We landed pretty far away in a forest somewhere. It was already morning by then, and all three of us ladies were pretty tired. But did that stop us from staying awake anyways? No, it didn't.
The elf was the first one to speak. "I thank you," she said. "I am Arya of the Varden."
"The what?" I asked.
"The resistance against the Empire," Arya explained. Then she turned to Saphira and said, "You have grown much since I last saw you. Tell me, skulblaka, what are you called?"
I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Arya, Saphira answered. I am Saphira.
"And what are you called, Rider?" Arya asked me.
"Do I look like I need to ride anything to fly?" I grumbled, extending my wings to show her what I meant. "Her Rider's not here at the moment. I'm Dusk, by the way, both of your saviors. So, Arya, what did you do to make the clown mad?"
"The clown?" Arya repeated in that silky voice of hers.
"You know, Durza," I said. "That's make-up on him, right?"
"No," said Arya. "All Shades look like that. As to your first question, I used to ferry Saphira's egg between the children of the Varden and the elf children of Du Weldenvarden in the hopes that it would hatch for one of them. It was on one of these trips that the accursed Shade ambushed me and killed my two companions. I managed to send Saphira's egg to the Spine before I was captured."
"Dang, your story is better than ours," I said. "We were playing, and then we landed, and then Durza jumped out of some bushes, and then we had this long conversation, and then he shouted some nonsense, and then we fell asleep, and then we woke up in the stupid prison. You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"
"We are near Gil'ead, by the Ramr River," Arya answered.
"Hey, Saphira, where should we go next?" I asked her. "We don't know how long we've been stuck in there, so who knows where Eragon and Brom are right now? And you can't feel Eragon's presence, can you?"
No, but I do know that Brom mentioned someone called Jeod, said Saphira.
"I can take you to Jeod," Arya offered. "He lives in Teirm, directly to the west of here. It's a large coastal city that is filled with merchants. Jeod works for the Varden, shipping supplies to them. Everyone in Teirm knows him."
"Wonderful," I said. "How long will it take us to get there?"
"On dragonback, it should take around three days," Arya replied.
"Great," I said. "We leave in the morning- No, wait, it is the morning. We leave whenever we feel like it. Oh, right, do any of you guys have food?"