HEY! I'm back :D. I only own Ophelia and Tania, everything else belongs to (and is often profoundly abused by) Christopher Paolini. This includes Thorn and Shruikan, my two favorite dragons :(
When they stopped for the evening, it was very clear to Tania that Eragon felt no better, and she could see that his temper had worsened considerably. It wasn't very surprising, as most of the day had been spent on taking long detours to avoid detection by soldiers with hunting dogs. Tania dismounted Snowfire and asked Ophelia, How is the elf?
I don't believe she is any worse than before. She stirred a bit, but she didn't wake.
Hmn.
Tania kept careful watch while Murtagha and Eragon made a small dinner. When they had eaten, Murtagh said, "We can't keep up this pace; we aren't gaining any ground on the soldiers. Another day or two of this and they'll be sure to overtake us."
"What else can we do?" Eragon snapped. "If it were only two of us and we were willing o leave the horses behind, Saphira could get us out. But with three of us, and the elf, too? Impossible."
Tania raised an eyebrow as Murtagh looked at him carefully. "If you want to go your own way, I won't stop you. I can't expect you and Saphira to stay and risk imprisonment."
"Don't insult me," Eragon muttered."The only reason I'm free is because of you. And Tania," he added quickly. "I'm not going to abandon you to the Empire. Poor thanks that would be!"
"Not to mention if you were captured, the King would probably have some way of worming information about us out of you," Tania pointed out.
Murtagh chuckled and bowed his head. "Your words hearten me." He paused. "But they don't solve our problems."
"What can?" asked Eragon. He gestured to the elf. "I wish she could tell us where the elves are; perhaps we could seek sanctuary with them."
"Considering how they've protected themselves, I doubt she would reveal their location. Even if she did, the others of her kind might not welcome us. Why would they want to shelter us anyway? The last Riders they had contact with were Galbatorix and the Forsworn. I doubt that left them pleasant memories. And I don't even have the dubious honor of being a Rider like you. No, they would not want me at all." Tania frowned slightly as he gave a brief, furtive glance at Zar'roc on Eragon's hip.
They would accept us, said Saphira confidently as she shifted her wings to a more comfortable position.
Tania rolled her eyes. "We wouldn't be able to find them, anyway. We probably shouldn't go near the Empire until we've found a way to fight them, and perhaps just stay away until Saphira is too large to be hidden. I wouldn't vote for that, though. From what I've heard, the elves are to the north, and since we don't know their feelings toward Riders, I would not vote for that direction either. I highly doubt we'd find much on the far east side of the Hadarac, so that just leaves the Beors to the south."
Murtagh raised his eyebrows. "I like the way your mind works," he said finally. "But how are we going to get to the Beors? The Hadarac stands in our way on the quickest route, and we would get caught within a few days if we went any other direction. We'd need water, for one."
Tania made a face. "Still need to work that out," she admitted. "But I think I could…" She trailed off as an idea came to her. In all of Tania's adventures in the wild, she had learned that burying food often kept it cool enough to store for a while, because there was water deep in the earth that kept the ground from heating in the sun—thereby meaning that, with magic, they could possibly bring the moisture to the surface. Excited, she gave her companions the general idea.
Eragon looked much more cheerful at the idea. "Shall I try it now?" he offered.
Tania nodded. Be careful, she said silently. He nodded and quickly dug a hole, so that water would be easy to reach.
When he finished, he held the hand with the gedwëy ignasia palm-down over the hole. Tania watched in satisfaction as water rose up from the earth. When it was filled, Eragon took a sip. "Perfect! You're a genius, Tania."
Tania gave a sly smile. "How many times have you said that so far?"
She heard Murtagh chuckle as Eragon smiled. "Far too many," he answered. "And yet not enough."
Tania raised her eyebrows. "I'm flattered. Now let's get some sleep so we can set out early tomorrow." Once again, they rolled into place, this time Tania taking first watch. As Ophelia came to sit closer to her position within the trees, Tania smiled, knowing that no matter what, she would always have someone by her side.
Blrrgh…
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