I'm on FIRE!!!

The Queen looked down on him with a surprised expression and Eragon laughed. Laughing is a good way to let out steam. And that expression…

Leading the army might not be so bad after all.

He got up and took a quick look around him, counting the number of elves in the back of his mind. He had no clue how the elves were going to get through the foothills unnoticed, but there was plenty of space in the tunnel. Perhaps they could come in shifts?

That made him laugh too.

Oh he was so funny today.

And the looks Vladime and the Queen were giving him wasn't helping any. So to distract himself, he asked,

"We leave… right now I guess. This way, warriors!" after he had said that he realized he hadn't packed his tent, or anything else for that matter. "How about you all go that way… while I get ready?"

Vladime gave Eragon 'the evil eye', but the Queen just laughed. Eragon figured now was the time to run if he was going to.

So he did.

Yes, he sure ran as fast as his legs could carry him to his tent, where he made some precisely hasty calculations. He grabbed a sword, some faelnirv and a change of clothes which he stuffed hastily in a small bag.

Then he returned to where the elves had amassed and came next to the Queen. He wasn't sure where he was supposed to lead from—being in the front of an army sounded a little… creepy. Thousands of people depending on him. How he hated responsibility! And yet that blasted maiden had placed just such a responsibility upon his shoulders. Oh the agony.

"I'm too young for this. ARGH!!!" Eragon shrieked inside his head as the Queen led him—you guessed it—to the very front of the army.

And to add to his agony she requested that he give a motivating speech.

"Well fellow friends, we have one chance and we had best use it well the first time so we don't have to clean up the mess we made like last time. Am I clear? Our goal is to annihilate the enemy. We'll be making one stop and one stop only before we arrive. Um… For elfdom!"

"FOR ELFDOM!" came the roaring response of an encouraged army.

Now Eragon knew he really hated leadership and that next time he would definitely leave the leading for someone else. Or make a map. Maps were some of his best friends. He knew his Alagaesia map like the back of his hand.

"And to think I actually don't know what the back of my hand looks like. I always wear gloves... Idioms can be so idiotic."

And it was with such thoughts that Eragon began to retrace his steps to the nesting place of the winged beasts.

And leading wasn't half bad. At least he wasn't tripping up over the boots of the guy in front of him. Or being tripped up by the person behind him. (Well, he got a horse, so fat chance of being tripped up by the idiot behind him who jumped underneath his hooves.)

He was leading mainly by instinct, and this gave him the time to brood over everything. To think. To reason. To be logical.

"So maybe I really do know the way to save us all. If attacking this place will destroy them all, then perhaps, perhaps I really do know the way. Maybe I'm fulfilling destiny." A frown crossed over his face as he thought, "or maybe not. Perhaps I am bringing doom on us all. Maybe…"

He decided to try and forget his ever present source of irritation, so he began to try to think of a way to get an elf army across the foothills and plains without being discovered. Or maybe he just needed to create a diversion. Or have someone else, who didn't mind standing in the face of a dragon, create a diversion.

He grappled with the final sense of irritation that was… well, irritating and frustrating him. What was this corridor doing in the cliffs anyways? How did it get there? Who made it? Was it just one huge ventilation shaft? Or perhaps…

Eragon couldn't guess what the purpose of this hidden hallway was. He just hoped that it worked. He was just pleading to himself that it would work. He just had to believe it would work.

Now that was irritating.

Elves had never been big on faith. It just, wasn't them. They believed in science. Science (and magic) had explained everything before. It was logical. It made sense. The dots all connected. It was elvish. In this instance, fate was the only science to rely on.

How very vexatious for an elf!

It sure didn't make Eragon very happy. Although he almost snapped at the Queen twice. Never a good move on horseback, as Eragon found out later when another elf was foolish enough to try it.

Eragon had stopped for a moment to collect himself and get his bearings, when from the rear of the company a lone voice cried out a greeting. A female elf, probably just over a year younger than Eragon and wearing dark green with a small band around her dark black hair, ran to the front and bowed before her Majesty with a flourish.

"Your Honor, why weren't our forces informed of this venture? The soldiers are restless. You can't go on such a mission and leave us behind! There is no logic! There are already plenty of men left to defend, why were we not summoned!?" her blue eyes shone brightly with unrestrained aggravation.

"Eliana," the Queen sighed irritably. "What are you doing here?"

"One question at a time. I asked mine first. Give me an answer!"

Eragon watched, astounded, as the Queen swooped down and grabbed the elf by the collar of her shirt and held her arms length out from the horse.

"My choices are my own. Tell your regiment when they are experienced enough they will be sent out to do what must be done. We need no more unnecessary deaths than necessary."

"Excuse me, but how do we gain experience if not through action?"

The Queen dropped her and said quietly, "I will not have them die a useless death. Their experience must be gained another day. Today, we ride to our potential doom."