Part 1 – Rumours of Hope

A man rode fast towards the location of the Varden camp just outside the battle field. He carried an important message to them from the Varden town of Farloden. He had a few encounters with some Urgals but none he could easily get out of, but he did come with a few scratches. The man urged his stead on faster as he came closer to the grouping of tents.

He entered the settlement of the Varden and was quickly guided to the tent of Lady Nasuada. He quickly dismounted his white horse and entered the tent. Nasuada stood at a table looking over some maps and documents Arya stood next to her. They both looked up as the messenger entered the tent and came close to them. He bowed accordingly to the women and rose.

"I bring a message from the head priest of Farloden." He said looking to Nasuada and then to Arya quickly the back to Nasuada.

"What is it?" the Nasuada enquired him with round curious eyes.

"There is a rumor of a wild dragon living in the wild near the town in Alagaesia. There also have been over 70 sightings of it. The temple priest wishes to have it check out." he said to Nasuada in a firm and strong voice. Nasuada looked to Arya who seemed just as shocked as she was. Arya nodded to her a hint of happiness glittered in her eyes at the news.

"Very well. I will have our Rider sent out to check it out." She said to the messenger, the man bowed his head and left the tent without another word. Nasuada then turned to Arya who seemed to be thinking this over; she waited a moment then lifted her eyes to look at Nasuada.

"What do you make of this?" Nasuada asked the elven girl. Arya thought quietly for a moment then looked to the tent entrance quickly.

"It's worth checking out. I doubt though Eragon will want to go. He and his cousin were to go search for Roran's fiancé." Arya answered looking to the Varden leader with firm eyes. Nasuada nodded in compliance and thought for a moment.

"Farloden has extensive reports and documents regarding the locations of the Ra'zac and their bases. He would be able to come up with a plan for his rescue and get some help." Nasuada said after a moment of deep thought over the matter, Arya contemplated the issue then nodded.

"I'll go see Eragon about this now." Nasuada announced to Arya and walked to the tent entrance, Arya quickly followed behind her.

Eragon moved around the tent as did Roran, they packed supplies and clothes into traveling packs and moved them outside. Saphira watched them as she fluttered her wings in anticipation to fly again. It took a lot of assurance from both Saphira and Eragon to get Roran to travel on Saphira, bur an hour later and much talk and a test flight later did Roran agree.

Eragon sighed as he picked up a sword given to him after the Za'roc was taken from him by Murtagh. A hand appeared on Eragon's shoulder. The Rider looked to the owner of the hand and came face to face with Arya, she face showed sympathy for him as if she knew what pain and betrayal he felt in the meeting with Murtagh. Eragon noticed Nasuada standing behind Arya and he placed what he was doing down and turned to face Nasuada.

"Eragon," She started before he could say anything. "We want you to check out a sighting of a wild Dragon in a Varden village in Alagaesia." She said quiet bluntly and straight forward, which caught Eragon off guard. Eragon was about to say something when Roran interrupted.

"We're on our way to save Katrina from the Ra'zac!" he cried out, he had re-entered the tent just enough to hear what Nasuada had to say. They all turned to look at Roran, Eragon were sure his cousin would pop a blood vessel that throbbed on his forehead.

"Rest assure the trip to this village will help you with your rescue plans. The village has Varden with experience in dealing with the Ra'zac and where they are. They will help you the most." Nasuada explained calmly. Roran thought over what she said, he visibly calmed down at this information. Nasuada turned back to Eragon and looked straight at him.

"We will go, and I'll check out the 'dragon'. But right after that we will head to rescue Katrina." Eragon said firmly looking to Arya and Nasuada. Nasuada smiled brightly.

"Then it is settled. Take care, the three of you." Nasuada said then quickly turned on her heel and left. Saphira poked her head into the tent and gazed at the three of them. Eragon turned and picked up the bag behind him and walked towards the tent door flap.

"Let's get going." He said and walked out to Saphira and strapped the last bag to Saphira, and got ready to leave immediately.

Khariaya sat in an open field deep in Alagaesia, Eviothx her midnight black dragon lay in the grass beside her. He bathed in the sun half asleep as she finished collecting her herbs for the temple. She didn't need to be back for a long time so she decided to enjoy the little time she had with her dragon.
Keeping him a secret wasn't easy; he was getting bigger and harder to hide. She heard rumours of a dragon living in the forest from some of the villagers coming to the temple. She tried to dismiss them at first but more and more people found evidence that there was a dragon out there. Hunters would go out to track deer and wild game but would find large droppings too big for the normal wildlife, also the bark scratched off of tress as Eviothx moved through the forest. The last piece of evidence was the large carcasses of deer and bears they would find taken down and eaten to the bone, nothing around there were big enough to eat so many and leave the bones in large clumps. The head priest was even sending word to the Riders of a possible dragon living in the wild.
Even though her village was in Alagaesia, everyone in it was party of or wanted to be part of the Varden. Their village was known to little and had connections to the Varden and the elves, the village was useful for mission in the heart of Alagaesia. The village also bordered the realm of the elves but they hardly ever entered the elves land, only if they were largely attacked and had no choice. She knew if anyone found out she could easily run, but running would mean someone would follow, and she didn't want that life for Eviothx.

Stop worrying so much. It'll be fine. Eviothx said smoothly though their shared mental connection, he lifted his head and looked to her, reaching his head out gracefully to her. She sighed and placed her hand on his snout, he truly was a suck for being rubbed.

I worry about you. What will they do if they find you and find out about your connection. I don't want to fight. She replied sadly gently massaging along his jaw line. The dragon sighed deeply the hot air blowing her hair back over her shoulders. He lifted his head slightly and reached out and grabbed her shirt by her neck and pulled her closer to him. He lay her beside the joint of his neck and shoulder and lay his head down neck curled around her.

If they find out and you don't want to fight then they have to answer to me. He said with an authoritive voice leaving no room to argue. She sighed and leaned her head back to rest of his shoulder.

You win. Thank you Eviothx. She said gently as her eyes dropped close as she drifted to sleep. Eviothx looked at her then looked around reaching out with his senses. Not feeling a presence of a human close by, he too closed his eyes and went to a light sleep.

Author's Note: Good? Bad? Please review! I want to thank Almostinsane for reviewing! Keep them coming and I'll keep the update coming! It surprised mehow easily this chapter came out of me. I had some parts/ideas already figured out or writnwe out so that made it easier on me... i thinkit's gonna slow down from now maybe a day or few days between updates. But do not worry i will work to keep it going. Any ideas, comments, thoughts are always welcome! Thankyou everyone for reading and reviewing!