Dear Readers,

The beginning of this story is under reconstruction. When you read a chapter that has nothing at all to do with what you have just read, please keep in mind that is the previous version of the story and I am redoing it as quickly as I can. I apologize for the inconveniance. I am not trying to confuse you! Later on, after chapter 35, things mostly fit together with the revised chapters of the story.

This is Chapter 29, revised.

Thank you and enjoy!

DragonRider2000

Eragon could see the rider trotting towards them, and he looked uncertainly at Arya. She seemed calm, so he tried to quell his nerves. But something was wrong. He could feel something different about this rider who was approaching them, and he was not sure if it was a good feeling. Everything around him seemed to be vibrating, and his head was slowly pounding.

Roran leaned close and asked,

"Are you alright, Eragon?"

"I think so." Eragon replied, shaking his head, trying to relieve the pressure from the pounding. "I don't like what I'm feeling."

He looked up, and the rider was almost to them. His eyes widened, and he sat dumbfounded as the female elf rode up and stopped a few feet in front of the group. Her hair was long, and an unnatural chestnut color that accented her icy blue eyes and high cheekbones, and as she stared at Eragon, all he saw was a mask. She smiled, and the expression lightened her features incredibly, and suddenly the pounding in his head subsided and he wanted to rub his temples, but he refrained from doing so. He had never encountered this elf before in his visits to Ellesmera, and as he broke his gaze away from the newcomer to look at Arya, he wondered again why she hadn't been willing to tell them of her.

"Arya, it is good to see you again." The elf woman said softly, inclining her head.

"It has been too long, Vanira." Arya replied, twisting her hand in the greeting of the elves. But to Eragon's surprise and almost anger the other elf woman shook her head.

"Please, Arya, no formality. Between you and me it is not needed."

Arya glanced at Eragon and Roran, and said,

"Eragon, Roran, this is Vanira Dacoryn, my friend and fellow elven ambassador. Vanira, these men are Rider Eragon Shadeslayer and his cousin Roran Stronghammer."

The elf's smile widened. "I am honored to meet two of the most renowned men in Alagaesia, especially to finally meet you, Shadeslayer. I have been keeping track of your achievements, and I must say I am impressed. During your first visit to Ellesmera, I am sorry to say that I questioned your integrity. But I am far from always being right, and I am glad I was wrong."

"I beg your pardon? I have never seen you before." Eragon was baffled. He was sure that he'd never seen this woman before, especially not in Ellesmera.

"I have been around." Vanira shrugged her shoulders, and turned her attention to Arya. "Your mother sends her greetings, and I give you my thanks for calling on my assistance. Your mother was relying on me too much."

"You are the one who knows what's in the wind, Vanira." Arya replied, and Vanira shook her head.

"Perhaps, but I was with them too long. And I do not always know what's in the wind. We found that out the hard way." She looked back at Eragon, who had narrowed his eyes at the two women.

"I can see the question in your mind, Shadeslayer, and I'll oblige you by answering. I am not just an elven ambassador, but I am also sometimes the bodyguard of Queen Islanzadi. But I can only stand the company of elves for so long." Vanira laughed at Arya's expression. "But before you say that you never saw me in Ellesmera as the queen's bodyguard, I was not in that role at the time. Not for most of the time that is. But you would not have recognized me as I was then anyways. I am rather different when in the cities of my kin."

"What does that mean?" Roran asked, leaning against his saddle, his reins in one hand. He wasn't especially impressed by the elf's talking, and he was growing suspicious. He might be just an ordinary human with no magical talent, but he'd been around Eragon and Saphira and elves enough to recognize a different sort of power, and this elf was even different from any of the ones he'd met.

"I do not look as I do now. Do I look fully like an elf to you?"

So that's what was so strange about her appearance. Eragon realized she really didn't look exactly like Arya, whose features were more delicate and extremely cat-like, while Vanira reminded him almost of himself, somewhere between elf and human.

"Are you an elf?" Roran asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I am. There is not a drop of human blood in me. But as an ambassador to humans, I prefer to take on some of their appearance when I am around them."

