A/N: Okay, finally an update! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I have been experiencing extreme writer's block. Thank you reviewers Adi Sagestar, JJ The Jumbo Jet, and Alligator24. A huge thank you to my beta Uniasus!

Chapter 5: Du Weldenvarden

Peter watched in shock and agony as his uncle, who was like a father, fell, close to death. As he ran to him, his cousin howled in rage and flew off after taking a small chunk out of Murtagh. He rushed to his uncle's side, but he wasn't breathing.

"No!" Peter tried frantically to revive his uncle, but it was too late. He turned to the soldier who had done it, but it was Murtagh who got there first, drawing his sword.

"You fool! She won't ever willingly join us now!" Without another word, Murtagh had swept the soldier's head off. He then turned to Peter, and called to some of the soldiers.

"Seize him! We'll see if the girl won't help our cause if she knows that we have him!"

The soldiers grabbed Peter, who didn't even attempt to escape. He was ashamed with himself for not fighting back, but he had lost the man who was his father for so long, and his little cousin who he should have been protecting was gone, most likely to be killed in the wilderness, if Murtagh didn't get to her first.

Addy flew with Eridor for the next day and a half without stopping. They went north, hoping that Murtagh would expect them to fly immediately south, to where the Varden were rumored to be. That was what they planned to do, eventually, but the two wanted to avoid another meeting with the Empire. Reluctantly they both stopped, in desperate need of food and sleep.

Addy built a fire, waiting for Eridor to return from hunting. She thought about what they would do next. She figured they should head north for another day, and then circle east for a few days, so that they could avoid cities as they went south to find either the Varden or Surda, depending on what they happened to come across first. She was still thinking of all the details when Eridor returned, with a buck large enough to feed the two of them. Addy immediately began to tell Eridor of her new plans.

Now that we're out of the Spine, I think that I should hike through the forest for another day with you following, and then we'll start to head east.

Eridor snorted uncomfortably. I would much rather we both flew. We'd reach our destination far quicker, and I am really concerned for your safety.

You know we can't fly. At least not yet. You still are really young, and we both need as much energy as possible in case we are found. The fact that you still haven't really grown very big also means that we would fly at the same pace as if we stuck to my plan, anyway. Besides, my legs are sore from your scales. I won't be able to do very much flying unless we create a saddle of some sort.

Fine, but any hint of danger and we are flying the rest of the way.

All right, then. It's only until you get bigger, and then maybe we can try it again.

Eridor and Addy talked as they ate, and Addy curled up against Eridor, his body heat keeping her warm.

The next day, Addy constructed a very crude bow and made a few makeshift arrows before banking the fire and setting out. She still had the sword she had taken from the soldier, but it was awkward and unfamiliar, and she wanted to be able to defend herself. She told herself that one of the first things she would do when she got out of Algaesia and was in the company of people she could trust would be to learn how fight with a sword. She doubted that she had any chance of being an effective fighter against the Empire if she couldn't use one. She self-consciously balanced the sword in her hand to test the feel of the sword in her hand. She swung it around her head a few times, and made a rough scabbard for it out of deer hide before tucking it into her belt.

The day went by pretty uneventfully, and she thought that she had covered a good amount of ground by the time it was the end of the day. She met with Eridor and after a quick dinner, they went to sleep.

Addy headed east now, feeling less wary, as there was less of a chance she was being followed now. If the Empire knew where she was, surely they would have been captured by now. Eridor was more relaxed as well. The duo occupied themselves by talking about anything that came to mind. Things went like this for a little over a day, until Addy noticed that the scenery had changed. The forest was denser, and the animals seemed very relaxed. Addy knew that they were probably used to living without fear of being hunted by humans. Something about this forest seemed unsettling

Addy and Eridor settled down for the night. After eating, they decided to figure out the details of the part of the plan.

I can't wait until we can get out of this forest. It makes me really uneasy. Apparently Eridor was having the same thoughts about the forest as Addy.

I feel uneasy, too. It feels like we aren't the only habitants of this forest, but I have no idea what other people might be inhabiting this place. The animals act as if there is no one to hunt them; they weren't scared even though I was only a few yards away. The sooner we leave here the better. With that last sentence, Addy curled up next to Eridor, and drifted off into sleep. . .

Rae was just beginning to fall asleep when she was jerked awake. Someone had struck down a buck with an arrow, and she fought off tears as she felt it slowly die. She knew this must mean that a human was in Du Weldenvarden. She got up and decided that she would try and figure out who it was that was in the forest, and why.

Rae preferred solitude, which is why she would take many week-long trips out of Ellesmera and train herself in the forest, all by herself. She had been in the western edge of Du Weldenvarden when she was woken up by the pain of the killed buck. As she made her way to where she thought the buck might of been killed, she tried to imagine why a human would have willingly traveled into Du Weldenvarden. It was easy to get lost, and very hard to maneuver, which was why it was such a perfect place to hide Ellesmera and the other towns inhabited by the elves.

Rae came to a clearing, and was amazed by what she saw. There was a violet dragon curled up next to the remains of a small fire, and next to it was a girl who looked very familiar. The girl looked like a human, but then there were qualities about her that Rae immediately recognized as elvish.

Rae assumed that this girl was the dragon's rider, and that this dragon had been the third egg, rumored to have been missing. She didn't yet know if she could trust this girl, who looked to be about fifteen, so she decided to wait and see what business this rider had in Du Weldenvarden.

A/N: I hope you liked it! I was sad when I wrote this because three of my favorite tv shows were canceled in one night, and I look forward to these every week. I make plans around these shows! You can blame my possible sucky writing on this then, and write angry letters to adult swim!