A/N: So, chapter 3. I know I'm meant to be on holiday, but I had a 9 hour plane trip - what else could I do? A lot of support suddenly came in overnight after I posted Chapter 2 - the views went from 43 to 106 in 8 hours! Let me know if I should be using third person instead of first, switching in between the two dragons in your review if possible - I still lack writing experience, so any advice would be much appreciated. Also, if you haven't already, check out the sister story to this one - Reborn: From the Rush of the Wind by Screamstriker, who is also my beta! Link is in the first chapter. Thank you, the reader for all your support and for reading - apart from that, enjoy the chapter!

Brom!

I saw a desolated town, devoid of life. Yazuac. The houses were all deserted - there seemed to be no sign of life anywhere. I jerked my head away as the stench of rotting bodies wafted to the air above. So, they are all dead. Just like the book portrayed. There, in the middle of the city, was the town's population. All dead, covered in blood and heartlessly dumped into a single pile. And to top it all off, a bloodied, gore-splattered spear impaling an innocent baby at the top of the pile. Why... I thought the description in the book was bad - witnessing it first-hand is just... Resisting the urge to look away or throw up, I searched for Brom, knowing that he would be in the most danger.

I found the old Rider bent-over in his horse, blood streaming from his arm. An Urgal stood beside him, clad in a small breastplate, iron cap and armed with a double-handed axe. Despite my lack of flying experience, I still tried to dive down to meet the Urgal at a breakneck pace, not caring for the risks or potential injury.

Roaring as loud as I could, I saw the Urgal spin around to quickly meet the new threat.

Damn you if you think you'll get away with this!

My claws were at the ready, aimed towards the Urgal's stomach. I slowly curved downwards until I was level with the vicious killer. As I flew, deafening wind howled past me. I felt like my ears were going to bleed, but I grit my teeth and continued forwards.

Outstretching both my claws, I braced myself for the jarring impact.

Slamming into the Urgal, my fore claws did its work as they both plunged deep into its stomach. A blood-curdling cry rang out across the town. I tried to slow down and land, bringing the still-screaming, half-dead body in front of me to use as a shock absorber, while viscous blood poured everywhere all the while.

I quickly fell over as the sheer speed of the landing mercilessly threw me forward towards the floor. I pulled my claws forward to try to use the ground to pull me to a stop in an attempt to adjust to the new forces at work. That is, until I realised the body was still impaled on them, torn guts, half-digested food and shards of armour being torn from the tortured corpse. It promptly ripped into two, spilling even more blood than I thought humanely, no, Urgal-ly possible everywhere.

I tried to regain my balance as the two rough halves, which fell off my claws, tried to trip me over. There was no time to react. New spurts of pain rushed through my body as I felt it lurch forward, finally making contact with the ground. Out of control, I could only sit there, helpless, as I flipped over. I heard a ripping noise as I felt one of the membranes on my wing tear, roaring in pain as my vision briefly blurred.

Augh... is it over?

Finally screeching to a halt, I felt my body shudder. Please tell me I didn't break... oh crap. I knew that I wouldn't be flying for a while yet, seeingdragon blood generously coated all over my right wing and part of my right flank.

Brom! Are you alright? Eragon?

Time seemed to slow as I lied there, blood loss starting to take its toll. I felt too weak to move, the transformation and impact too much for me to take. Hearing a cry of "Brisingr!" coming from somewhere, I breathed a sigh of relief as I knew that we were safe. A dull aching pain vibrated through my claws. Apart from that, however, I was left untouched, save the large tear in my wing and small dents in my scales where shards of the Urgal's metal armour had brushed past.

Saphira! Tend to Brom and Eragon - they are both in a more dire state than me.

Leithaen!

Landing beside me, I managed to turn my neck towards her with relative ease as her cool, sapphire eyes blazed with fury at the dead Urgals, seeing my slightly torn wing.

I can't leave you like this! What happened? She began to roar out of anger, looking for the attacker.

I tackled the Urgal that was attacking Brom.

Ceasing her roaring, Saphira cast a concerned look at me.

Tend to the others... I can take care of myself - I'm one of the last surviving dragons, remember?

A short silence passed, before she quietly left, a quick glance back all I remembered as I closed my eyes, waiting for the agonising pain to stop.

I have to take care of the others.

Seeing Eragon, I quickly called out to the furry two-legs.

Eragon! Who did this? I will kill them all, I swear it!

"Relax. They're dead."

You killed them all?

"I killed one - I think there was one other one... nevermind. He's definitely dead." Looking at the pieces of dead Urgal, blood and guts everywhere, Eragon threw up for the second time that day.