"So do you always have brown hair? Elves normally do not." Eragon asked, and Vanira laughed. The laugh irked him, but before he could say that she replied,

"No, I am afraid my hair is the only thing normal about me. When around my kin I switch it to make them more comfortable with me, but I am still an outsider even there."

"Vanira, you are not." Arya said sternly, and Vanira chuckled.

"So you say, dear Arya. But you are my friend, and know me well. You do not disappoint, good men, but you also do not understand. Maybe one day you will. But enough, we must move from here. We can talk on the way. I have news for you all that you will not find comforting. I wish I had not caused you to sidetrack so far to meet me, but I had to go a long ways to make sure that my report had no errors." Vanira turned her palomino horse with Arya's, and Eragon and Roran road abreast beside them.

"What news do you have?" Arya asked, and Vanira hesitated before answering.

"Murtagh is on the outskirts of Surda."

"We know this already." Eragon said, and Vanira glanced at him in surprise.

"You do? Well, this was unexpected. How?"

"Eragon nearly ran into Murtagh and a few soldiers in the town of Feinster." Arya replied, and Vanira's eyes narrowed.

"Feinster, eh?" That would fit with… never mind. Do you know anything else?"

"Not really." Eragon replied slowly.

"Then you do not know that not only does Murtagh have a few soldiers, but he has a whole army travelling under a concealment spell and they are bound for Aberon?"

There was a shocked silence, and then Eragon asked,

"How do you know this?"

"I said that I went far to make sure that this news was not merely talk, Shadeslayer. I went very close to this army to make sure. It is a very powerful concealment spell of Galbatorix's, and I could not sense how many men were there exactly… but there are many. They are moving faster than you would think. Unless things change, they will appear suddenly before Aberon and take the city when no one is expecting it."

"That sounds almost suicidal." Roran said, and Vanira nodded.

"It does. But this is Galbatorix we are talking about, and he has done such things as making his soldiers impervious to pain. He thinks he can afford to lose a number of men to try this, and there is a great possibility he will succeed… unless something happens."

"What do you mean, unless something happens?" Eragon asked curiously, sensing some underlying mystery to the statement.

Vanira raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean just that: unless something happens. The future… is always uncertain."

Arya looked sharply at her, but Vanira only smiled slightly.

It was close to sunset, and the sky was beginning to turn a slight purplish color. Eragon and Roran remained silent while Arya and Vanira talked about Queen Islanzadi and the elves and their campaigns, and Eragon wondered at the newcomer elf. Was her comment about the future and Arya's look at her clues to her character? Or was he just imagining it?

Oh, Saphira I wish you were here. He thought to himself.

"We are in for a beautiful sunset this evening." Vanira said suddenly. "What a treat!"

Eragon glanced over at her, and then at the sunset, and the setting sun truly was glorious. Suddenly, as it had earlier when he'd seen Vanira riding towards them, the world around him seemed to vibrate, and this time his head began to pound excruciatingly. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to feel past the headache. Without knowing why, Eragon opened his eyes and looked straight at Vanira, and on her face was the strangest expression he'd ever seen. Her icy blue eyes stared into the sunset, as if seeing something far away in the distance, and she looked surprised and horrified at the same time. His hand came up to press against his face, and her smooth voice asked worriedly,

"Are you alright, Shadeslayer?"

The pain in his head melted away instantly and the world ceased vibrating, and he looked into her worried eyes with his confused ones.

"I don't know… everything just… never mind."

He looked away, and so did not see her shocked expression.

"If you insist." She replied easily, turning back to the sunset, but something in her eyes worried Arya.

Vanira? What is it?

Eragon. He sensed it. The sunset set off a vision, and somehow Eragon felt it… I don't know how, and I didn't even think that was possible!

A vision of what?

Arya recoiled at the glare she received from the other elf, and she could feel the burning anger in her eyes.

You promised never to ask me that. Vanira's voice in her mind was pained, and Arya didn't say anything.

I can't control it these days, Arya. It's still not something I want people to know about, but Eragon is smart. He will find out sooner than I want him to, I think. Arya… something's going on out there that I can't figure out. My minds a whirlwind of thoughts and pictures, but it's all out of context… like last time. I will not make the same mistake twice!

