In the dark, Eragon could hear the snaps of branches and the crumple of leaves that accommodate the approach of someone. With each step, he grew more and more tense. He bent over, bow in hand. Several leaves rolled out from behind the tree he was behind as he drew a swan feather fletched arrow and notched it. He knew it was defiantly Murtagh, as he could feel his presence. He drew away, silently locking himself behind the iron wall of his mind.

Across from him, hiding behind a fat tree, Katrina hunched over in an awkward position, barely even daring to breath. Her copper hair messed up. Her clothes torn and bloody. Her blue eyes wide. There was a look in her eyes. The Look.

Fear.

Shear chaotic fear…

And anger.

Bubbling, boiling anger.

She knew what had to be done. He had her fiancé. He was allies with the king. With the Ra'zac. She despised that word so much. Her time in captivity had not been kind to her. They found ways…ways she did not believe were even remotely possible…of torturing her. So much pain. So many tears. So much grief. This would be her chance for revenge. The Ra'zac would loose an ally today if she had her way.

Eragon backed away; slowly moving to the shadows as a loud snap of a branch broke through the air. He took dainty steps, barely brushing the ground with the tips of his feet. He silently motioned for her to follow. She groaned a bit, saddened her way was not to be had. But finally she began backing away towards him.

Eragon knew her disappointment. Secretly, he was glad she couldn't kill Murtagh. He'd rather not see his brother's blood…his blood…spilling. Not yet. He wasn't ready to see his friend, his ex-ally and a wonderful fighter, and his own flesh and blood, die.

Eragon lead her through the woods till they came upon a fat, massive, giant tree. It looked nearly one hundred and fifty feet high. Eragon motioned to Katrina. Up, the look said. She came to him, quickly and quietly as possible. Giving her a boost to the branch, she was soon up. Then she reached down to help him. Up and up they climbed. Higher and higher till the forest floor had nearly disappeared in a shower of branches. The branch they rested on was large enough for each to sleep comfortably side by side; though not end to end. But they could not sleep. Oh no. Maybe one. But never both at a time.

"Go ahead. Sleep." Eragon said, gesturing to Katrina. She needed no more urging. Her blue eyes hid bags tall as the tree they perched on. A look of shear exhaustion filled her face as her eyelids shut out the world for what remained of the night.

Eragon looked around. The sun was just rising. Red light flickered down between the branches. He shifted into the light of a large ray, basking in its warmth. But as he sat, a thick liquid greeted his legs. He looked down, gasping.

Blood.

Thick, dark red blood.

He checked himself for wounds. Strangely, he found none that were so bad as to bleed so much. Katrina hadn't even sat anywhere near there. Plus, he could see no major wounds on her. So where did all this blood come from? Surly it could not have been any small creature. The only way it could have was if the poor thing lost every drop of blood to its name.

He looked around. Many nearby branches were broken. Just above him, a large area was charred to a coal black color. Ash and soot, which had gone unnoticed in the dim light of earlier, now littered the branches. As if something here had caught fire. He wished he could see the ground better. Maybe it was Saphira…no, he hoped not truly. There was few reasons for the signs he saw to be her. And none were good.

Giving a slight sigh, he began scaling the branches, just to ensure Saphira wasn't near. As he climbed, his min found its way back to Roran. It made no sense. Knowing Murtagh, he would have just stayed there and waited till they returned. Then he would make his move…wouldn't he? Typically, Murtagh thought these things over for hours before taking action. It just didn't fit. Not at all. And, if he had really found Roran, he'd have known they were nearby. And yet, the way he moved, the noisy, disturbing way, suggested everything but that they had been discovered.

Eragon was so busy contemplating what had happened, he suddenly lost his balance. Fear sunk in as his feet sway from side to side. He reached out to try and grab something, but there was nothing to grab. In the gold wash of sunlight, nothing but fresh blue skies basked. Eragon attempted to center his weight, swaying opposite the direction his body threatened to fall. It seemed to work, as slowly, his body began leveling out.

Finally he felt safe. In the fresh gold wash of morning, was a rich forest to all sides. The trees were in a wash of thousands of green hues. Bright emerald greens of drnoberry trees, deep, nearly black greens of charrwoods, rich, golden greens of treasure trees, thick, spiny evergreen green of spine wood, and light, bubbly green of seasalt trees poke-a-doting the landscape; broken only twice by a short clearing and a silvery-blue blot known as a lake all hid in a giant caldera that was from an ancient volcano. Distant mountains framed the western most end, sharply contrasting to the green forest and shrouding the sights beyond.

