So here's chapter 12, I hope you enjoy it. Sorry that it took me so long. Please Read and Review.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Eragon series, all works of those books I attribute to the mind and skill of Christopher Paolini.

Chapter 12

Eragon and Shruikan landed just outside of Du Weldenvarden only a few minutes after their narrow escape. They hadn't spoken a word after the the first few moments of frenzied escape. Eragon wasn't in any mood to continue the topic of his and Saphira's love life and wasn't going to give in to scorn from anyone. When they landed Eragon was relieved to see Roran, Katrina, their son, and Saphira all sitting there in silence. The moment Eragon had landed Saphira came thundering towards him forcing him to drop Arya to the ground and take off again. He glided over Saphira and landed on his wounded leg which collapsed from under him. 'Eragon! Are you all right?' Eragon snorted, did he look alright? Roran was at his side almost as fast as Saphira was and immediately removed the blade. Saphira started liking his leg while Eragon asked, 'Is everyone alright?' Roran nodded and answered, 'Yes we're fine, Saphira saved us in this one, She told us that you had been captured and to go with her to safety. We had nearly given in to the evil in the forest but once we were free of the woods the influence dissipated and we felt free again.' Eragon nodded simply and asked, 'Were there any others that got out?' Katrina nodded as she attempted to quieten Garrow and said, 'Yes Angela and Solembum both got out a few days ago they should be a fair distance from here now.'

Eragon sighed and concentrated on his magic to heal his wound but soon noticed that the wound had already healed over. Saphira lay next to him her wing wrapped him in a silent embrace as she entwined her tail in his. The changes that had come over her were remarkable. Only two weeks ago they had been rider and dragon, separated by the wall of form but now they had overcome that and had become bonded in love and she could now be with him as she had always wanted. But despite all that they had now more worries and concerns than they had ever expected. Matting seemed such an easy act but now it left them with more questions than it did answers. Eragon touched Saphira's mind and felt her loving caress. He let the feeling linger as he asked, 'Saphira, what do you think will happen?' She didn't need an explanation to know what troubled him, the same thing had been troubling her as well. She had given her innocence to a human, no matter what form he took this was what he was. Would the magic that altered his body be enough for them to create a family or was it only enough to satisfy their most basic urges. She shuddered at the thought of having to take another dragon to fulfill her want for family but if nothing else changed than she may have no other choice. She nudged Eragon gently as she sighed halfheartedly. A part of her really wished that she would be able to know if they had been successful or not. A dragoness's heat cycle served two purposes, the first was to find her life mate the second was conception. The heat cycle was when she produced anywhere from one to three eggs for fertilization, she had the eggs in her even now the only question that remained was whether or not they would be they didn't they would breakdown and she'd have to wait until her next cycle. 'Oh Eragon, I want children so bad.'
'I know it.'

Saphira sighed as she tightened her tail around Eragon's nuzzled his neck as she did so. The sunset cast the area into varying shades of red and orange, the wind blowing steadily through the trees as the moment of quite stretched on. It was hard to believe mere moments ago the world had been thrown into chaos at the reemergence of the enemy with whom Eragon and Saphira had been battling since Saphira had hatched all those years ago. It seemed impossible that it had happened but Eragon was glad that it had been him that she had chosen, had she known that she would eventually be with him in love or had it been fate that he was strong enough to be chosen, he had never once wondered why but he didn't care now, he was with Saphira, he was content. He licked Saphira's face gently, tasting her scent as he did so, that sweet fragrance that only he could smell. She dug a claw into the ground as a pleasing sensation spread through her heart, making her feel as if she lay in the sun. She shifted her wings over Eragon, hiding him from the view of others while she returned the dragonish kiss as only she could, nibbling an area at the base of his head, arousing him greatly. He nuzzled her as he wrapped his own wing around her and started nipping gently at her neck. Both he and Saphira were starting to get aroused by their actions, lost in their own little world until some one cleared their throat loudly. Eragon looked over to see Shruikan standing there, apparently angry. Shruikan let out an irritated snort as he said, 'Rider, as pleased as you must be to have a beautiful mate, please restrain yourself. None of us wish to see you mate.' Saphira blushed a heavily, one of the few times Eragon had ever seen her do that, the scales on her face deepening in color to a rich purple. Eragon apologized to the group at large and turned his attention to Roran, "Do you have enough supplies to make it to Carvahall?" Roran shook his head sadly, 'I'm afraid not, when we fled, it was all we could do to escape with our lives and the few possessions we have now.' Eragon sighed sadly, things weren't turning out to be as peaceful or easy as he'd hoped them to be.

