Eragon stood and watched Kroger jump, in a storm of rage, to the ground and run back to the camp.
Ice will met with fire, and one will lose and a one will win. Eragon looked up as a twig snapped and saw Kecra, Hyro, and Fifrie walk into the opening. Fifrie, being the most free-going of the trio, said,
"U'sup?" Eragon sigh through his nose and said,
"Alright, let's get her back. Transform into your cat forms and lets move." The three wavered and morphed into cats. The lay Arya across the their backs and started to walk back to the Varden, which turned out to be harder then Eragon had expected. In his head-long rush to reach Arya he had not noticed the ground and all the obstacles that lay in between the two points. It took them an hour to even get out of the jungle, which was much larger then Eragon thought the climate should allow. All in all it took two and a half hours to reach the camp. At a good distance he stopped and said,
"Take her to her tent. Put her in bed and leave. Let her sleep." The three cats stalked off with twitching tails. Eragon looked back up at the sky.
"Only an hour to sunset." A small voice beside him whispered,
"That's right." Eragon jumped backward. He looked to his left, where the voice had come from, and saw Gridor standing, leaning on a rock.
"What are you doing? You about gave me a heart attack!" Gridor laughed for a moment, that laugh turning angrier and angrier, until he opened his mouth and burst fire out. The torrent was so hot it turned white and lit up the camp. Eragon ducked and covered his face with magic. Gridor snapped his jaws shut. Flickering jets of flame burst from his mouth as he said,
"Honestly, you of all people. When I first met you, Trianna was your mate. Then Arya in the Varden. And now I find you with Elva, completely naked on a bed. When will you be satisfied?" Eragon stood from his crouched position.
"I am satisfied." Gridor let out a humorless laugh.
"Oh, no your not. You couldn't resist Elva if she cast a glance your way. Do you not love Arya?" Eragon looked up at the sky and mouthed words. Then he looked at the tall dragon, who stood like a human.
"I do love Arya." Gridor snarled in a way that Eragon began to fell frightened.
"You can come out now." The bush's beside Eragon began to rustle and Elva walked out. Eragon caught his breath. Gridor looked at him and then shook his head.
"Pitiful. Elva-" he directed his gaze at her"-tell Eragon what you came here to tell." Elva walked forward and took Eragon's face. He was finally forced to look into her face, and was surprised to see a smile.
"Eragon, stop with all this pointless worry. It's without reason. If Arya is the woman you want to be with, all you need do is say so." Eragon looked at her helplessly. He wanted to be with Arya, yet his Rider's instinct told him to be fair to everyone.
"What of you?" Elva tossed her long black hair.
"I am used to being hurt, Shadeslayer." Eragon's heart dropped at her words. Did she have to bring that up, and make him feel even more guilty.
"Elva.....it isn't that I don't want to be with you in particular, it' just-" Elva cut him off.
"You'd just rather be with Arya.'" Eragon's shoulders sagged.
"Elva, I'm not trying to hurt you." A small tear ran down the girl's face.
"The world always tries and hurts you, Shadeslayer." Elva spun around and walked off, starting to cry. Gridor looked at him and nodded.
"Better. I don't want to hurt Elva but you can't go on switching mates like this. Honestly, next thing I know you'll be sleeping with the Queen." Eragon cast an angry look at the dragon.
"Why did you do that?" He gripped the pummel of Brisingr and with a sound of sharp objects cutting air, Gridor's wings shot out from his back. He fanned them and said,
"Choose once and for all whom you will love, and love them. Do not try me." He jumped and flew off. His words were trigthening, but not undoly so. Grounding his teeth Eragon sprinted back to the camp. He stopped to leave Brisingr in his tent, then went to Nasuada's tent.
She sat next to Orion, talking about things Eragon did not think he needed, yet, to know. As he walked in he heard Nasuada say,
"-and if that should occur then I highly doubt that Eragon or-" She stopped as she saw him enter.
"Eragon, come in." He stepped into the hot-aired room and took a set. "What can I do for you?" Eragon shook his head.
"I need something to do." Nasuada smiled. She seemed to be dueling on what lay ahead.
"The pains of staying in place are sometimes more painful then on the march. We-" she cast a glance at Orion, "-have been dicussing our departuer, and continued attack on the Empire. We have gained so much since we stopped, five to six months ago. We have gotten two new Riders, one of which taken from the King himself, and three boys who hold the powers of elements in their hands. Eragon, tell me, are their more like them? Someone out there that can control other things like the wind or rain?" Eragon thought back to when Kecra, Shadow then, had spoken of a Father and how Hyro had always acted like him.
"There are at least two more. The three's mother and father. As for the rest, only Hyro, Fifre, and Kecra know." Nasuada looked thoughtfully. "
The Varden will move out tommarow. I want you to talk to those three and find out if there are more, and if so, if they will fight with us." Eragon stood. He had gotten what he wanted. He turned and, with a bow to them both, departed. He went to his tent, to retrive Brisingr. As he neared he saw Arya standing in the front of it. She smiled at him as he approached.
"Eragon. Do you remember this place?" He looked around.
"The Varden's camp?" Arya shook her head, long hair flying.
"No. This is were we first fell in love." Eragon nearly hit himself on the forehead for forgetting. He went over and sat down beside her.