He could hear the mindless chatter of the creatures bellow. A robin fighting with a crow over a nesting sight. A squirrel screaming at a chipmunk for steeling its seeds. The soft drabble of a sleeping bear and her cubs jostling over their meal of milk And the gentle babble of Katrina in her dream world. Eragon sighed. He could not hear…or feel…Saphira anywhere. He missed her so. You really don't know what you have till it's gone. He thought sadly to himself.

Suddenly, a gleam yanked him out of his thoughts and back to the cold reality. He could hear the pump of wings and a touch of furry along with it. With an ear-spiting roar, Eragon discerned the gleam as a giant red dragon.

Thorn.

Quick as he could, he dipped bellow the tree line, hiding midst the thick branches just before the red form wisped right past him. Eragon suddenly felt wet. He looked over at the source and gasped.

Blood.

Freshly drawn blood.

Thorn was hurt. That probably meant Saphira was as well. Nothing could take on a dragon of either of their size but each other. Panic stricken, he began recklessly climbing back down to where Katrina lay. If Saphira was hurt, she needed help! He couldn't just sit there all day!

Before he even knew it, he could see the branch. But something was seriously wrong. Katrina was not on it. Neither was his bow or quiver. He heard a loud crack from just bellow him and noticed her hunkered down on the branch, bow in hand, arrow notched. He noiselessly jumped down to the branch. She noticed him and quietly signaled him to her. She mouthed "down there" to him. He gave her a look, then followed her gaze. It rested on someone he never expected.

Murtagh.

He lay there; sprawled out across the floor and fast asleep…

And the notched arrow pointed right at his heart!

Eragon frantically nudged Katrina, mouthing "No." Defiantly, Katrina pulled back the bowstring. Eragon, forced with no other choice, ripped the bow from her hand, leaving several splinters as she did so.

"What are you doing?" He whispered angrily.

"I could as you the same. Why do you defend him? Is he not our enemy?" Katrina whispered back, her tone matching his.

"Yes… no…I don't know! Katrina, please try to understand! He's my brother. I don't say it often, but make no mistake. My blood is his. And I cannot lose him. Not yet, at least. Not here, not now…"

"Eragon, if he's going to die, why not here? Why not now?"

"Because he is not meant to here or now." A strange fire burned in Katrina's eyes then. She suddenly dove for the bow. The motion caught Eragon off guard and within seconds, Katrina had the bow again and was prepared to fire. But then, just as the bowstring snapped, Eragon crashed into her, sending the arrow the opposite way into the canopy.

"WHY…"Katrina started, but then glared down at the stirring Murtagh and lowered her tone to a sudden whisper, "did you do that?"

Before Eragon could even breathe again, a loud roar resonated through the treetops. Bellow, Eragon saw out of the corner of his eye, Murtagh jumped to his feet instantly. But it was not him his focus centered on. From the top of the forest, a giant portion of trees broke apart to reveal a massive sapphire gleam. Swiftly it moved through the trees, more like swam really, right to their branch. Soon, hovering right before Eragon was the most beautiful sight he thought he could have seen at the moment.

Saphira.

The brilliant blue scales of her hide were more glorious then ever to him, though caked in mud and blood. Her eyes gazed into his for a long moment. Then she affectionately breathed on him. He reached out to touch her head. She quickly and happily embraced his hand, eye filled with tears.

Saphira? He said softly. It was more of a question then a statement, as if clarifying she was real and not some mirage brought on by stress.

He-hello, little one. She stuttered out. Eragon felt ready to burst into tears. Her wings were torn. Her right eye was blood shot and caked in blood. Long scars and deep, gaping wounds covered her whole body. Her right ear was nearly bitten off. Two claws were missing and one spike was chipped. In truth, she looked terrible. But their could not have been a better sight in the whole galaxy. But that wasn't the only thing.

Eragon suddenly noticed what lay on her back. Roran. Her tears grew bigger and when Katrina saw him, she quickly joined Eragon in the bawling fest. He looked no different but that his hair was drenched.

Eragon finally put his hand on her scaly flank. It is good to see you. I missed you.

And I, you. Saphira answered with giant tears in her eyes. We have a lot to catch up on. But first, who shot me? She asked as she flapped her right wing. In the thin wing membrane, an arrow was lodged. Eragon glared at Katrina, who was cowering as she noticed the wound.

"Sorry…" She said. She stared laughing. Soon, they all were.