Here's Chapter 3, and Chapter 4 is on the way! Please read and review!
Fortunately for Eragon, the dragon slept for a long time, so he was able to regenerate all of the energy he had lost while chasing the dragon here. It was a little after noon when the dragon took off again, and Eragon was prepared for it.
He took a swig of faelnirv and ran through the trees that were beginning to take over the land. He tried to stay silent, lest he should bring the dragon's attention upon him; something common sense told him was a bad idea.
The dragon flew on through the day, flying on and on through the now dense forest. Eragon had a hard time seeing the dragon through the leafy roof of the forest, but he managed to keep it in his sight for the day.
Dusk advanced rapidly, and with it came a dark blackness. Eragon had little trouble keeping an eye on the dragon in the moonlight, as its scales glittered like a diamond mine with a candle inside, but he did have a little trouble keeping his footing.
Tree roots popped up at random, Eragon wasn't paying attention, so engulfed was he with the mighty lizard he was chasing, so frankly, he tripped a whole lot. To be precise, he tripped about every third step, but still he pressed on.
The mindless rhythm of his feet, even with the jerks he made upon stumbling over a root, placed him in a state where all of his thoughts jumbled together in a meaningless mass of individual thoughts, that, coupled with the fact Eragon was chasing a dragon, caused him to get all angry at random people.
"Why did Logan want to hunt a dragon? What ever made him think about hunting one of these magical creatures? And why oh why did we elves have to pay back for Logan's life? He was a wretch in the first place!"
Eragon thought angrily about the beginning of the war, how it had happened, and who had suggested what course of action. He also began to brood over the happiness before the war, the joy, the peace. It put him in a sour mood, and twice Eragon thought of abandoning his chase and calling a truce between the races. But twice as Eragon thought of such methods, twice Eragon remembered the words of the maiden by the river:
"You know the way to save us all,"
And he was sure that calling a truce would not save elves, only prolong its existence until the next war began. No, a truce was not the answer.
But if a truce was not the answer, then what was?
Shaking such disturbing thoughts from his head, Eragon tried to think of more pleasant topics.
"But what's left to think about?" thumping away, Eragon pondered the question, wishing the dragon would stop for a break so he could get some food. "I mean, seriously, I'm an elf, I have to eat, I'm starving, and this war has stripped all purpose from me, and argh, bla-bla-bla. This is getting me nowhere, and I want to go somewhere. I want to save my people. I want, but can't have! And boy oh boy am I rambling nonsense." At this, Eragon grinned. He was rambling nonsense, but at least it occupied the hours he would have to run, or be thinking of worse things.
To Eragon's delight, the dragon landed a little more than an hour later, curled up and promptly fell asleep. Eragon, however, ate a full meal, and then dozed off for the next few hours that the dragon slept through.
The dragon took off and Eragon pursued him. They ran for another six hours before the forest began to thin again, and grassy, rolling hills appeared.
This was far more dangerous on Eragons behalf than running through the forest. For all of the roots he had tripped on before, now Eragon faced the chance of the dragon spotting him and attacking, killing and possibly eating him. Whereas the forest had provided cover for Eragon, he was now defenseless and at the mercy of fate.
"And indeed merciless fate is." Eragon thought grumpily after having to make himself invisible for the thirtieth* time in order to avoid being massacred.
However perilous the foothills were, Eragon managed to make it through them rather unscathed and still full of energy. He was so engrossed with keeping his eyes on the dragon, he nearly ran into a cliff, his destination.
Looking up, Eragon saw that the rock had no handholds or crevices, and so it would be impossible to climb. Unless there was another way… like perhaps on the other side of the structure?
"There had better be a way up there, because otherwise this expedition was for naught." Eragon muttered sourly, crouching in hopes of not being seen by the dragons that were bound to be patrolling.
Oh yes, there had better be a way to the top.
And Eragon was going to find it, no matter what it took.
"And take it all of me, then so be it." Eragon grinned grimly.
This was where he belonged.
Before the scene of action, doing something that wouldn't matter to him, but would matter to the rest of the world.
He could do this.
He had nothing to lose.
He was a dragon's worst enemy, no matter how magnificent they were.
And so he grinned grimly.
He waited underneath the cliff for night when he could search without that much worry of a dragon seeing and frying him. Then, as night came, fully rested and totally ready to do exactly what had been asked of him, he got up and began to run underneath the cliff, looking for so much as even a crack in the smooth surface.
Running with his hand against the granite wall, he kept his eyes peeled for any infirmity in the cliff, no matter how small. Any crease in the wall could be used to his advantage, but alas for him, there were none he could discern.
Undeterred, he ran onward, trying to think of how to get an elven army up the walls if no infirmities existed on this natural monument. If they used magic, they would have to leave the spell-casters on the ground as they lifted the army up.
"That doesn't sound too effective to me," noted Eragon, looking even harder as the moon hid itself behind the clouds.
His hand fell into space and then hit something hard. Eragon jerked backwards, and took a look at what his hand had found for him. To his eyes, it looked like sheer rock, but his hand was clearly not on the surface. In fact, it looked as though it was embedded in the rock.
Amazed, Eragon slowly moved his hand further, and discovered more space. He moved his hand around some more, and discovered a hole about two strides wide and three tall.
Pulling himself together, he took a breath and plunged into the wall.