Three months later

"Attack!" Eragon barked the word as an order, but was formed more as a request. Hyro jumped at his youngest brother, with a sword made of nothing but light. Kecra leapt backward, did a flip mid-jump, landed on his hands and sent shadows racing across at his brother like arrows. Hyro's hand clawed up like an eagle's and he slammed his hand against the ground, where light shot out of his palm and surrounded him. With the light around him Kecra's shadows could not touch him. Kecra grinned under his hair, which had grown quiet a bit, and raised a hand. The shadows built on each other until it formed thirteen men, all with bows. Kecra raised his other hand and the fake men shot. At that instant a metal wall screeched out of the ground and the arrows bounced off it harmlessly. It lowered with the same grinding sound. Fifrie stood up and said smugly,

"Miss me?" He clapped his hands together and metal gathered into an axe, which he proceeded to throw at Kecra, make another one, and repeated the process. Finally Kecra stood and pointed at his two brothers. Shadows from all the trees that stood around them gathered and, leaping over the light that came from Hyro, landed and stopped them from moving. Eragon clapped and walked to them.

"Alright Kecra take it off." The boy smiled and flicked a finger. The shadows slithered off them and returned to their owners. The boy's power had grown so much, he could now make near a hundred shadow copies, and control them all as if it were only one. His brothers had nearly equal power. Fifrie could absorb metal and make himself as living metal, as well as summon it from anywhere. His hand was like a magnet to any form of metal. Hyro could gather the sun's light, or any light, focus it into one beam, which he could make invisible at will, and melt virtually anything. Like Kecra he could make copies of with it, although he did not have the advantages that Kecra's did. He had trouble controlling any one of them, and the more he made the less real the looked. It was because, as Hyro said,

"Kecra has to have shadows, or else he can't see. I can see without light. He needs his power to live, I don't. Thereby his powers have been enhanced." As they walked back to the camp he talked with the boys.

"I think you have done well these last few months." A humorless laugh came from Hyro.

"You didn't give us much room to lack." Eragon smiled and walked for a few minutes quietly. Saphira had lane her egg and Thorn had given her another one to work on. She spent a good portion of her time in the gave she and Thorn shared. Eragon sighed, thinking about the sapphire dragon with whom he held so dearly. If anything happened to her Eragon would likely go mad. I wonder if that's what happened to Gailbatorix. Kecra tapped him on the shoulder. He pointed and said,

"Company." On a large hill sat fourteen men, on white and black horses. Eragon drew Brisingr and the three boys summoned their arts.

"If you serve the Empire, flee. For you can not beat us, no matter what foul power that raving mad king may have given you." The men looked at each other and back at him like they didn't understand him. Kecra looked at the ground. He knelt and felt the ground, were his shadow lay. He stood and said,

"Oscna. Rabni no raki flen. Lo faskn ritho, un divrg nasla. Undagla ma." The men looked at Kecra. The lead man raised his bow and said,

"Ocra noska?" Kecra grunted and said,

"Kecca grintin. Tilsk nothgritla higkra meay dinto." Kecra raised a hand and a shadow burst forth from the ground and raised into the form of two ravens, with red glowing eyes. The men's faces twisted with horror and they all nearly fell off their steads trying to turn around and leave. Kecra lowered his hands and the two shadows sank to the ground.

"What was that?" Kecra turned around and started walking.

"They are of a vicious tribe from the Desert known as Killmash, which means 'Kill many.' When I felt my shadow I was sifting through the leaders thoughts, learning, with super fast speed, their language. They wanted to kill us. What he said first meant, 'Who are you? What do you want? If you do not leave now we will kill you. Well?' So I learned their language and spook in it. They wondered how I had learned their language, which they share with no one. I told them I was Tilfar, their God of the Dark. He commands shadows, just like I do. He takes the form of two ravens. They doubted me and my final words were, 'How dare you! Let me show you the true powers of the gods!' They thought I was going to slaughter them, so they left. It would be best to get out of here, before they realize my trickery." Hyro jumped forward and hit the boy over the head.

"What were you thinking? You could have gotten killed!" Fifrie walked calmly behind and said,

"Leave him alone, Hyro. If he hadn't acted the way he did we all would have died." Hyro grunted and said,

"Let's get out here." Kecra raised his hands and a shadow came up in front of them and they all walked through it.

On the other side Eragon walked through to find that Kecra had transported them to different locations. He now stood in the cave Saphira had built her home in. The dragon raised her majestic head and hummed as she saw him. An orange egg was nestled under her chin. Thorn lay beside her, his tail onto of hers as a sigh of love. Eragon jumped up and crawled onto her.

Hello Saphira. The dragon hummed louder as he began to scratch the skin behind her ears.

Eragon. How are you? She could sense his weariness from all the training.

Fine. He left the encounter with the men a secret, to avoid arousing worry.

Do you still keep your love with Arya a secret from the elf Kroger? Eragon nodded. It was a decision both he and Arya had agreed upon. Partly because of Arya still having hatred for him, but also because of safety. Eragon could not shake the feeling that Kroger was the Carrier that Blagden had prophesiesed, and that he should keep him away from Arya, and the secret of their love away from his knowledge. As a result they were forced to leave the camp whenever they wanted to be together, as Kroger would not stay away from Arya if at all possible.

We do. Saphira snorted.

You know it won't last long. Eragon shook his head, tired with all the work he had put in to train the three boys.