"They are found memories." Arya giggled, a strangre noice from an elf, and said,
"I know you have things to do. I just wanted to commemerate. Eragon stood, now whising that he hadn't gone to Nasuada wanting something to do, and said,
"How go's things with K'eray and our son?" Arya looked over to K'eray's tent and saw that a portion of the side flap was jerking filantly. From inside there came panting. Arya looked back at Eragon, worry on her face, and took off running. When they got to the tent the panting had increased in volume and speed. Arya pulled the flap aside and stepped in. K'eray sat on her bed, facing the tent flap, punching it over and over. She stopped and looked at Arya. Her hair was so out of place, it looked like a wet mop. Her cloths were loosened in her blouse and her pants.
"Oh, hi Arya." Eragon stepped in slowly, smelling the air.
"Brom's been here resiently." K'eray shrugged.
"We share a tent, remember? He was here about fifteen minutes ago." Eragon kneeled down and looked at a track in the ground. It fit Brom's and from the look of it he had been carrying something heavy, and had been in a rush. He followed the track's, which continued on to the bed, stopped, turned and move to the far side of the tent, not carrying the weight as before. As he followed it back to the bed, he noticed one of his son's boots sitting, nearly covered by the bed's blackets.
"Well, Arya, wherever he went he went barefooted." He pointed out the boot and K'eray began to look worried.
"I'm trying to work here. Could you please come back another time?" While she talked, Eragon could feel her sending words through the mind touch. The oot began to shift every so slowly. Eragon grinned as the componets of the situation gathered themselves and formed a logical salution.
"Brom, get out here, now." He waved a hand towards the opening of the bed and magic started to pull the boy out.
K'eray jumped off the bed and said deviantly,
"We wern't doing anything." Arya grinned and said,
"Must have been an affuly eventful 'not doing anything', counting those lip marks on your neck." K'eray's hand shot up to her neck and she pulled her shirt collor over it. She stamped a foot in the ground.
"This is an invasion of privace!" Arya smiled back, which obviously angered K'eray, and said,
"Really? Two apprentices breacking the rules, knowingly, and the teachers stopping it is an invasion of privace?" K'eray glared back at her mentor.
"Why can't you trust me? I said we wern't doing anything, and we wern't!" Arya shrugged.
"Well then you should have no problam with a mind inspection as prove." As she said she aimed her thoughts at K'eray and the elf's shoulder collapsed.
"Alright, already. We were....." She stopped as Brom's legs started to be uncovered from the bed. Eragon cleared his throat.
"Stop." The magic stopped pulling at the half-elf pulled himself out.
"Father, what do you want?" Brom's face was completly calm, suprising as that was because he was getting caught redhanded, as he talked to his father.
"What I need is information as to why you were hiding under K'eray's bed." Brom looked fackly confused.
"What do you mean 'hiding?" Eragon sighed, cleared his throat again and said,
"Hiding. The act of concealing one's self so as not to be found." Brom frowned.
"So you think I was hiding?" He pronounced the word like it was new.
"Yes, Brom. Stop acting stupid. You're not." Brom looked up at his slightly taller father.
"It's like K'eray said. We wern't doing anything." Eragon smiled at his son and then turned to Arya.
"What should we do?" Arya looked at the two young elves and thought.
"Well, K'eray, this is the second time you disobeied the deal we had. So, what do you think is a good punishment?" K'eray tried to interject.
"I told you were wern't-" Arya caught her off.
"No. I asked you, what do you think a good punishment for you two would be?" Brom took K'eray in his amrs and hugged her.
"They're right you know?" He looked over at his father and mouthed,
"What are you doing? You going to stop her or not?" Eragon smiled again and laid a hand on Arya's shoulder.
"I think-" He winked at Arya, "-that we should make them kiss each other, then make them stop." Arya grinned at his suggestion.
"Perhaps we should." She looked at the two.
"Well. Go on. Kiss." K'eray looked at Brom, and Brom looked at K'eray. Hesatintly, for they know what awaited them, they both moved forward and laid their lips on each others. Eragon and Arya waited until Brom and K'eray began to feel like they wern't going to seperate them and then they moved forward and pulled the two aparte. Brom glared at Eragon. K'eray glared at Arya. Then K'eray straightened her back and said,
"Stop us all you want. Eventually we will be together when you two are away. Come on Brom." She spun around and, with Brom walking close behind, walked out of the tent. Eragon laughed.
"She's right, you know?" Arya nodded, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. She poked him.
"You have a job to do. Go and do it." Eragon turned and walked out, meantally locating the boys. They were sitting on a rock, in cat form, sunning themselves. Eragon walked over and patted one, he couldn't tell which one it was due to the similarites in their appereances, and said
, "Come on, wake up. I need to ask you something. The cat sat up and yawned. He raised a paw and started to clean his face. By the way he did it he could tell it was Fifrie, or Solembum. The boy, along with his brothers, wavered and morphed into human form. Fifrie stood and jumped off the rock.
"What is it?" Eragon caught Kecra, for he could not see when he wasn't touching shadows, as he jumped off the rock. Kecra shook himself.
"Hate doing that." Eragon turned his attention to Fifre and Hyro.
"I need to know something. Excluding your parents, are their any other beings in the world that share your power?" Hyro and Fifre looked at each other. Fifrie looked back at Eragon.
"There are, in tottaly, seventeen beings that have our bloodline. Us being three of them. However, they hid and look as they want, and to try and persuade all of them to fight is a next to impossible task. If you want, Kecra, Hyro, and myself could summon them for you. It would take a few days, though." Eragon smiled. This was going far better then he had thought.
"Please do so."