "I don't know," he admitted. "I've long since decided that Arya was the one Angela meant in her prophesy…"

"Prophesy?"

Eragon related what the bones had told him so long ago in Teirm. Shay listened quietly.

"But Rune is of noble birth as well," Shay reminded. "So it could very well be either of them."

Eragon nodded. "I'm not attracted to her like I'm attracted to Arya. But love is more than lust."

Shay nodded back. "That is true as well."

"Maybe I do love her," Eragon said. "I find her beautiful, and she's kind and outgoing. She holds a place in my heart, I'm sure of that. But if it's love…I don't know. I have my place, and she has hers. Even if I did love her, it would hardly be appropriate."

Eragon turned away. "I suppose what I'm trying to say is that what I feel for her is deeper than love. It's a separate emotion altogether."

Shay bit her lip. "She's part of you now."

Eragon turned to face her. "Why do you ask, Shay?"

Shay shrugged. "I've never been in love. I hope to someday, but I've been too busy with my duties to Orrin. And…"

"What?"

"Lily."

Eragon didn't ask what she meant, or who Lily was. The depth of her sadness was conveyed to him by her voice and her eyes, and he knew better than to push her.

"I'll take watch now, Shay," he whispered. "You can go to bed."

Shay rolled over silently, curling up into a ball. Her shoulders began to shake softly.

Eragon ignored her tears, knowing it would only make things worse. Sometimes being a friend meant knowing when to pretend nothing was wrong.

oooooooooooooooooooo

Lily watched Shay and Eragon silently from the boughs of a tree. The little grove the group had stopped in gave her ample cover.

I'm so sorry…

Drawing an arrow, she notched it into her bow, hating herself more with every move she made. Trying to stop herself all the while, she took aim at the Rider's head. Her fingers twitched.

Don't let go! her mind begged. But her body wouldn't listen. Her fingers loosened on the string, letting the arrow fly.

ooooooooooooooooooo

Eragon heard the whistle of feathers. On an instinct he ducked, hitting the ground. An arrow hissed through the air where seconds ago his head had been.

Glancing wildly around for its source, Eragon shook Shay awake, then booted Súndavar in the side. "Wake up!" he hissed.

Arya was on her feet before Eragon could make a move to awaken her.

"We have to leave," Eragon hissed.

Súndavar glared at him from his place on the ground. "What's wrong with you, Eragon? It's late!"

"Someone shot at me," Eragon explained, already rolling their things into a bundle and packing them onto the saddles of their horses.

Shay plucked an arrow from the ground nearby. She stood up, then cried out. An arrow's shaft protruded from her shoulder. She bit her lip against the pain, staggering towards Bane, her warhorse.

Súndavar rolled over to get up. An arrow hit the ground where he had been laying.

"Letta orya thorna!" Arya's voice echoed in the small glade.

Slate looked up from his place next to Saphira. What sends pointed sticks at us?

Arrows, Slate, Saphira corrected the younger dragon, shaking herself awake. They rip through your wings and scratch painfully at your scales.

Like flying swords, Slate said solemnly. Come, Shadow. Let us soar.

The dragons were speaking so everyone could hear. Súndavar turned to Slate.

"I have to help with Rune. Fly, dragon."

Saphira and Slate took to the air, beating their wings rapidly.

Shay's arm was bleeding hard. She looked paler than usual. She mounted Bane, shaking with the effort.

Súndavar took a step towards Eridor, then paused. At the outskirts of the glade, just beyond the border or trees, another horse was tethered. Their attacker's horse.

Taking a deep breath, he ran to it. An arrow flew towards him, sinking itself into his leg muscle. Fire shot up his leg, but he didn't stop running. He reached the horse, throwing himself onto its back. The palomino reared, snapping the leather band that tied it to the tree.

Together, the group rode away, into the darkness.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Lily watched them leave. Her heart stopped beating so heavily. They had escaped. Good.

Better yet, they had left her without a horse. How would she follow them now? Lily was glad. It would take her a good, long time to reach them now.

Oh, Shay, she thought with a smile. Thank you.

Lily remembered the blood on Shay's shoulder. She winced, as if the wound was her own.

Sorry about that.

Lily's face broke into a grin. Take that, Galbatorix! she thought joyously. You can tell me what to do, but you can't control the future.

Ancient Language:

Letta orya thorna: Stop those arrows!