"Is Brom... BROM!"

Suddenly remembering about the old mentor, Eragon quickly rushed over to Brom, who was still unconscious.

"Brom!" Noticing the cut on Brom's arm, I looked on as I saw my Rider neatly roll up his sleeve and clean his wound, a worried expression on his face.

The old one is strong. Do not fear.

I tried to soothe him as he nurtured Brom, returning his sword and whatnot, before turning to me, muttering complaints about his lack of knowledge of plants in the area.

We should leave. There may be more Urgals around - but with Leithaen's injured wing, I don't think we can.

"He might not be able to fly, which means we might to stay here for the night, at least until he heals." Both my rider and I shuddered at having to spend the night in a forsaken town, with a pile of rotting flesh sitting in the middle. Ugh.

My attention was diverted as I heard Brom stir.

"Are you alright?" Eragon quickly asked.

"Should be."

We might not be able to leave - Leithaen injured his wing saving you. I gestured with my snout at the old storyteller.

"Ask him if he can fly."

Very well. Quickly bounding over to Leithaen's side, I nudged him as he began to stir once again.

If I keep this up, I'll be dead by the end of the week. Getting up, I felt slightly less pained as I tried to rise on all fours.

Lie down.

Obediently listening, the pain quickly relieved itself as I got back down.

You injured your wing - are you alright?

I feel like someone crushed me into a thousand pieces, put them in a blender and then tried to reassemble me back together with all the skill of an employee from IKEA.

Blender? IKEA? I could feel curiosity seeping into her voice as I spoke, looking at me intently. I really need to remember to stop letting these small things slip... I thought as I replied, my fatigue starting to wear off as the pain quickly washed away my drowsiness.

In other words, I feel terrible. I should be fine, though.

Can you fly? We plan to get away from here as soon as possible.

No idea. Looking at my right wing, I could see the damage - a large tear in my wing, covered in now-dry blood. Do you think Brom... No, he's too injured... Looking at Eragon tending to the old Rider, I could see that he was half-awake, and very weak. Obviously not an option to ask him to heal me.

I have to try - it'll be slow, but I don't plan on spending the night in this hell-hole.

I will inform the others of your decision.

No, it's fine... I'll do it. Getting up to move towards the two humans, I was quickly blocked off by Saphira, who insisted that I stay down for now in an almost... motherly tone. Like she really cared for me...

Let me.

Very well, whatever keeps you happy for now. She smiled as she moved towards the others, relaying the message.

I got up and painfully approached the others once Brom looked to have been tended to, much to the displeasure of Saphira.

I told you to lie down! She tried to lecture me as her annoyed look stared me down.

Stop fussing over me like a mother he... Dragon. I'm meant to be the strong one.

Very well. I could feel her emotions over the small chat through the connection - mainly amusement and comfort, which quickly turned to concern once she turned to Brom and cut it off.

"Leithaen. We will talk later, but for now, can you fly?" Quickly conferring with the others, he looked at me questioningly.

I should be able to, if I try. Maybe not very fast, but I refuse to be a complete deadweight.

"Very well." With some help from Saphira and Eragon, Brom quickly got on Saphira as Eragon mounted Cadoc, Snowfire tied to a rope behind him.

Let's go! Trying to forget about what would happen in the near future, I attempted to bring as much optimism to the situation as possible. Hopefully Brom doesn't... I shouldn't think about it.

Focus on the task ahead, Eth- Leithaen. I continued to try to tell myself, in an attempt to try to not focus on Brom's imminent death. I began to flap my wings back and forth, testing and warming them up in order to keep my mind off it. A small, aching pain rose every time wind went through the cut - the dried blood did, however, help a lot, acting as a small barrier sheltering the vulnerable flesh underneath.

The pain seems tolerable enough - I should be able to fly.

Good. The others, along with Saphira, also voiced their approval.

Building up for the take-off, my right wing started to ache slightly, a few pieces of old, dried blood cracking off. Oh well. I pushed myself off the ground, straining as hard as I could to gain altitude. At first, my wings were slightly unresponsive due to my lack of energy. However, they worked in the end. Flying off, I slowly followed Saphira, who I noticed waited for me to rise up to her, hovering in the air.

You alright?

I'm fine - you need not worry. Thank god I can fly, or we would have to spend the night in Yazuac.

A slow humming emanated from the blue dragon as we flew. I looked down at Brom and Eragon out of boredom, who seemed to be in a heated discussion, probably about either Eragon's 'misuse' of magic or me. Leaving them to it, I concentrated on flying as the day wore on.

