Happy end of January! Tomorrow is the shortest month of the year! (Or maybe not... who knows!) It's all a mystery... (I'm so confused) Anyhoo, here is the second chapter of the month, as promised. Better later than never, eh? (boy next month will be hectic...)

Eliana sat with her back towards the door and breathed for a long moment. She hated magic on several levels for several reasons. And now she hated meat too. If she wasn't hallucinating, (she was pretty sure none of that could have happened in the real world) then they were in some serious trouble. It's one thing to fight a dragon—they knew how to fight dragons. It's a totally different thing to fight a sorceress. Whose territory you have just presumably trespassed upon. They don't exactly have the reputation of a kind welcome. Especially not when you have a dragon with you. A baby dragon at that. A cute, innocent, adorably annoying little beast who might not be able to spew fire yet, but would surely eat your arm if it could. How strange. The hair on the back of her neck rose slowly, and with a deep breath she turned around and peered through the leaves.

Right behind Eragon was a dazzlingly beautiful lady. No, scratch that—sorceress. They do have a reputation for extreme beauty or extreme lack of beauty. This one was beautiful, wearing a plain white, sparkling dress. With a black spooky mask covering her head. And she was holding a shiny sword over her head. And if you were to swing that sword down, it would go crashing down—

Right. Into. Eragon's. Head.

Eliana's mind whirred. She caught sight of Bid'Daum glaring at the sorceress (which must have distracted the evil one, because her tense pose loosened considerably) and he leaped down to attack her. Presumably. Eliana silently stood, and loosened her knife in its sheath. Eragon started yelling some nonsense at Bid'Daum, which seemed to bring the sorceress back to her evil plan. Dastardly. Lifting the sword in the air with the air shimmering with magic, Eragon was about to find out if there actually was an afterlife.

Without a second thought Eliana let loose a terrifying battle-cry and leaped through the bush. She grabbed the sorceress's hands, trying to wrench the sword from her grasp. Bid'Daum stopped waddling and began running, using his wings to keep himself balanced, and he sunk his teeth deep into the foot of a distracted evil magic-user. Eliana managed to toss the sword aside, but found herself caught in a choke. The black mask leered in her face, unpleasantly reminding her who she was up against.

Yes, she definitely hated magic. And this one of the many reasons why.

When Bid'Daum ran past him without even so much as looking twice at him, Eragon realized that he was not the target and swiveled around to find Eliana engaged in a silent wrestling match with the sorceress. He was so shocked that he didn't even react when Bid'Daum took a huge bite out of the magician's leg, much less when the little dragon did it again and again. When Eliana thrust the sword away from the lady and was caught in a death-lock, he came to his senses.

"No!" he screamed in his thoughts. His hand straightened and he shouted "Jierda!" releasing a burst of magic that freed Eliana. He grabbed his knife and jumped in between the two warring parties. Bid'Daum scampered back into the tree, his mouth bloody.

"Who the devil are you?" Eliana asked vehemently from behind Eragon.

"Seeing as this is my territory, you should probably introduce yourself first," a voice responded. Behind him, as usual.

Eragon whirled around, finding nobody. The voice was so familiar, close to heart, but for the love of his dead mother he could not place a name or face with the sound.

"Eragon you idiot!" Eliana screamed, and Eragon whirled around again to find the sorceress in mid-air, about to plunge a knife through him. Twisting his torso, he avoided the lunge and began defending himself from the violent attacks of his assailant. "Okay, okay, this is Eragon and I am Eliana, we call the dragon Bid'Daum now by the Sun in the sky, will you stop this!" The witch disappeared from in front of Eragon's eyes, and he spun in a full circle, looking for her. Nobody. Just Bid'Daum in the tree and Eliana standing next to him, eyes wide.

"Your magic is strong, Eragon." From behind him. Again. He whirled around to nothing. "But will you use it wisely?" Behind him. He spun around to nothing. "It's always a gamble with you mortals." Eragon was getting a mite dizzy from all of that spinning. "I suppose it's a gamble I'm willing to take."

"What the..." Eragon sat down, and held his head in his hands to stop the blur in his eye.

"Eragon," Eliana was soon by his side. "Are you all right?"

"I don't get what that was, or why we're here," Eragon grumbled. "I hate not knowing."

"Eragon. That was an evil female creature who is gambling on you for some reason. Do you have any idea about your magic was she talking about? I know you are quite proficient at magical abilities, but is there something different, special?"

"No. Not that I'm aware of. I think she was talking about Squeaky."

"Bid'Daum."

"Squeaky."

"You named him Bid'Daum!"

"The reptilian reason we're here," Eragon said, looking Eliana in the eye. "Dragons must have stronger magic than we can imagine." Eliana grimaced.

"That's not the sort of thing I want to be hearing about the dragon I'm going to help baby-sit." She glanced over her shoulder and watched Bid'Daum try to climb another tree.

