The Bonded Ones

Chapter 4

After the battle of Aroughs things were hectic, the guard became ever more vigilant and ever more on edge. It wasn't just the men either. The rest of our caravan, which consisted of livestock, farm equipment and families of the guardsmen were of the same temperament. There was something in the air, and it wasn't just the smell of sweat and smoke. As we traveled closer and closer toward Ellesmera and the capital city the mood among my people only grew worse.

I was the only one for one reason or another that was unaffected by whatever foul magic was at work. I suspected, however, that Faye's bad mood was just because she hadn't been able to deck anything in quiet a few days. My sister was what some called a creature of war; I just thought of her as someone who liked to win…she was intensely completive. She was notorious for never losing a duel or a game, it was one of those things that made her both a good leader and a superb warrior.

When we stopped for the night and our camp was set up I took a seat next to where Mist was picketed to graze. A moment passed where I just stared into the pitch black night air, and then I felt my spirit link to the one that shared the bond. I closed my eyes a soft breath escaping my lips making my veil sway slightly.

I opened my eyes moments later to find myself seated next to a fresh water grotto, in the middle of the woods, a place that I knew well from my waking dreams. As I watched the flow of the water I heard the approaching footsteps of the person that I was waiting for. I did not turn my head to look at him though. He would speak when he was ready. It was one of the things that had changed about him since he first held Saphria's egg all those months ago.

He took a seat to my left and sighed. His shoulders slumped in exhaustion. I turned to face him his posture seemed defeated. I watched and waited for him speak, knowing that there was a huge weight on his mind. Nigh on twenty minutes passed before he spoke. He sounded tried, as though he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. "Nasuada wants me to carry on as the leader as the Varden. I shouldn't be though, I'm a rider I shouldn't be leading the rebellion. I can't command and be in the thick of the battle at the same time. I'm only one person; I can only do so much."

I waited until he was done speaking before I started, it wasn't that he expected me to speak though I often didn't there were occasions such as now where I needed to give some sort of council to my bonded. "Eragon, you are correct in your objection that there is only one of you, however, there are many things that only you can do due to the fact that you are the only Rider that the Varden have." I stopped then because there was not much else that I could say.

"How is it you always know when I need to talk," he asked with a heavy sigh as he ran his hands tiredly through his brown locks.

I smiled softly beneath my veil, a silent admission to myself that he hadn't called me Arya. "Like you share a bond with your dragon I share one with you," the fact coming off my tongue softly as I gazed at the waterfall. I did not need to worry about him remembering this conversation when he awoke it was something that had originally worried me when he slipped into my mind when we were younger. He hadn't gained the practice yet that would allow him that and this was the only time that he was aware of our past meetings, when we were in the midst of them.

Surprising me he grabbed my gloved hand in one of his. I turned my head my eyes wide beneath their covering. I blinked up at him as he gently rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. This gesture while it made me happy it also made me sad because as already mentioned he wouldn't remember any of this when he woke. "I know we share a bond, but I also know it is because of you that my mind hasn't fractured due to all the pressure that I am under. There is much that you do, but you never ask a thing in return," he stated looking down at me. "What is it that drives you, and why can't I remember our meetings except during them?" Eragons' questions were valid, but unanswerable so I remained silent.

After a few moments he sighed again. "Dras Leona was a nightmare. We lost Wyrden and then we were captured by the Priests of Helgrind. They told us that Angela was dead and so was Blӧdgarm, but that wasn't the worst of it." Eragon paused even as I shook off my shock about the supposed deaths. "They had Ra'zac eggs and they planned to use Arya and I as their first meal. We were bound in such a way that casting a spell caused unimaginable pain. We had been stripped of our armor and weapons, defenseless against what was to come. We were lucky though, Angela and Solombum came just in time to save us. Then we had to finish what we had come to do. I lost the belt because of it all once I found my other things." He paused again squeezing my hand as he did so. "Murtagh vowed he would be out for blood for the injuries that Thorn sustained after we had taken the city." He growled low in his throat then the bad mood that he likely dwelt with since then pervading his thoughts. "Took Nasuada that night, and now I am where I was forced to be a position of leadership."

