sorry it's been a while once again, just didnt feel like writing this week and i've just come back from an all-weekend party, so i figured i should post this before i lose all my reviewers from waiting so long XD

claimer: i own everything that is not familar to you, CP owns the rest, so no stealing!!

56.-Touch of Spirits

A girl was in the center of the room, her body so small she couldn't have been older than four. Dark bangs covered disturbing purple eyes and with my keen vision I could just make out something silver shining upon her forehead. The dark aura seemed to be coming from her; the air seemed to pulsate with unpleasantness and evil.

"Do not be alarmed, you have suffered much, I am here to help." The girl said, and if my senses hadn't already been on high I would have been surprised by her voice, it sounded so unnatural coming from the child's mouth, like a grown woman who had seen much in her time. The girl walked forward with one hand outstretched and I took up a defensive position, feeling Dorran tense and prepare to fight beside me.

"I will not harm you; I am here to make all of your troubles disappear." She said, inching closer with a sense of purpose, causing the room to intensify in magic with each step.

"Step any closer and you will be incinerated." I hissed, baring my teeth as fangs, my eyes narrowing and my hands tensed like claws.

The girl didn't stop and instead I felt a hand on my shoulder as if holding me back. The feeling of wrinkles through my clothes told me that its owner was Angela and I almost laughed at even the thought of her attempting to stop me once my mind was made up to kill this creature.

"Peace, Kalanie, Dorran, she speaks the truth. She was the unfortunate receiver of a blessing-turned-curse by the rider Eragon." I turned my head back to look at her, taking my eyes off the inhuman girl before us.

"I am Elva." The child said, causing me to face her once again.

Do you think Eragon did that on purpose? Dorran thought to me, his voice unemotional and his eyes unblinking.

I do not think he would do something like that only to harm an innocent child. I have trained with him and Saphira; they would rather die than intentionally curse someone, let alone a baby. I replied, watching unnervingly as Elva's eyes followed us back and forth as we spoke to each other in our heads, as if she could hear what we were saying.

"His intensions were not evil; he was just inexperienced and unsure of what he was doing. He was young and foolish, but he has promised that he will lift this curse from me when he next sees me." Elva said, he violet eyes staring into my silver ones.

"Which better be bloody well soon is all I'm saying." Angela added, stepping in front of us and going to greet the unnatural girl as if finally seeing a long lost friend or daughter after many years.

Just then Nasuada entered through a side door, her dark skin amplified by the dim of the room, followed by a man I had never seen before. He was tall, handsome, and had long hair that was held back by the golden crown on his head, from which I assumed he was King Orrin.

Nasuada looked startled to see our group, then regained her posture and smiled, holding her hands out in welcome.

"It is a pleasure to see you once again Kalanie, Dorran, Cadara, and of course Angela and Solembum. What news have you brought me from the forest and mountains?" she asked, taking a seat behind a great mahogany desk and gesturing for us to sit on the chairs on the other side. Orrin stood beside her, his expression amused as if he thought if was funny that two teenagers had scheduled to meet with their leader. The others sat down but Dorran and I remained standing, signaling that we did not plan on staying long.

"We have news of great importance, but if you don't mind we would rather speak to Lady Nasuada alone for a while." I said, looking as Orrin, telling him to leave. He seemed taken aback, but then regained his composure, nodded, briefly, then left, his face signaling that he was greatly offended and had been about to object, when he had seen the look on my face and obviously decided not to get into a disagreement with Dorran and I, which had been a wise decision on his part.

I quickly muttered a spell I had learned from Faolan's mind to soundproof the room, then gestured to Cadara to let Bernlak out. She nodded and reached under her shirt, pulling out a wide-eyed emerald dragonet, who immediately jumped from his rider's arms and clambered around the floor, playing in between mine and Dorran's legs.

Nasuada looked at us wide eyed, a glimmering white grin plastered on her brown face.

"I see we have a new rider in our midst, how exactly did this happen?" she said, turning to Cadara, who squirmed uncomfortably in her seat when all attention was on her.

"Well, Solembum and Angela were looking after the egg while Dorran and Kalanie were training and I went to visit one day because I had nothing to do, and I saw the egg and just thought it was like a huge emerald or something, so I touched it and it started squeaking, then Bernlak hatched for me." She summarized, staring at her hands the entire time.

Nasuada shook her head in wonder, then turned to Elva who was staring at the dragonet with an amused look on her face as he wrapped himself around my legs like a piece of emerald-colored rope.

"Elva, are you able to sense the presences of all of the people that have touched this dragonet's egg?" she asked the girl seriously.

Elva closed her eyes and reached out for the baby, touching him lightly on the head, causing him to jump, then shudder considerably. His vibrations traveled up my legs and, intrigued, I concentrated on him, seeing if I could also sense the long passed hands that had carried Bernlak's shell. There was definitely something there, right on the outskirts of my grasp; I could feel the people the baby had come into contact with, which went back as far as the dragon wars, maybe even further. But I was looking for the most recent one, the fingerprint right before mine and Dorran's, the rescuer of the egg from Galbatorix's grasp.

Unconsciously my mind joined Elva's and we searched together, becoming stronger as our consciousnesses entwined slightly, but not far enough that we could become one, like Dorran and I could.

The answer struck us both with the force of a five ton dragon falling on our heads. The person that had saved the egg from the King's clutches, giving the Varden yet another rider, had been none other than the red rider, the King's most loyal servant, and the one that had been known to be dead for over a hundred years, slew by the deceased rider Brom,…Morzan.

Our eyes shot open in union and we stared wildly at each other, Dorran joining in after reading my mind and learning this new shocking information.

"Morzan." I whispered, and Nasuada's hand flew to her mouth in surprise. Oromis had told us all about the king's most faithful ally, the one that had ultimately brought the riders of old to their downfall; it wasn't a name you forgot easily.

"But, how is that possible? Morzan is dead and the egg was taken from the King only a few months ago! Are you absolutely sure it was him?" Nasuada asked us, her earthen eyes not wanting to believe what she heard. I nodded slowly, thinking it through, there had been something different about Morzan's lingering presence on Bernlak, something different from Dorran and mine's touch, and also the touch of the dead few others before him, something strange that I could not put my finger on.

"He was dead when he rescued it." Elva whispered and I realized that she was right. It was easy to tell the touch of the still living, and the now dead apart, but what had confused me was that he had been dead when he last touched it. But how was that possible?

But I had no time to consider the different possibilities because right at that second Elva's eyes went wide and her head shot towards the door just as a wounded soldier came stumbling through, his whole body glistening wetly and his mouth gushing blood, adding to his already crimson form. He collapsed on the floor in the doorway and my eyes zeroed in on him. I could feel his depleting pulse, his throbbing soul lingering in his body, trapped, and just waiting to be free.

Without thinking and leaving my own mind behind, I leapt, claws outstretched and an ear-splitting snarl ripping from my chest, towards the dead man, just as the ceiling collapsed around me and a rush of ruby entered, covering the blue sky above and a deafening roar echoed around the land.

And then the world went black.

i really need to stop doing cliff hangers, but it keeps y'all reading so i guess its kinda nessisary (and no i dont know how to spell that...nor do i care..)

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-Firesilk:D