Chapter 12

Elva glared at the floor she was walking on. This was an outrage. Yet how could she resist.

"Would you like to fly with Eragon and Arya to fetch the egg?" Nasuada had asked her, not even a welcome had come across her lips before she had burst out with the appalling question.

No, no she did not want to put her life in danger for an EGG which they may or may not get to. However, she refused to ignore the spirit who had told her that when the time came, she would have to go. The spirit's exact message had been brought to her in form of an image. It was a picturing of her in a little forest with Eragon, Arya and Blodgharm standing in the centre.

She was going to go. She had to. Whether it was because Nasuada had asked her or another reason that had-would draw her to that place, she did not know. Although Elva had started forming a theory that the spirit had shown the picture to her so that she assumed that she had to be there and therefore had to say yes to Nasuada when the time came and would not give a second thought because she was supposed to think that something else had led her there, but whenever she tried to form that into words and discuss it with Angela, it gave her an awful headache.

Elva saw a blue light piercing through the clouds and figured Eragon had caught up. Nasuada had told her that after waiting for Elva's answer to her terribly rash question. It had never came so Nasuada had apologised, thanked Elva for meeting her and offered water. In a business-like fashion, Nasuada proceeded to try and convince Elva to leave with Eragon, as if she was trying to heckle for a sheep and not asking her to put her life in danger.

"I shall think about it" Elva answered to Nasuada's clear discomfort and exasperation. Elva knew as well as Nasuada that she was going to go, but Nasuada could not tell her to do anything until Elva had reached her conclusion, and that, exactly was what Elva wanted to do.

~O~

Saphira soared high above the clouds looking down at the ant sized people and admiring their courage. They're going to have a hard time fighting in Urû'baen, she thought to herself. Perhaps that is why Nasuada is sending Eragon away, so that he can resist all temptations to kill himself for his friends. Not that killing himself for an egg is any better. She felt Eragon imagining a grave stone with the words 'Eragon Bromson, killed by an egg' engraved into it. I'd prefer it if you did not start designing your own grave just yet. She told him. She heard Eragon laughing and nervously letting his fingers crawl up the scales on her neck.

She told him a riddle so that he could keep himself busy and continued soaring. She wished she could do her aerobatics, but Nasuada had asked her if she could do it out of sight. The people had been very distracted at that moment and an attack could come at any such a moment, the effects could be lethal.

So she made herself happy by going slowly higher and higher until Eragon told her to stop because he could barely breathe.

Thereafter she amused herself by 'melting clouds' when she discovered wherever she blew fire, the clouds disappeared. Eragon seemed to find it just as entertaining.

~O~

Eragon watched the sun go down once again. How many sunsets had he watched since Saphira had hatched for him? Almost a year full. He had had Saphira for a year and yet it seemed so much longer. He watched the orange, pink and red stripes spread across the clouds, getting deeper and darker the lower the sun got. The orange turned dark red, the pink turned purple; the red was a rich dark blue.

It seemed like a century since the egg had appeared in the spine. Eragon thought back on the year. That was more adventure, horror, misery, joy, surprise, and problems he could have dealt with in two lives if he had never found the egg. He didn't regret a second of it. Except perhaps, Elva.

Yes, I know it's a short chapter…even SHORTER chapter, than usual, but I think that the excitement is starting in the next chapter…HOWEVER, not that it has anything to do with THIS story, OR as a matter a fact what I just wrote, but…oh well, I need MALE ELF names. Call it a contest, competition or just suggestions, whatever, I REALLY do need one…two…or maybe three…you get the picture…

JAm 123: 1) nice try, but I'm not telling anything! 2) why? She was only doing her job! Then again, maybe you will think I just said that to bring you off the right path. And maybe you will think I said THAT because you weren't on the right path anyway. Or maybe…

R.S: heh…heh…heh…*starts thinking desperately*. No I'm joking…I think