sorry it's been a while, but i haven't felt like writing and just now managed to force this chapter out of my head. the story gets good after this so be patient! lol.

claimer: I own most of this except the parts that i dont own...yeah

46.-Protector of all

I sat on the polished wooden floor at the foot of the cot in our tree house, Faolan sitting above me, Dorran to my right, and Eragon and Saphira resting comfortably in the large dragon bowl, all their faces turned expectantly towards me.

Lessons had been cancelled early for the day so Oromis could converse with the Queen, so we were left to our own devises, which at the moment included absolutely nothing.

We should have been training anyway, but decided to take a break, we had been working our tails off for a whole month now, and with the war practically weeks from starting the stress-filled atmosphere was almost unbearable.

I sighed, "I think we should try to figure out what the symbol means, maybe something here in Ellesmèra could help, but it would be much easier if we wouldn't be recognized. If this thing is associated with the Shifters then we don't really want the elves thinking that the dragons and their riders are researching such dark creatures." I looked at Eragon as I said this, he was an older rider and more familiar with the boundaries of magic, maybe he knew a way of making us unrecognizable.

His brow creased under my stare, obviously conversing with his dragon behind him. Then his face brightened and he looked around at us, his eyes glancing over our features.

"Perhaps you can be disguised as elves, you already possess many of their features, we will just have to make them more prominent." He suggested, each of us nodded in reply, it was probably the best idea any of us could have come up with.

'Ok, can you do that for us?" I asked him, Dorran and Faolan remaining quiet throughout the conversation.

He nodded, got up and stretched, the muscles of his shoulders bunching forcefully under his tunic. He motioned for us to stand and we got to our feet, anxiety and excitement boiling in the pit of my stomach. I could sense Dorran's discomfort as he stood in front of Eragon, silently volunteering to go first.

Eragon smiled encouragingly at him, then closed his eyes and muttered something low in the ancient language, some of which Dorran and I had learned through Faolan's mind after his lessons with Oromis.

It didn't seem as if he had changed and I began to think that the spell hadn't worked, when suddenly Dorran turned to face me and I gasped as I saw his face. I hated to think this, but he was even more handsome than before, in a way that didn't exactly make him look more feline but in fact his features resembled Eragon's slightly more, elf-like, yet more rugged. The only difference apart from his face was his ears which tapered to a more pronounced point, identical to Boden's.

When he saw my shocked face his features suddenly became unsure and he looked back at Eragon, "What happened, did it go wrong?" he said angrily, feeling his face to see if he had a third eye or something.

Without speaking Faolan held up a mirror and Dorran gasped as he saw his new face, then composed his features, as if it didn't matter what he looked like.

He shrugged, "You next Kalanie", and pushed me in front of Eragon, who was looking slightly tired after such an energy consuming show of magic.

I stepped hesitantly in front of the rider, my stomach knotting uncomfortably. If this went wrong, I would kill Eragon, if I wasn't so messed up afterwards that I was unable to get my hands around his throat of course.

I closed my eyes and my muscles tightened, unsure what to expect seeing as Dorran hardly ever showed emotions so I wasn't sure if it would be painful or not.

"Are you sure this is the only way to go around Ellesmèra without being recognized?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Positive, humans are hardly ever allowed here without being a dragon rider; it would bring too many questions." Eragon replied.

I heard the rider mutter the spell once more, but I felt nothing and I was sure the spell hadn't worked. I opened my eyes and looked around at the others, confused by their faces. I grabbed for the mirror and almost dropped it as I saw my face. I looked exactly like an elf, almond shaped eyes, perfectly slanted eyebrows, my cheekbones were higher, but not as high as a real elf's, and my ears were pointed.

"Eragon, you are able to turn us back to what we looked like before, aren't you?" I asked him, even though I was beautiful like this, I still preferred my other face, the one in which I actually looked human, plainer, but still human. Another form was going too far and I started to miss just being myself, before I became this weird creature I was now.

Eragon shrugged, "If you really want to go back to normal I could probably do it, but you might keep some elf features seeing as magic isn't so easily undone."

I sighed, "Oh well, at least now we can go talk to people and find out what they know about Shifters, is there a library or something around here?"

"There's a record of scrolls and books in Tialdarí hall, but if the elves never believed in the Shifters there wouldn't be any reference to them in their libraries would there?" Eragon stated, his brow creased in concentration.

"Maybe we will just have to wonder around, use our senses, and hope we find something." Dorran said, fiddling with one of his pointed ears.

"Let's get started then!" Faolan said, heading towards the staircase leading towards the ground, the rest of us following close behind.

We each split off in different directions, Eragon and Saphira heading towards the library to scan the pages with magic to see if there was anything indicating towards Shifters in their dust-lined pages.

Dorran headed towards the forest, using his senses to pick up anything unusual, and Faolan wondering towards the elven houses, his senses open and drawing in any strange vibes.

I walked with my eyes closed; trying to see where the aura that everything had was strongest. I don't know how long I walked for but my toes suddenly brushed rough bark. I remembered then that I hadn't picked up any new shoes since I lost one in the mud of the river bank, which had to be about three months ago. But I hadn't needed them seeing as how I was never one form for very long and the soft leaf-strewn ground didn't bother my feet very much anyway. In the end I had just taken the other shoe off, I didn't need it so why make my load any heavier, even if it was only a shoe.