I don't know. I love Arya, but I don't want Kroger to hurt her. So I choose to keep it a secret. Saphira disagreed but gave no voice to it. Eragon got off her and hugged her neck, then left. He ran, fast as the wind, to his tent, slowing down a few hundred feet before it. He stopped and panted for a few moments then went inside. It was dark inside, on account of his tent flaps being tied to the ground on all sides, and he trouble seeing.

"Light." The tent lit up and Eragon jumped back as he saw Elva sitting in a chair on the far side of the tent. She stared at him with eyes that looked like sapphire moons. Her beauty had enhanced again and again to the point where Eragon watched her walk by and saw the tens of hundreds of males tracking her. They could not even guess her age, for her charms masked it.

"We need to talk Eragon." She wore a small night dress, indicating she had just awoken from sleep. He backed into a corner. For all he loved Arya and wanted her to trust him, he didn't trust himself to resist Elva's seductive capabilities.

"What is it?" Elva did not approach him but simply said,

"All the boy's in the Varden are in love with me. It's as if without your harmful addition to your blessing in Farthen Dur my pain has been transformed into beauty." Her voice was no longer that of a world weary adult, but that of a women in the prime of her youth. As a result she seemed to be around twenty or twenty one. She took a step towards him and said,

"Why do you think they all love me?" As she moved one of the straps on her shoulder fell down and Eragon felt a surge in him. Heat began to infuse him, yet he tried to force it down. She took another step towards him, slow and sly.

"Why do they all love me, yet I love none of them?" Eragon gulped.

"I-I don't know." She took another step, then another, and another. She had now virtually destroyed the distance between them.

"I think I know. Do you remember? All those things we did? Together?" She took one last step, which left her less then a foot from Eragon. She leaned forward.

"Why do you find me so dangerous? Why are you so stiff?" Eragon gulped and just went out and said it.

"Because Arya trusts me, finally, and now looking at you all I want to do is undress you." Elva put a hand on his bare arm and looked at him with large blue eyes.

"Aw, but didn't you place a word of power, so that she may never find out about it?" Eragon jerked his head downward. That was so.

"Then what do you fear?" Eragon looked at her helplessly. Elva sighed and said to no one in particular,

"What should I do?" She smiled and reached up to the last remaining strap which barely held her dress up. She pulled it out and the garment slowly fell. As her full breasts came into view, Eragon lost himself. He reached out and grabbed her breast and she, losing herself also, shoved the rest of her dress down. She pushed her sandles off and jumped onto him, rapping her legs around him. Eragon's primale male instetics were far ahead of his thoughts. All he could think about was stripping Elva and getting her to a bed were he could get himself in her. He found the bed and pushed her onto it. He pushed her back and she said, partly discoherant,

"Ah, yes!" He took her legs and she started to moan. He did more and more until she arched her back and screamned. Eragon chuckled, why he did not know, and throw down his pants. He took her thiegs and....somewhere with his powerful hearing he heard a horror-filled scream. He stopped. Elva looked up at him and said,

"Why are you stopping? Get in me!" He let go of her and walked outside. He had heard a scream, but so faintly he doubted Elva, or anyone else for that matter, had heard it. Elva was yelling at him, but not in her right mind. The scream came again.

Arya! He snapped his fingers and his cloths flew at him and rapped themselves around him as he ran. The scream came every few thirty seconds and so he was led from point to point into the twisted jungles that surrounded the Jiet River. He jumped over logs, ran through vines, lept over animals that failed to get out of his way, and otherwise made his way to the sound of his loved one.

Arya lay completely naked with vines rapped around her arms and legs and one around her forehead. Onto of her was Kroger. The elf's eyes were closed, and he seemed to be snoring slightly. Yet his hands and head moved to fulfill sexual desire. Arya let loose with another scream, this one so loud Eragon nearly went deaf. Her face was like a cornered rabbit with a wolf attacking it. Her face showed nothing but fear and terror. Eragon drew Brisingr and leapt at Kroger, pushing him off Arya and cut the vines that held her down. He knelt and hugged her.

"It's alright, it's alright." She looked at Kroger and screamed a spell. The elf had been getting up, but then fell back again as magic forced gravity onto him. Eragon looked over at him and said,

"Hold." The gravity did not increase, but it would hold it out against spells of Kroger's. Arya took his shirt and barried her face in his chest, sobbing the whole time. Kroger groaned and sat up. Eragon looked over at him in astohinsment. He shouldn't have been able to lift a finger! He looked over and stood up and ran over to them.

"What in the name of-" He stopped and looked upward as he noticed that she was naked.

"What happened?" Eragon stood and pointed his sword at him.

"Brisingr!" The sword erupted into flames. "Alright, talk. What did you do?" Kroger looked at him with complete innocence.

"I didn't do anything! I just woke up!" Eragon looked down at Arya, as if to ask her if they should forgive hm again. Arya shook her head and sobbed,

"Don't. Ju-Just make him leave. Forever!" Eragon raised his sword and waved to the east. Kroger looked astonished.

"For what? What did I do? Arya you can't be serious. Banish me for doing nothing?" Arya looked at him for a split second and then moved her face away from him.

"Go. You can stay in the Varden but never, ever, talk to me, look at me, whatever, again." Kroger's mouth dropped open and he looked back and forth between the two. His eyes landed with cold hatred on Eragon.

"Fine." He jumped into a tree and left. In his mind words formed.

Beware for the carrier of the Flames Of Pain is relentless and he is on the Ever Lasting Horizon of Time and he sees you and he seeks to burn you again. The time draws near when you will burn. Few is the number that will save you. The guardian will leave the guarded and the Carrier will BURN!