ugh, sorry its taken so long to update but ive had finals all week, speaking of which i have a swim/math one tomorrow, so that should be fun...(note heavy sarcasm)

enjoy this chapter! claimer: this story has, and always will belong to me, some credit does go to CP, but whatever... :D

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38.-Mark of the demon

The silvery moon was still high in the night sky; the sounds of nocturnal creatures were the only noises that occupied the calm night.

"Dorran, why did you leave?" the question had been burning at my mind ever since he had reappeared and I couldn't wait any longer. This was as good a time as any, I just hoped that he didn't get angry once again and leave; I might not be able to survive if he departed once more.

But instead he sighed and looked down at his huge paws as if inspecting the claws.

"I was…angry, and confused. I didn't know what I was doing, with saving the world and everything. I guess I was really stressed…and maybe a little…scared." That was probably the most I had ever heard him speak of his feelings, and what he said troubled me, but it also drew me nearer to understanding him. I huddled against his side and laid my head on my paws.

"I am scared too Dorran, and if you weren't I would be seriously worried about you and your lack of emotions." He smiled down at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. He was ashamed at himself for being so vulnerable in front of me, he thought of himself as my protector, and that he was always meant to be strong so that I would feel safe.

"All creatures have emotions Dorran, even our enemies; they just hide them, like you did. It is nothing to be ashamed of, you are only human after all…or whatever we're classified as now. You are allowed to show feelings, if you didn't you'd be no better that a rock." He brushed his muzzle against mine, the contact startling, yet pleasing at the same time. "I never knew you had such views on the topic of emotions, I bet you could convince Galbatorix himself of committing suicide if you put your mind to it." He said this in a joking tone, but I couldn't help but whisper, "Maybe that is what it will come down to."

Dorran's muscles tightened beside me, but then relaxed again, "If it were that easy we could storm up to Urû'baen right this second and have this war over and done with, but of course nothing is ever that simple. I guess we'll have to defeat ol'Galby with out own bare claws then wont we?" he grinned a full-fanged smile, his good mood returning to just like it had been just under a month ago.

The side of my mouth lifted in a humorless smile and I couldn't help wonder how far this war would actually go before it was over, or if it would ever end at all.

A gasping, shuddering breath disturbed the serene atmosphere and my head shot up to look at Eragon whose chest was rising and falling rapidly as if hyperventilating.

Since the sun hadn't risen yet I was still in wolf form, so I bounded over to the fallen rider. Dorran followed me and watched the man with a look of interest and worry on his wolf face. Eragon's eyes shot open and he grasped at his chest as if it were causing him pain. Dorran morphed beside me and grabbed the rider's sword and ripped the shirt from his chest. I gasped as I saw the exposed skin beneath; there was a patch of darkness near his neck, growing rapidly as seconds ticked by.(A/N like what Durza does to Arya in the movie, lets just all pretend that he is actually capable of that and does it in the book too :D)

"What is that Dorran?" my voice shook with worry, I had never seen anything like that in my healing experiences.

The young man scoffed, "It is the mark of a shade, the poison of possessed spirits runs deep in his veins. We must take them to the only people that understand healing enough to be able to cure them, the elves."

"But wouldn't it be safer to carry them to the Varden? Surely they have healers that could help them there."

"There is no time, Ellesmèra is closer, every minute counts now, their lives are slipping away fast."

I sighed to steady my nerves; the lives of people had been in my hands before, but never a person that was so powerful and important.

"Ok, so how are we going to get them there, I cannot morph yet, and where the heck is Faolan?" the absence of the brown wolf suddenly came to mind and I realized that I had not heard from him for hours now.

Dorran's face went blank for a second, but then returned to normal, "He is on his way, and by the way, good job on knocking him unconscious, I can't say that it's done much good to his brain, but it's nice to remind him that he's not as strong as he thinks."

"I seriously hit him that hard? I thought werewolves are indestructible." I grinned as I said that, and Dorran smiled back to, "We pretty much are, it's just that some are stupider that others therefore enabling them to be beaten up by girls." He chuckled, and then grew serious as he remembered our current situation.

