Ren woke up and saw the eyes of Ellor and Katrina. They had a look of pure terror in their eyes as if she'd just risen from the dead. She sat up. They had gone out of town and at a small surrounding near the Edda River.

"What...happened?"she asked, feeling her head. It was hot.

"Well, as soon as you blacked out, we strapped you back to Wyrda and guided you two to here. We knew we couldn't stay in the city,"Katrina started a look of relief swept across her face.

Ellor continued,"And it's been twelve hours since. I caught a few fish, but otherwise, we don't have much food."

"Oh,well thanks. How far are we from town?"

"Three leagues,"he answered helping her to her feet.

The three made a fire and ate the fish Ellor had caught in silence. Ren was pretty worn out, but was strong enough to continue on. Wyrda and Teneil were tied to a tree. As soon as they were done with dinner Ren told them,"We need to leave right now or the Urgals will catch up,"she said and then mumbled,"Great. First the Shades and now Urgals!"

"What do you mean Shades?"Ellor asked surprised untying Teneil's reins and jumping on him.

Ren jumped on Wyrda and pulled Katrina on,"Not now. I'll explain later. For now we need to get farther away from Hedarth and closer to the Beor Mountains."

Ellor shrugged as they all began to pull away. Wyrda and Ren started talking.

What do you think of Ellor and Katrina? Ren asked, curious.

Well, Ellor is a fine young man. you guys would be a pretty good couple.

Wyrda, stop it. That's not true. Off that subject. What about Katrina?

She's a pretty cool little kid and is really interested in animals. Did you see her face when she saw me?

Yeah, it was pretty funny.

I've missed you. It's only been one day, but it seems like one year. Plus, Vondr was really getting on my nerves.

Ren looked over to Vondr. He jumping around and playing with Katrina while Ellor

watched. Yeah. I've missed talking. Your the only one I've been able to talk to before I met Ellor and Katrina.

Well, we're talking now and that's the good thing.

I love you, Wyrda. Thank you for always being here for me no matter what.

I love you too. And your welcome. Hey, look at Ellor. He looks like a ghost.

Ren looked over to Ellor. He was staring at her in that way again, but stopped when he noticed she was looking at him. She laughed. Wyrda. You really do have a good sense of humor. She suddenly noticed Katrina was asleep behind her.

"Do you wanna race, Ellor?"she asked excitedly.

"Sure, but make sure Katrina's strapped on."

Ren made sure Katrina was on tight and shouted,"Ready, set, go!"

The two horses blasted off. At first Teneil was in first, but Wyrda was catching up

quickly. The two horses were going faster then they'd ever ran. Ren didn't notice that Katrina was slowly falling off. Finally there was a loud THUMP! and the horses stopped.

"Katrina!"Ren screamed jumping off her horse. Ellor followed. Katrina had been knocked out. Her hand was pointing to something off in a the distance. It was a small house.

Ellor quickly picked her up,"Let's go to that house. Hopefully, we'll get some shelter."

"Yeah,"Ren agreed and they got on the horses and rode to the small, strange house.

When they got there, they ran up the steps and knocked on the door. It was opened by a fairly small lady with pale skin and looked as if she had been cooking a lot because of the grease stains on her apron. Her hair was long and blond and was braided very sloppily.

"May I help you?" she asked uncomfortably.

"Uh yes. Could we let this girl lay in a bed. She was just knocked off a horse on accident,"Ren replied.

The lady gasped and put her hands to her mouth,"That's my niece! I thought she had died because of the Urgals. Did you two save her?"

"Actually, we found her in The Toad's Horn,"Ellor told the lady, relieved she wasn't an unfriendly neighbor or a witch.

"Oh thank you! Her mother, my sister, told me to take care of her if she ever died and I agreed to do it." The lady took Katrina and welcomed everyone inside.

They walked inside. Katrina's aunt laid her on the bed in the corner. The house was fairly small and had a bed, stove, table with chairs, several cabinets, and the other casual house things. Katrina's aunt took two cups and filled them with a drink and gave them to Ren and Ellor. They took them gratefully and sat down at the table.

"Well I guess she'll be staying with you from now on,"Ren started not wanting Katrina to stay. She had grown to like her.

"Yes, I guess she will. Again, thank you you for saving her. I was scared to death when I heard the Urgals had bombarded the town."

Just then Katrina stirred and woke up trying to understand where she was. When she did she shouted,"Aunt Kanel!!!" and ran to hug her.

Aunt Kanel grabbed Katrina in her arms and hugged her,"Hi Katrina!"

Katrina was now happy and hyper. "Hi Aunt Kanel! How did I get here? Can I stay

here with you? I would do all of my chores and everything!"

Aunt Kanel laughed,"Your two friends brought you here. And yes you can stay."

Ren finished her drink and got up. "I guess we'll be going. We have to get to the Beor Mountains as soon as possible."

"Oh, yes. Well Katrina, say goodbye,"Aunt Kanel said standing up.

Katrina ran over and hugged Ren. "Thank you so much for getting me here. I've had a lot of fun for what we've done."

Ren smiled,"Your welcome. Ya know, we'll see each other again!"

Katrina grinned,"Good, cause your the best friend I've ever had!"

Ren waved her hand beckoning Ellor to come. He stood out and they walked out the door.

"Bye,"said Katrina and Aunt Kanel said waving.

Ren looked down,"I'm gonna miss her..."

Ellor hugged her comfortingly,"It'll be okay. Remember what you said. We'll see her again!"

"We?" Ren replied looking up.

"I mean you..."Ellor quickly said, correcting himself.

The two walked over to the animals to see they were playing a game. Vondr would grab one of the horses' tail and the horse would turn around until Vondr was slung off. As soon as he reached the ground, he would get up wanting for more play. But this time, he ran over to Ren panting with his tongue slung out of his mouth.

Ren pet him and jumped on Wyrda. Ellor did the same on Teneil. They set off again for the Beor Mountains agreeing they wouldn't stop for anything but rest. It took them five more days, but they finally reached the Beor Mountains.

They stopped to sleep at a small cave that night. Ren lit the fire and laid her bed out, while Ellor did the same. The horses were outside with Vondr so Ren and Ellor were the only ones in the cave.

"So...did you always live in Hedarth?"Ren asked Ellor trying to start a conversation.

Ellor looked to her,"Yeah...I'm actually glad to be out of there. Where are you from?"

"I was born here in the mountains, but I traveled a lot with my mum and dad."Ren replied.

Ellor sighed,"It seems a lot more fun than my life. Wait, you said you were running. What are you running from?"

"Shades. They want to kill me and my father."she told him, looking slightly anxious.

"Who's your father?"Ellor asked wonderingly.

"Eragon...the dragon rider..."

Ellor gasped,"Your his daughter?!!"

Ren nodded as a falcon came in the cave and dropped a slip of parchment into her hand. She read:

We are very sorry to inform you that your mother has died. She was very sick, but wanted us to tell you that you must run away and hide. Shades are not the only ones looking for you. They have spies...