My eyes opened and I found myself in front of the widest tree I had ever laid eyes on, it was no taller than the rest of its brethren, but its roots and limbs extended all over Ellesmèra, encasing the city in its magic and protection.

I didn't know why I had ended up here, but when I opened my senses I jumped back in shock, the tree was alive, as in thinking and feeling, human even.

I climbed over the roots and brushed my hand over the trunk, the bark was soft and almost velvety underneath my hands, unlike the tree-like wood of its roots. There was a hollow in the center of the tree larger than my head and I reached inside, running my hands along the rim and resting my head against the plant.

I could feel its intelligence, and I knew that it saw every creature as one; no individuals existed in its mind. The world was one, as it should have been, free from war and poverty. A world in which everyone lived in peace. If only.

I think I fell asleep there, the atmosphere was so peaceful, the air thrumming with the intellect of the tree, and I wondered mildly how the tree came to be like that, but then with magic, I supposed anything was possible.

My dreams centered around the tree, I kept thinking there was something there, beneath its many roots, something important, but then the image twisted and dark shapes flitted across my mind, their eyes glowing red and teeth dripping with saliva.

Then suddenly I woke up, my eyes flashing open and my body tensing for an attack. I had that hair-raising feeling that someone was watching me and I looked around wildly, my fingers vibrating slightly as I controlled the need to morph and fight. My eyes met a pair of tawny ones and I relaxed somewhat. A figure leapt from one of the many branches above me, a shock of blond hair falling over his ocher eyes. I sighed in relief, "Boden," then winced as I said his name, he didn't know who I was and I wasn't supposed to know his name either.

He regarded me curiously, "I haven't seen you around here before, where do you hail from?" his voice was just as musical as before, this time supporting a hint of inquisitiveness.

I scanned my mind quickly, attempting to recall one of the other few elven cities. "Sílthrim, that's where I come from." I replied rapidly, smiling timidly in hopes that he would believe me. He seemed to, but I could tell he saw something that made me apart from the other elves and I knew he knew I wasn't a complete one, but he acted as if he didn't care, which I guessed he shouldn't seeing as he himself had golden hair when others had dark or silver.

"If you do not mind my asking, what is your name?" he said, his golden eyes never leaving mine.

"My name is Casiphia." I responded, remembering the name I had used when I first met Eragon.

"That's a beautiful name, and suits you seeing as it means silver, and your eyes just happen to be that color." He smiled, obviously thinking it was a good coincidence, which it was seeing as it had been Dorran's mother's name.

"What does your name mean then?" I asked him, smiling slightly at the strange conversation.

He grimaced, "Blond, my mother wasn't exactly overjoyed when I was born with fair hair." He smiled shamefully and sat cross-legged next to me on the root I was resting on. It was dark so I had obviously slept for a few hours, the others would be angry when they found out I was sleeping on the job.

"Why do you not just change it with magic then?" I asked, eager to continue the conversation if it meant being safe from the other's wrath for a few more minutes.

He smiled, "My mother tried that, but when I was in control of my magic I turned it back again, it is who I am, and if I get bullied for it then so be it, I'm not changing just so others would like me." His words made sense, why change to fit in? Just be yourself and work with that. His logic made him more admirable and I wondered how old he was, elves could live forever after all and he was pretty wise already, he must have been many years older than I was.

"You're very good at acting wise, you know that right?" I teased, grinning at his handsome face in the concealed moonlight.

"Who's acting?" he laughed back, his face radiating the joy he was feeling and his musical voice echoed around the small clearing in which we were in the center of.

I smiled and looked down, thinking about why I had been drawn here to this tree in the first place, other than because it had a human mind.

His face turned serious out of the corner of my eye and I saw him observe my face, his brow furrowed in concentration. "What are you thinking? You seem distracted" he asked, his voice concerned and leaking sincerity.

"It's nothing, just that, I was meant to be looking for something, and then I fell asleep, so now my friends are going to be angry with me. Not that I'm scared of them or anything, but they're going to be pretty disappointed."

"What were you looking for? Maybe I could help." He said, his eyes wide with helpfulness.

I felt that I could trust him, I mean, he was a misfit too so who did he have to tell? He may even be able to help us so we would be finished quicker, after all, the fate of the land rested on finding the Vault of Souls before the Shifters.

I sighed, "We're looking for anything containing information on Shifters, or the Vault of Souls to be precise, but you can't tell anyone. Promise?" I asked the last part in the ancient language, knowing that you can't lie in the tongue.

"I do," he replied in the same language, "But I'm afraid I cannot help you, I have no idea what Shifters are, nor where the Vault of Souls is, but I will help you look if you need an extra mind."

I smiled, "Well seeing as one of my companions is brain dead I'm sure an extra one would be pretty helpful." He laughed as I said this, and then frowned as I attempted to stifle a yawn.

"Go to sleep Casiphia, I will wake you if anyone comes looking for you."

I smiled gratefully and let unconsciousness overcome me.

nect chapter will hopefully be up soon, so dont give up on me!

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!-if you want me to continue this story you'll review like crazy, lol.

-Firesilk:D