Arya and Eliot spent most of the first day just soaring above the clouds enjoying one another's company while Eragon questioned Orik about Brom. He heard the occasional whisper of something here and there, but this much he had grown used to. And so their day was uninterrupted, eventually he could feel Arya's thoughts wander back to him.
Why am I broken? She asked.
The blunt force of the question stunned him for a moment and he wobbled in the air, you are bent; not broken.
Then why can I not feel the depth of our connection. Theirs grows stronger every second.
A sudden wailing filled Eliot's ears; he searched for the noise but when he found none he attempted to block it out, then with a sharp flash the horizon dimmed and twilight fell and the noise grew till it felt like a mountain was building on top of his head. And with one fluid motion it crashed down on top of him.
He woke up to a very concerned Arya staring down at him, "Are you hurt?"
A pair of Sapphire eyes flared to life above him, glowing in the red lamps lights. You fell out of the sky stone head. Please don't make me catch you again, you are quite heavy.
He pushed himself out of the mud that was now coating his scales. Sorry Saphira, my mind wandered into the realm of shadows. He sealed his mind off from Eragon and Saphira and partially blocked Arya, not wanting to have questions asked about what he meant.
Thorv marched over to them, "Lady Arya, I believe that it would be best if you didn't take to flying in the Beor Mountains, please consider waiting till we have reached the plains."
Arya agreed and walked away after patting him on the shoulder.
Elliot shook his head and began sapping the energy from the roar of the fire. Within a few moments the amulet buried deep inside his flesh grew warm again, but he continued to draw till it had been completely saturated.
Feeling as though he had eaten well he stumbled away from the group who were now pitching tents in a clearing. He found refuge at the edges of the trees. Arya drifted around and through the tents, walking quickly and with grace preserved in her steps.
As the evening wore on Eragon sat by the fire and questioned about the dwarves hands, he heard something about 'fists of steel' but that was all other than more questions rambled off by Eragon's unsteady mouth.
Later Eragon retired to a tent and Eliot felt the energy being released from within the tent, after a few minutes of what would be a slow trickle of energy the candle light went out and Sapphira fell to sleep just outside the tent.
Arya joined him and entered a meditative pose.
I noticed you doing that before, he said closing his eyes, Are you sleeping or are you awake, for you can not truly sleep like that.
Her face remained focused and calm, several minutes went by with nothing else but the waiver of the trees and the silence of the wind, "I rest and do not sleep; because a real dream is too unrestful for me." She answered aloud in the ancient language.
He accepted her words, bade her a good night and fell fast asleep.
The next day Eragon felt it fun to exchange riddles with the dwarves and question Arya about a dream he had had the previous night. She answered them artfully but it was painfully obvious to Eliot that she cared not for the constant chatter from a human who was most obviously interested in her. Eliot had seen first hand where they came from in the spirit boundary. From the beating heart of its source of power within the boundary; predemptions were often cast out as they would be needed for the individual's life in the future to help guide them.
The valley widened thought the morning as the rafts swept toward a bright gap between two mountains. They reached the opening at midday and found themselves looking out of shadow upon a sunny prairie that faded into the north. Eliot found great delight in all the plants and proceeded to eat one he recognized, leaving him full as though he had eaten a cow.
Afterwards the current pushed them beyond the frosted crags and the walls of the world dropped away to reveal a gigantic sky and flat horizon, almost immediately the air grew warmer. The As Ragni curved to the east edging the foothills of the mountain range on one side and the plains on the other. The amount of open space seemed to unsettle the dwarves. They muttered among themselves and glanced back longingly at the crags and peaks behind them. Saphira launched herself into the air and simply flowed along wind currents of the domed sky above until she became a dot in the sky above them.
Arya conversed with Elliot but he did not feel like joining his sapphire companion in the heavens above them. Instead he lazed in the river, snapping at fish if they dared wander too close to his sharp teeth.
That evening, Thorv chose a small cove for their camp. While the Dwarves prepared their meal Eragon cleared a space besides his tent and began sparring with imaginary opponents. Eliot was sunning himself on the banks of the river keeping an icy blue eye on the rider and one Arya. Saphira was off hunting in the nearby woods, trying to catch a deer she had seen earlier.
He had begun to drift off from the warmth of the sunshine when Arya flashed him an image of Eragon clutching his back. He lept from his spot and raced over to her side while she tried to calm Eragon's pain from his seasure.
Saphira flew from the forest as Eragon began to shout with pain. Arya lifted him swiftly and placed him inside one of the tents that had been erected along the side of the river. Within he could hear Eragon to continue to cry with pain.
Saphira entered his mind, you must do something for him!
He conveyed the message to Arya, and she talked to Saphira, even with Eliot's help it would be unwise to.
He glanced inside the tent, He is on his own with this one unless you can pull him away from his body.
He slipped his head out of the flaps to allow Saphira to slide her head in and look at her rider who was on the ground, moaning.
He reached out to Arya, the fit is leaving him, we should let them both rest.
She was slow to respond, Nay, I will stay here and comfort him when he wakes up.
I'm going to catch myself a meal, perhaps a few ducks. He paused, he could feel discomfort emanating from her, What?
I don't eat meat, can you feel its life being drained as you kill it?
He paused, It's much worse than that.
He could feel Arya's questions rise to the surface of her mind about what he truly knew but he was not in the mood and he quickly took flight to the horizon.
Hours later he returned with a full belly carrying half of the doe he had caught that had been grazing, he caught the eye of a dwarf, the small man's glare was cold and calculating.
Unearthed ever so slightly he hid out of sight behind the tents.
He could feel the shadows around him, their fluid coolness, begging for him to return with them to the spirit barrier.
He gradually pushed the shadows that were leaking their dark thoughts into him, Saphira landed next to him with a hollow 'thud'
I was going to go hunting but look what you caught! She ripped the remainder of the carcass from between his front paws.
He laughed and rested his head on her back, humming contently.
Hours must have passed by while the two dragons talked, their minds eventually exhausting.
Saphira eventually stood, said goodnight. And vanished behind Eragon's tent. He likewise sat down next to his own riders tent and the two dragons passed with content happy minds into the landscape that is a dream.
When he woke up in the morning he located Arya with a flick of his mind and he flew to where he saw Saphira and Arya sitting looking towards the planes beyond them. Eragon was standing a short way down the hill, so he landed next to the young rider and very quietly whispered into his mind, Quite the pair they make under the new morning's light.
Eragon released a breath he was holding onto, The hunters in the dawn's light.
Eragon raced through the forest back to camp to help take down the tents and prepare for the day's journey to the edges of the Dwarven homeland while the two dragons, all the while laughing took to the skies enjoying the brilliant radiance of a good future.
It must be said that I am one lazy person, and I had been working on commissions and have been working through college but I think I have settled enough to truly begin writing again! Please review and let me know what you think of the new chapter as I have been writing more and I think I have improved.