Eragon POV

. . .

"They're in there." I said aloud and mentally. I pointed to a small grove of trees. "Just land here Saphira, Arya go in on foot."

As Saphira glided towards the ground I cast my mind out, searching for other presences. Thankfully, all I found was Saphira, Arya, Percy, Thalia, Annabeth, and some rabbits that lived in the grove.

When Saphira landed Arya and I jumped off and she took back to the air.

We jogged the rest of the way to the trees. Before we entered we drew our swords carefully , not making a sound.

I used Brisingr to push the braches aside and slipped silently between the trees. I followed my mind to where Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Nico were. As Arya and I entered a small clearing our eyes found four motionless figures on the ground. As the dawn sunlight washed over them I saw that they were merely asleep.

That was really stupid of them. Falling asleep in unknown territory. How were they supposed to help us fight a war?

"Should we wake them?" I asked Arya.

"Let's test them. They're supposed to help us, so far I'm not too impressed. But they must be something special." Arya replied.

I started to walk into the clearing but Arya whispered "wait" she threw out her arm in front of me. "Look at the ground." I did but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Then I noticed that it was completely dry, even though it had been down pouring all night. The ground should be drenched. I tested the area for residue magic or magic traps. It seemed to irritate Nico. He stirred and his eyes fluttered open. His eyes fell on us and he yelped sitting up, effectively waking the others.

They all noticed us immediately and jumped the there feet with the grace of elves. What startled me most was when they all drew weapons seemingly out of nowhere.

Nico and Percy had swords. Nico's was Pitch black and almost seemed to draw the shadows. Percy's was bronze and seemed to glow. Annabeth and Thalia had knives, Annabeth's was bronze. Thalia had two and they were silver.

Arya and I mentally decided to fight them. It would be a good way to test them. I decided to take Nico and Percy while Arya took Annabeth and Thalia.

The battle went in their favor immediately. I attacked Nico first. Thinking that I could take him out first, since he was the smallest and youngest. I was totally wrong, he blocked my first swing with strength that didn't seem possible with his small frame. I then turned with elven speed to parry Percy's blow. His sword had gone straight through all my wards like they weren't even there. From that point on it was just a flurry of sparks as our swords clashed together repeatedly.

I was being backed to the edge of the clearing, almost too easily. Percy and Nico worked as an efficient team. I decided to resort to magic. It was dangerous since I didn't know what they were capable off but I would at least have time to call Saphira if necessary. I decided on simply setting my sword on fire. It was simple, easy and effective.

I yelled "Brisingr!" and my sword burst into flames.

The two stepped away from the heat, but I got worried when Percy grinned. All of a sudden a wave of water formed behind Percy and headed towards me. Easily dousing Brisingr's flames.

Somehow Nico had gotten behind me, he quickly disarmed me. He pressed his sword to my throat and held both my hands behind my back with one hand. His sword was so cold it burned. His hand was also so cold he could not possibly be alive. Percy grabbed Brisingr from the ground and threw it to the other side of the clearing.

Next to Arya's. That's when I noticed that she ws being restrained just like I was by Thalia. Well these guys are special I guess. They had defeated a Rider and an elf. But what about a dragon?