She abruptly cut off their mental connection and fell into a brooding silence. Arya watched the sun set further, and then she looked over at Eragon. "We should make camp before it is completely dark."

He nodded. "We'll keep an eye out."

The world was grey when they found a place suitable for their camp, and there were only soft streaks of color on the horizon from the sunset. Eragon steered clear of Vanira as he unpacked their bedrolls while Arya set up the fire and Roran helped with the food. Vanira went from horse to horse, feeding them bits of grain and talking to them soothingly in the ancient language, and Eragon listened whenever he was somewhat close. The horses nuzzled her affectionately, and Eragon caught her relaxed and happy expression as she caressed her palomino's head.

A little of his hard feelings towards her washed away, and he listened more closely to what she was saying to the animals, and he found that she was reciting elvish poems. Then she switched to a song he'd heard once before, on one of the nights of his first visit to Ellesmera…

~'Beyond the dark,
Beyond the loneliness of night,
I hear your voice, your
Sweet, sweet laugh.~

~I long to see your smile,
But I cannot travel to you,
for that's a road
I cannot yet follow.~

~Hear me, darling angel,
I think of you every day.
Know I love you,
Know I still care.~

~Know I'll always care,
And no amount of darkness
Will put out your light
That shines in my heart.'~

Eragon was frozen, hearing the same haunting tone sung by the same haunting voice.

"They're the only ones who seem to care sometimes, Eragon." Vanira's voice brought him back to the moment, and he found that she was standing by his horse, brushing its neck and mane with her hand. Her expression was soft, and she continued,

"They seem to know when you're sad, and though they're animals, horses can sometimes give you the greatest comfort. They don't have to say anything. They just calm you down. And then when you're calm, you feel relieved. It's when you're frazzled that you make the wrong choices or say things you wouldn't normally say. That's when you can get into trouble. Horses… they're a gift. You can tell them secrets, and they'll never tell anyone." She flashed him a mischievous grin. "My horse could tell you things about me that I think I've even forgotten. They love the sound of your voice, so whenever there's no one else to talk to, your horse is the obvious choice."

Vanira paused, and turned and walked away. Eragon watched her go and stand at the edge of the firelight, and he understood a little bit about the strange elf woman. She was lonely.

From the fire Arya watched Vanira walk away from Eragon. She'd heard every word her friend had spoken, and the elf princess shook her head.

Oh Vanira. When will you see that you are not alone?

Eragon came and sat by the fire, and Roran looked at him curiously.

"Arya," Eragon asked softly, trying to speak soft enough so Vanira might not hear, "that song. I heard it once before in Ellesmera. What does it mean?"

Arya considered ignoring him, but decided against it. Knowing Eragon, he'd only brood over it and then ask Vanira, which could send the whole group into emotional chaos.

"A long time ago, Vanira lost a good friend in a battle. That song is about him."

Vanira laughed. The others didn't hear, nor did they see the tear fall from her eye.

A good friend, indeed. The best anyone could ever have. Vanira sighed, and went to sit down by the fire as well, knowing the food was nearly ready.

"Who was he?" Eragon asked her suddenly, and Vanira smiled. Her expression took on a faraway look, and she replied quietly,

"The best friend anyone could ever wish to have." She looked at Eragon, and nodded once. That was all she was going to say, and Eragon knew it. But that was all he needed to know, at least for the time being. She'd lost someone special a long time ago, and Eragon would bet anything that she hadn't always been so cryptic or acted so strange. He knew her behavior tied in with the loss of her friend. He'd been lost after losing Garrow, and Brom… and Murtagh the first time. Only, he'd moved on, or been helped along. Vanira had not moved on.

There are some secrets and thoughts that are not supposed to be questioned or searched for.

Eragon looked over at the silent elf, knowing it had been her who'd spoken in his mind. But she didn't seem to notice his look.

My curiosity is unending. He replied back, not knowing if she heard or not. She didn't seem to, and so he found something else to do to occupy himself.

That's what I was afraid of. Vanira thought to herself, ignoring the rider. This trip was going to be harder than she had at first thought. But she knew she had to be a part of this group, for things were set in motion that none of them could understand, and her place was with these people.