The sun hung low in the sky, clearly close to dusk and although Eragon himself wanted to sleep until morning, he knew full well that resting this close to the forest of the elves would be an extremely dangerous thing to do. He slowly stood up and walked over to Roran, asking as he did so, 'Do you feel up to flying? We can't stay here.' Roran nodded in agreement and started to explain to Katrina about what they would do. Shruikan contacted his mind in a commanding way that Eragon found irritating but allowed his voice to enter, 'Rider, where will we go? One dragon is difficult enough to hide, two are even more so.' Eragon noted that he did not refer to there being three dragons present, believing that he either intended an insult or stating the obvious ability of Eragon's to become human again. Eragon personally believed that he meant to insult him. But in truth he was right, insult or not, there were very few places in all of Alagaesia that would either be able to conceal a number of dragons or simply not care about them. They had left one, Du Weldenvarden, the dwarven city of Farthen Dur was another but this was on the other side of the continent, which was true of virtually everywhere they could go. The main problem was the fact that they didn't know how far Galbatorix's influence spread. Eragon hoped that having left Du Weldenvarden would keep them out of his influence, but that was unlikely to stay that way for long. Katrina seemed against traveling by air, probably because of the child she still carried. It was true that the cold air of the flight would probably do damage to the infant but they wouldn't be able to travel far enough on foot.

Eragon offered to use magic to keep the child warm, though it'd drain him, the baby would be safe. Katrina was also against this idea, claiming that it was to risky because of the chance that Eragon would pass out from the strain. He on the other hand thought that as he was standing 10 feet above her, had a tail, wings, and the ability to breath fire that her argument was invalid. Pointing out the incredible amount of Magic it took to change from human to dragon and back again, she seemed to realize that creating and maintaining an area of warmth around the child would be no trouble. She nodded in agreement and moved toward Saphira. Eragon felt sure she'd prefer to be on the back of a more experienced dragon while they flew. Eragon focused on his magic and spoke the words for warmth and heat in an area around the saddle on Saphira's back. He felt little drain as the spell took effect, Saphira nodding to him in acknowledgement to its success. He felt Roran touch his mind and Eragon crouched down to allow Roran to climb onto his back.

He felt Roran shift in discomfort when he was situated on top of his back and wondered why until he remembered that he wasn't carrying a saddle. He mentally cast the spell that would guard Roran from his scales. He felt another strain added to the existing one, wondering as he did so if he'd be able to maintain two spells simultaneously. Eragon kept his mind focused on the spells as he launched into the air but he didn't get very high when Shruikan abruptly entered his mind and said, 'I suppose your going to just leave the elf here then.' Eragon cursed his stupidity as he remembered Arya, whom he had left laying in the grass. Shruikan was standing next to her eying Eragon with an irritated look. Saphira, who had followed Eragon into the air, managed to get to the ground first. Katrina, after putting Garrow into a secure place, climbed off Saphira and lifted Arya onto the saddle with Shruikan's help. Soon they we're all in the air and Roran asked, 'So, Eragon, where are we going? Eragon really had no idea which way to go. It was very likely that Galbatorix's evil influence would spread quickly to other areas beyond the forest of the elves. Eragon hoped very much that he wouldn't have to fight the elves but knew that if he fought against Galbatorix again, he'd now be fighting the elves.

Eragon looked out across the horizon and thought for a moment about where they could go, when he suddenly remembered Murtagh.
Murtagh and Thorn had escaped out across the sea, possibly to lands unknown, could they perhaps follow him? Eragon turned to face the airborne group and said, 'We're heading to Teirm, there we'll get a ship and sail across the ocean, after Murtagh.' Eragon could feel the concern emitting from more than one person, it was widely known that very few explorers ever returned from an attempt to sail outside of known waters to look for other lands. Those that did return generally spoke of powerful storms that tore masts clean off ships, impossibly long stretches of water in every direction with no sign of land and a winds that seemed to bite at the soul. He knew not how many of these stories were true, but one thing was for certain, it was a huge risk to try and sail away from Alagaesia. Eragon spoke out before anyone could say anything about his plan, 'I know its a large risk, but I know of no other alternative, Galbatorix's evil is unlikely to stay within Du Weldenvarden. When it does eventually spread, no where will be safe. Leaving Alagaesia is risky, but its the only option we have left to us.'

Though everyone still had doubts about this idea, they all could sense that he was right. Eragon had sensed a flutter of alarm from Saphira, Roran, and Katrina when he had uttered Galbatorix's name, realizing too late that they had not yet been told of his continued existence. 'Yes, its true, Galbatorix is still alive and he is far more powerful now than he ever was. I've no idea how its possible, all I know for sure is that we must leave.' With this new information revealed to them, all objections faded. Galbatorix had been a terrible tyrant and powerful sorcerer in life, there was no telling how powerful an adversary he could be in death. He already took control over the minds of the elves. It was unlikely his influence would stop there. Eragon turned to face the horizon in the direction of Teirm, he didn't know if they'd get the help they'd need to sail across the sea, but they need to try regardless. So began their long flight toward the coast city, the unknown future approaching them, more terrifying than it had ever been.

Chapter 13 is soon to come I hope your enjoying this story.