"But I think I know how I can talk to it," Eragon murmured, standing and walking slowly towards Bid'Daum.

"Him!" Eliana countered.

Bid'Daum stopped jumping and watched Eragon approach. Slowly outstretching his hand, Eragon began muttering soothing words laden with magic.

"Hello, little best friend," he cooed. "Please don't eat my hand."

"Eragon," Eliana whispered. "Please don't die."

Bid'Daum's white eyes connected with Eragon's.

Contact.

An electric pulse jerked Eragon's body, and he fell back, gasping for breath. Bid'Daum snorted and went back to jumping, even more urgently than before.

"Eragon!"

Jumping onto this feet, still panting, he reached out again, this time with more confidence. Bid'Daum froze and glared at him.

Contact.

A blankness embraced his mind, threatening to crush him, but he pushed through, searching for the fiery refuge that had electrocuted him before. He could vaguely hear Eliana shouting something about killing himself, how most people learned from their mistakes, and something about not baby-sitting a white lizard alone. He gritted his teeth, and opened his thoughts.

He connected with the foreign presence, and forced his eyes open. Bid'Daum was staring at him. Images of trees and an igloo flowed into Eragon's mind. A sense of confusion and anxiety was thrust into his thoughts, mere impressions of the emotions. Even more powerful than these feelings was a raw sense of power, and magic. Suddenly, Eragon saw a crude vision of himself, and realized that his hypothesis had been correct. He conjured up an image of himself and an older Bid'Daum standing together, and tried to send the image across. Friend, he thought, impressing the idea of companionship over the link.

Another thought came across—an appearance of Eliana's face lit by what looked like flames. Attachment. "Mommy."

Eragon pulled his hand off of Bid'Daum's nose, maintaining the connection. Bid'Daum was still glaring at him wisely with his white eyes.

"He's a day old," Eragon thought to himself. "And yet."

A sudden rise of intense pain flooded his cheek and the link was lost; he staggered back to see Eliana watching him intensely, hand clenched. He blinked twice.

"Are you okay?" she asked slowly. He blinked twice more. He opened his mouth to respond, but no words came. "Hello! Were you abducted by aliens or something! Or do you need another knuckle-sandwich?"

"N-n-no thank-k you," Eragon stuttered, "I..." He touched his cheek gingerly.

"Did that witch enchant you or something? What's wrong with you?" She loosened her fists slowly, watching him cautiously.

"No, no, I'm fine, really," Eragon explained quickly. "I just..."

"Got kidnapped by extraterrestrials?"

"Had an idea."

"Lost too many brain-cells?"

"No! I just—"

"Got hit by lightning and became a mutant?"

"What are you talking about! All I was doing was—"

"Trying to trick me into thinking all of the above?"

Eragon huffed in exasperation, planting his forehead into his palm. Females. Most of the ones he had met before weren't... crazy?

"Yup. You're fine now. So. What exactly were you doing?"

"I was just trying to make contact with Bid'Daum! And it worked too," Eragon exclaimed quickly, seeing an argument in Eliana's eye. "He sees you as Mommy," Eragon smirked.

Her eyes popped and her jaw dropped.

"Mommy?" she asked disbelievingly. "Oh. No." She swallowed and looked over at Bid'Daum, who was lying peacefully in the tree. "Noo," she groaned. "Please tell me you're pulling my leg."

"What, you want me to lie to you!"

The enchanted forest was the perfect place for Bid'Daum. Crazy enough to challenge him, peaceful and impossible-to-find enough to keep Eragon and Eliana comfortable. Eliana often wondered at the weather—they had, after all, gone from a horrid Winter to beautiful Spring, but upon discussing the sorceress a dozen times they concluded that the Weather was just a part of the enchantment. And that didn't make Eliana feel any better about the place, only more suspicious.

The small igloo-turned-fairy leaf house became "home" and the trees surrounding it became "home" but the woods far away became "hunting grounds" and "foraging sites" to the trio. Time passed by without any form or definition, yesterday seemed as close as four weeks ago, and they could hardly tell one day from the next.

The most reliable source of passing time was not the Sun, nor the stars, for in the forest both of those hardly ever changed, and when they did change it was a subtle, "oh look isn't that brighter than usual?" change. Bid'Daum was like a clock, because he did not stay a tiny dragon for long. Without any of them even noticing, he grew taller, more muscular, larger. When he had first hatched, his neck stretched up to Eragon's kneecaps. But as their stay in Fairy-land prolonged and continued, soon the dragon reached Eragon's elbows, his chin, until finally he was taller than even Eragon. Soon, it was not by the position of his head when he stretched that they measured, it was their position against his shoulder.

When Bid'Daum could glare down at Eragon they designed a crude saddle out of the materials at hand—animal skins, vines. There was a hollow at the base of his neck and shoulders that was a wonderful place to just sit in, comfortable for both dragon and elf. Mounting the saddle there, it was slightly more comfortable, but now when Bid'Daum had had enough and tried to fly away they did not fall off. He carried them, and they flew many miles together, learning ever more about one another.