Our conversations often were recapts of the battles that he had been in the finding of Niernen was a great boon, but even that Eragon knew wasn't going to be enough to stop the king. I nodded before I spoke. "Is there anything else much time has passed since last we spoke?" My voice was calm and I knew that there was more.

"Right now Saphira and I are on Vroengard. The last part of the riddle, for lack of a better word, that Solombum gave me about the vault somehow applies to the home of the Riders at least according to the passage in Domia abr Wyrda. So we came here while we had the chance to investigate it."

"I see. Eragon, I will be there if you need me even if you don't remember our meetings, but you must awaken there is much that you must do before the day is out." He nodded and then stood. Before releasing my hand he leaned down and kissed it, shocking me yet again.

"I may not remember you when I wake, but I know that there is a reason my mind feels so familiar with yours even before we met here. I'll recognize your mind's touch if you go to help me in a battle." He then released my hand, disappearing seconds later and leaving me to think about when he could be doing on Vroengard.

Moments later I opened my eyes and sat again on the grassy knoll next to Mist. I lifted my eyes to the sky even as the wind pulled my veil from my face causing the filmy grey fabric to wing behind my head. It was dark so I had no fear of any, but an elf seeing what I was. As I came back to myself I noticed that Lafaye had taken a seat next to me her eyes closed in concentration. I knew though from her stance that she wasn't talking to her rider. "Sister," I said just loud enough for her to hear me.

She nodded, but did not open her eyes. "What is it Ana," she asked he voice weary.

I fixed my veil so that it once again covered my hair and face correctly. "I just talked to Eragon, and he seems to have understood what the werecats were told by the dragons. He is on Vroengard right now, though he has no idea what he will find there," I relay to my sister whose face bore a grim expression.

"I see," Faye stated her face filled with the anger that came over her often when she heard about the combats of the war that she barely got to be a part of. She didn't want to deal with it. "There is more that you don't know. Murtagh was forced to take Nasuada to Gallbatorix. He is saddened that he has to torture her, and because of his gentle soul he heals her." Faye's golden eyes were filled with suppressed rage, "That Balieknm, thinks that he does it out of love." (A/N: This is a made up word that in my mind loosely translates to bitch or princess in the nearly dead language of the Bonded.) "He wants to protect the helpless, but because of the king…" she trialed off her eyes now sad.

I grabbed her clenched fist and held it trying to calm her. I knew it wouldn't work though she wasn't in a good mood to begin with. She hadn't been able to fight with anyone other than me in almost a month. She was tense and this information from the Red rider only added to that.

The following eve I felt a shiver run through me, not from the cold. It was neither a good nor bad feeling, but I knew what it portended, it meant that both of the other two souls bonded to mine had both learned their current true names.

It meant also that he knew at least in some abstract way about me. I couldn't dwell on these thought though, there was much to do in the coming days. I looked to the moon and saw that there was a cloud in front of it, its shape vaguely resembling that of a dragon.

My eyes if anyone could have seen them at that moment, more than likely portrayed shock. That sign could mean anything concerning the riders, but when combined with the red color of blood on the usually opalescent orb spoke of an impending battle.

A scene played before my eyes or the Egg- breaker's demise and then the death of everything else even the death of the Varden. I blinked rapidly to clear the vision, and then rose to my feet. As I ran through camp my only thought was, 'I wonder how mother is going to take the Bonded's reappearance.'

Moon-chan: I hope that you all are enjoying the story and I love to hear what you are all thinking. Thanks to those that have followed this, it made my day to hear that. Shade says hello and I am already working on Chapter five. I hope to have it up by Thanksgiving…or in some cases the twenty-eighth. Love you all, have a great Holiday!