Disclaimer: Still don't own any of the characters!

Eragon and Saphira flew over the Hadarac Desert, Eragon nearly falling asleep in the saddle. He remembered his reaction to the first time he flew and chuckled. His vow to never fly Saphira again had been broken so very many times. He recalled how she had looked when she had first hatched, and compared it to how she looked now. Back then she had been a little imp, and now she was a fearsome creature of legend and lore.

No more could he brood about this however. He landed next to the stunned Arya, and he could tell that she was confused, just before she regained her posture and looked at him with an impartial expression. "Nice going, Galbatorix, but you're not going to fool me again."

Eragon was confused. "Galbatorix? Alya, I'm Eragon, and this is Saphira, remember?"

"Just go away. This is cruel, sending your apparitions to make me vulnerable. I knew you were weak, but this is your all time low."

"What are you talking about? It's really me! Eragon!"

"That's impossible. I just returned from Eragon's funeral. Saphira's too."

Eragon was flabbergasted and allowed his expression to show as much. "That's not possible. Thorn's dead, not Saphira. I was just fine."

She laughed that horrible laugh again. "That's funny. Thorn flew across the sky while we were crying. Murtagh's laugh could be heard clearly on the ground." She pulled out her delicate sword. "Galbatorix, how could you? I thought we used to be friends."

Friends? Saphira commented, just as confused as Eragon.

"Friends?" Eragon repeated his dragon, and jerked back.

"I have to admit, this is the best imitation yet. He even has that glimmer in his eyes that Eragon did. You just had to take both the men that I loved didn't you?" She swung that vicious sword down on Eragon. He blocked immediately, and swung back again, his agile body coming in handy once again. Two fights in one day. He really needed to start training…Wait. Did she just say that she loved him?

Eragon brought his blade up just in time to stop Arya's blurred blade. Stupid. He mentally chided himself, still guarding his body from the vicious attacks of the elf. Her blade hissed through the air in front of him, and he managed to get her to stop temporarily for a breather. Saphira, he noted, was surprisingly quiet through the whole exchange. Arya, recovered through her short rest, flung herself at Eragon with renewed vigor. She slashed downward from over her head, then at the last second switched it to a side cut, her blade biting into his side. Blood trickled out of his open wound.

"So you bleed too. Wonder what you look like as you die!?" She swung at his again, and it took all his strength to both fend her off and ignore the pain.

What can I do to get her to stop? He remembered his words from when he had been speaking with her thought their minds. "Eka ai fricai un Shur'rugal!" (Check it out. It's right.) I am friend and Rider!

She stopped. So that's all I had to do to take a res- . He felt a subconscious brush against his mind, then penetrate deeply. He mentally slapped himself for not guarding his mind more carefully until he could feel the bell-like hollowness of Arya's mind. Her voice rang clear in his head as crisp and refreshing as an oasis in the Hadarac Desert.

Eragon?

Aye. He felt himself fall over, and Arya nuzzle herself into his neck.

Eragon! I was so distraught! But then who was in the coffin?

Illusion? He took delight in the fact that her slim body was so very close to his own.

Why didn't I see it? I could always tell... Her sentence trailed off. He will pay for this!

Arya, calm down. I'm okay!

I know that now, but do you have the slightest idea how many people were at your funeral, crying their eyes out? Nasuada, Roran, Katrina, even Gertrude was crying. Not to mention Mother.

They were?

Yes, Eragon. You're our only hope since that traitor Murtagh and his accursed dragon...

I killed Thorn.

You did what?

Actually, Saphira knocked him out of the sky, and Murtagh stabbed him, but I was there...

Murtagh stabbed his own dragon?

Accidently. Again, Saphira knocked him out of the sky.

I am glad you are okay. He could feel Arya climb off of him, and he missed her warmth.

He relayed their conversation to Saphira, who looked ready to cry for some reason.

What's the matter?

The last egg just hatched, little one.

Why is that a bad thing?

Because, he could see a large tear run down her blue cheek, I have heard no news that it is in the possession of the Varden.

Eragon turned to Arya. "We will need to get back to the Varden."

"Why?"

"The last egg just hatched, and I have a really bad feeling about this."

Oh! Cliffy! Don't hate me! Please! R&R as to whether the egg should be male or female! I have a storyline either way, so we'll take a poll and I'll post the results with the next entry!

Love you all,

Sora's Kairi