Hey, would you two mind finding a place for us to rest tonight?

The silence was broken by a mental call from Eragon, who was following the Ninor River while Saphira and I looked around together. Finally, we found a clearing, which in the air was easy to locate, but looked to be well concealed otherwise, sheltered by trees and buses beside the river.

Found something! I called down to the two as Saphira sent a mental image of the place. Looking at the two from above, I saw the horses abruptly change course as they headed for the clearing.

Slowing down as I landed, my body shook with pain as I resisted the urge to double over, lying on the grassy ground.

I'm fine. Already knowing by now that Saphira was going to tend to me, I tried to establish my independence and prematurely prevent the message.

Sure. A humorous and sarcastic comment later, Saphira was beside me, quietly landing as usual.

You sure you don't need help?

I'll go wash the blood off in the river - apart from that, I should be fine. After seeing the pile of bodies, I lost my appetite for the day. I tried to send her a mental image of the pile of bodies, out of mostly pure boredom and her new nature. After all, she couldn't have all the fun, could she?

Saphira winced and slowly growled in annoyance. Well, that worked. Grinning and trying to make it seem as legitimate as possible, I looked at her before I made my way over to the river, where I immersed myself in it's cool waters, quickly diluting the flow with my blood. I waited for the cut to be fully cleaned by the current, before finally getting out and making my way to the camp, where I found Brom and Eragon in another heated discussion, along with Saphira minding her own business, perking at the sound of me entering the camp.

"...hurts terribly, but should heal quickly enough. I need a new bandage - this one didn't last as long as I'd hoped."

Walking into the camp, I heard part of Brom's conversation as I came in. Saphira hummed in contentment as I made my way over and placed my non-injured wing over her, providing my warmth to help protect against the cold winds. I could feel her body loosen up as I lied down beside her.

Thank you. She quickly muzzled me with her snout, then settled down.

"I'm sure we have a lot to talk about - especially you. But I'm sure we are all hungry, so let us eat. Then we can talk." Brom tensely said, looking slightly suspiciously at me. I tried to keep an innocent, unknowing face as he stared me down. Looking away to prepare dinner, he gave Eragon a wooden bowl with what looked to be warm soup inside, and ate. He also boiled water and rags to use as bandages.

For a while, Brom discussed Eragon's use of magic back at Yazuac while Saphira and I listened. Thanks to my extensive reading of the Inheritance Cycle, I had already heard (or rather, read) it all before, and thus fiddled with a blade of grass like I did back in school - before Alagaesia, before I was turned into a dragon. So much has changed since then... I continued to self-reflect until Brom addressed me.

"Now, we come to the subject of you, Leithaen. I am most interested in you, particularly how you knew that Yazuac was dangerous." Brom said, glancing at his wound, before looking up to meet me.

"Firstly, how did you come to be? Where did you live? You look to be a year old - how could you have, by yourself, remained undetected for that long? And how come you did not know how to fly or hunt when we found you? As I mentioned before, you would have needed those skills in order to survive, surely?"

All eyes were on me, scrutinising my every move as I nervously gulped. I still can't tell them. Not yet. I have to try to stay firm.

I refuse to disclose that information. I tried to say with as much confidence and assurance as possible.

"I am sorry if I am intrusive, but you are special - I do not believe that Alagaesia has ever been blessed enough to be graced by such a powerful being as you. I do not believe you are under the influence of Galbatorix - you do not speak like you are one of his servants, and you would not have told us about the perils of Yazuac if you wanted us dead. However, you could be something else altogether. How did you know?"

Smiling at the compliment, I continued to hold firm. It was just a suspicion. I don't encounter towns often, and when I do, it never bodes well. Hopefully he bought it.

"Biggest lie I've heard since Galbatorix came to rule." Well, it was worth a try, anyways.

An eery silence then followed, Brom and I eyeing each other, while Eragon and Saphira curiously spectated.

"You really are something. Firstly, you show up out of nowhere, with no idea how to fly or hunt. No-one seems to have heard word about you, despite you being one of the only dragons in existence. Yet you seem to be able to both evade attention and predict the future. You are very, very important, let me tell you that. A dragon, by itself, is already a very powerful creature. A dragon that can see the future, however, is something unheard of throughout all of Alagaesia. Be careful of who you ally with, and who you make your enemy - your decisions could change the future of the world. Heed these words - they are the truest I have ever spoken."

And on that note, the camp was once again plunged into silence as we slept, night taking over the land once again.

A/N: Enjoy what you've read so far? If you liked it, be sure to review and favourite - they, along with all the views, are what keep me motivated to writing this story. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next chapter!