Even Eliana eventually learned how to communicate with Bid'Daum—the delicate dance of emotions and images was an imprecise form of a language neither dragon nor elf knew fully, but both strove to understand. Eragon was better able to project precise emotions, but Eliana understood the flashes of sensory detail far better than he. It was evident from the start that the dragon was far more intelligent and magical than they had previously assumed—and strange things often happened.

Strangely beautiful things, really. Eragon and Eliana had been trying to figure out not when to leave, but how to leave. They had been, quite honestly, thrust into this fairy-land, and they weren't sure if there was some way for them to trigger a way back. Assuming of course they ever wanted to go back, a sentiment which confused them both. It was wonderful, but it wasn't home. Eliana especially never felt safe there, and Eragon knew that destiny lay somewhere far away from the woods of no snow. But there had really never been a reason to leave, until the day Eliana started hearing the voices.

She was out foraging for supper with Bid'Daum, grabbing mushrooms and berries to make a great vegetarian soup. Her mind wasn't entirely preoccupied with much anything—just berries, but all the same, he stopped still when a thought that wasn't her own reverberated through the chasms of her mind.

Eliana. It was a single word, hardly a thought, but Eliana did not think of herself in the third person. Eliana go back. Nope. That voice definitely did not belong to her. Or Eragon—this voice was harsh, almost childish, pronouncing the vowels and consonants the way children do. It was ethereal, and it scared Eliana half to death.

Picking up her things, she got onto Bid'Daum's back and sent the impression of "hurry back".

I couldn't agree more, the voice said.

Hurry, Eliana urged Bid'Daum.

What does it look like I'm doing? The voice retorted.

It was only then that Eliana realized what was happening.

Wait, since when can you talk?

Since I learned how.

Eliana was extremely confused, but accepted it and pushed her curiosity to the bottom of her skull. If Bid'Daum could speak with her, then he could speak with other elves. And dragons. And so, Eliana thought, a partnership between the two of us must be Eragon's way of saving both races.

I suppose we have been gone long enough, she mused.

Yes. I don't even know what a dragon looks like—no thanks to you, Bid'Daum snorted playfully.

You have a sense of humor, Eliana muttered, surprised.

You understand humor! Bid'Daum responded sarcastically. I would never have thought elves were so intelligent. My instinct says everything but.

I guess that's why our races are trying to kill one another, Eliana said, because when you had just hatched I thought the same thing.

So you want to tell the world what you know?

And what you know.

So we stop fighting?

So we live together in mutual friendship.

Sounds like a plan. Is Eragon in?

It's Eragon's plan.

He's a smart one, that Eragon. Don't you think?

Brilliant, but a little on the crazier side, Eliana responded.

Crazy. Just the way you like it. I mean, just the way you like him.

Eliana shook her head, amazed at Bid'Daum.

I do have permission to call you "Mom", right?

Eragon watched curiously as Bid'Daum landed in the clearing, and ran out to meet them as Eliana hopped off with an empty-ish basket.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

Yes. A voice, not Eliana's, resonated through his head.

"We need to go back." Eliana tossed the basket at him. "It's time, Eragon. Even Squeaky here knows that."

Eragon caught the basket and opened it absent-mindedly.

She's right you know.

Yeah I— Eragon jerked his head up and looked at Bid'Daum with surprise. You're talking!

"Squeaky can talk?" he asked Eliana in surprise.

Hello! Could you please not talk about me as though I weren't here?

"Squeaky has a sense of humor!" he asked again.

I believe my name is Bid'Daum Mr. "What-Would-Happen-If-I-Raised-A-Dragon?" Well I'll tell you what's happening. You're telling me what's happening and taking me to the real world.

You... know what you want. Eragon admitted with surprise.

Surprised?

"Listen, Eragon, I know you still want to wait in fairy-land, but the world outside is probably still moving forward. Things are changing. Battles are being fought. Elves and dragons are dying. If you have a rest-of-the-plan, now would be the time to divulge it." Eliana folded her arms over her chest.

Eragon closed the basket and set it down.

"We fly to the area of conflict, do our best to stop it, and hope for the best?" Eragon suggested.

"I take it you haven't thought that far ahead." Eliana sighed and a small smile crept onto her face. "I have taken the liberty of thinking ahead, and will let you figure everything out for yourself while I investigate what's happening in the real world. Deal?"

She's quick.

"I'll be back as soon as possible... probably." Eliana clicked her fingers and with a wave ran off.

"Wait, where do you think you're going!" Eragon dropped the basket and started running after her.

Bid'Daum leaped in his path.

Not so fast—

Where is she going!

Let her be. You're going to need her help sooner and more often than you realize. Bid'Daum nuzzled Eragon affectionately. You crazy little fellow.