"How are we going to get to Ellesmèra? I thought the elf capital is hidden by magic and is impossible to find unless you know where it is."

"It is, and unfortunately the best we can do right now is hope that Eragon is able to remain conscious long enough to tell us where to find it. Other than that, all we can do is wait for an elf to pass by, and I fear that it would be too late then." The hopelessness of this circumstance was greatly worrying, I just hoped against hope that Eragon would wake soon and be able to tell us where the city is.

Just then a giant brown shape came stumbling out of the trees, limping slightly and a look of annoyance on its face.

"Jeez Faolan, is it possible to take any longer coming back to consciousness? I honestly didn't hit you that hard."

A grumbling voice entered my mind, you surprised me, that's all, there's no way in hell that it'll happen again, you just got lucky.

"Sure, just keep telling yourself that."

The wolf growled in anger, but ignored me and padded over to Eragon's body, sniffing at the poisoned blood, his snout wrinkling in distaste.

It's poison all right, I don't know what sort though, what are you going to do about them?

"We are waiting until Eragon or Saphira wakes up so that they can tell us where the elves are, but in the meantime there isn't really anything we can do." Dorran told him, shifting once again to his wolf form and settling down on the dirt-ridden earth.

Why not just go to the Varden, surely sitting around isn't going to do much help.

"The Varden are too far and it would take longer to get there, and then we would have to cross the Hadarac Desert, seeing as Kalanie's sudden loss of mind carried her across it in a couple of minutes."

"We're really in Grimshaw now? I don't even remember crossing sand, is it really possible to go so fast as to cross hundreds of miles within just a couple of minutes?" I was stunned, and yet not as surprised as I probably should have been, that was the one part of being a wolf I loved, the speed.

"One question though, Dorran, even if we did know where we're going, how are we going to carry a dragon?" I said, indicating to Saphira who lay huddled in a large Saphira ball, unmoving.

He considered my question for a moment, then replied slowly, "I suppose Faolan and I will have to carry her, I would carry her myself if she weren't so big, but I suppose we will have to make do."

I nodded and lay my head on my paws, suddenly weary and unable to keep my eyes open.

"Go to sleep Kalanie, we'll look after everything here."

I nodded in response and my eyes closed on their own accord and I let the drowsiness of sleep overtake me.

ͽ ҉ ͼ

Sometime in my unconscious state I heard voices around me that I vaguely recognized as Dorran and Faolan, and by the angry tones I could tell they were arguing.

"Do you have any idea what pain you've caused her you son of a bitch?! She's been trying to hide her feelings but I could see the hurt in her eyes the whole time! It was tearing at her, and any longer and she would have suffered from major depression and God knows what would have happened then. I really don't think you coming back into her life is going to help much more though, if you leave again I doubt she would ever recover! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!" Faolan's tone scared me; somehow he had managed to yell all of this in an undertone as not to wake me I guessed. What he had said left me feeling ashamed, so he had known the whole time and hadn't said anything? He must have felt terrible, and I caused it, I knew I hadn't been very convincing.

"First of all my mother is yours, and second, do you know what my leaving has done to me? It almost killed me to be apart from her, and it would of if I hadn't found her tonight. I hadn't thought that my departure would make much a difference and that she would be better off without me to ruin her life further."

"Oh yeah? Look at this…" there was silence for a time and I slipped deeper into sub consciousness but was disturbed once again by continued talking.

"I…never would have guessed it could be that bad, my going really had that affect on her?"

"Yes, and worse."

"If I had known what would have happened I wouldn't have left, forgive me, brother…"

"It is not I you need to apologize to."

"You're right, first chance I get I will apologize to Kalanie and tell her everything."

"Good."

The voices faded then to no more than a pleasant buzz in my ears and I fell into complete sleep once more, the anticipation of what was to come a constant reminder drifting through my mind, and the future remaining as it always had been, unknown.

sorry if it was bad or anything, but ...

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-Firesilk:D