Song of Arya Part 4

Sitting on the edge of the table Eragon said, "You didn't have to come looking for me, you know. I was fine." Fine? I did not call that fine. Although he was physically and emotionally healthy, he was in the enemies territory alone. That was definitely not safe.
"Of course I did," I interjected.
"How did you find me?"
"I guessed which route you would take from Helgrind. Luckily for me, my guess placed me forty miles west of here, and that was close enough for me to locate you by listening to the whispers of the land."
"I don't understand," he seemed confused and it showed with his expression. His face showed a boy-ish confusion which was adorable, like a new-born pup.
"A rider does not walk unnoticed in this world, Eragon. Those who have the ears to hear and the eyes to see can interpret the signs easily enough. The birds sing of your coming, the beasts of the earth heed your scent, and the trees and grass remember your touch. The bond between Rider and dragon is so powerful that those who are sensitive to the forces of nature can feel it," I said rather solemnly.
"You'll have to teach me that trick sometime," he said lightheartedly. How dare he think of magic and the use of the Ancient Language as just a 'trick!'
"It is no trick, merely the art of paying attention to what is already around you," I almost scolded him, but then remembered my self-control. If he saw me behave in such a careless manner, he would soon follow in suit.
"Why did you come to Eastcroft, though? It would have been safer to meet me outside the village."
"Circumstances forced me here, as I assume they did you. You did not come here willingly, no?"
"No…." He rolled his shoulders, he seemed rather tired from the days traveling; as was I. He moved his hands to motion towards my new outfit, "Have you finally abandoned your shirt and trousers?"
I felt a faint smile appear on my face, "Only for the duration of this trip. I've lived among the Varden for more years than I care to recall, yet I still forget how humans insist upon separating their women from their men. I never could bring myself to adopt your customs, even if I do not conduct myself entirely as an elf. Who was to say yea or nay to me? My mother? She was on the other side of Alagaёsia," I stopped myself. I was not only boring Eragon no doubt, but I was also sharing too much of myself. I did not want him to know that my mother and I had a terrible relationship, though no doubt he already knew. I did not want him to know the extent of it at any rate, I continued, "In any event I had an unfortunate encounter with a pair of ox herders soon after I left the Varden, and I stole this dress directly afterward."
"It fits well," he said.
"One of the advantages of being a spellcaster is that you never have to wait for a tailor," I joked.
Eragon caught onto my sad excuse of a joke and laughed momentarily before asking, "What now?"
That was a good question. I supposed we would sleep now and escape well before dawn. No one should ever know. I made sure to communicate this to Eragon and he agreed that it was a wise idea.

Eragon and I came to a mutual agreement that he should sleep on the ground and I take the bed. I would have happily taken the bed, and he knew that; but we decided that it would be safer, in the unlikely event that someone came into our room during the night. It would be highly 'improper' and odd to find a woman on the floor while a man took the bed.

I lie on my side pondering the events of that night. I had found Eragon at last and that was a relief. I half-expected him to be lying dead somewhere in a ditch. I mainly worried about what I had said earlier, about my mother and I. I didn't want to burden Eragon with my family issues, he had his own. Well the lack of at any rate. He had no family, save Roran and Katrina. He had witnessed the death of his uncle and had had no mother-like figure for a long time, or so I had heard. He was already far ahead of me with problems, yet I still complained and he listened, or pretended to listen intently.

I continued pondering the thoughts of Eragon and his family, the thoughts of family and belonging that I had never truly felt. In an odd sense I felt like I was welcome in Eragon's family. Roran and Katrina were kind to me, and I had fought alongside Roran. We were friends, almost; and Eragon and I had an iron-clad trust. I took a deep breath in and then another out, trying to calm myself. I could almost feel tears coming on. The lack of having a 'true' family was taking its toll slowly but surely each day. I snapped my eyes shut and concentrated on my surroundings. I could hear Eragon fiddling with some material; I deducted that it was most likely his tunic. What was he thinking of? I wondered.

Eventually the scratching, and almost irritating scratching of the fabric stopped. I supposed that Eragon was getting sleep, that I should have been getting as well. I closed my eyes and felt myself switching between consciousness and subconsciousness of my waking dreams. It was completely black, as usual. This place used to be a lovely haven. Where anything was possible, everything was possible. It was calming. After Durza and the wars and the unhappiness came my waking dreams were full of unbearably hot flames, the sickening smell of blood and blood-curdling screams; or emptiness, dullness and blackness. It was the latter I preferred, but preference was hardly considered by my subconscious mind.

The hours passed miserably, and soon it was time for me and Eragon to leave Eastcroft. We opened the window and jumped from the sill. I judged the ground to be about twelve feet below us. I was glad it was only a small jump, as I was wearing that ghastly dress and it would be very uncomfortable to jump further.

Jumping was already awkward with that terrible dress and the skirt would fly up around my head. To avoid this, I pulled the skirt down while I was falling. Eragon and I landed inches apart and began to run between the houses, using the shadows for sufficient protection. We were after the barricade.

While we were running Eragon pointed out, "People will wonder where we went. Maybe we should have waited and left like normal travelers."
It was reasonable, but I had taken that into consideration when I had thought of the current plan. I replied in between my own strides, "It's riskier to stay. I paid for my room. That's all the innkeeper really cares about, not whether we snuck out early." We parted as we avoided a dilapidated wagon, when we joined again I added, "The most important thing is to keep moving. If we linger, the king will surely find us." That was my greatest worry. What if he caught us? Would we end up hanging on manacles in a cool stoney room like I had when I was Durza's captive?

We soon arrived at the outer wall. I walked up and down, inspecting it to see if I could find something to help us up to the top of the barricades. I soon found what I was after, a large post which stood significantly out. I wrapped my hands around it and pulled. There was a faint creaking coming from the wood, but it was definitely safe to use.
"You first," I commanded Eragon.
"Please, after you," he chivalrously replied. Curse his chivalry! Curse his gallant nature! He meant well, but he was delaying us and we could end up being caught.
I directed his attention to my dress and said, "A dress is somewhat breezier than a pair of leggings, Eragon." I found it amusing as I watched his cheeks flush a vibrant red when he realised my meaning.
He wrapped his arms around the pole and flung himself up to the top of the tall barricade.
Why was he waiting? I wondered. Perhaps he did not know what to do next. "Go on," I whispered.
"Not until you join me."
Foolish! I thought about mentally scolding him, then I remembered that he would be shielding his mind like I was shielding my own. "Don't be so-"
"Watchman," he warned me, pointing behind me. I raced to the pole and flung myself up the side of the wall. A lantern floated in the darkness between a pair of houses nearby. The guard cautiously walked forward with a naked sword in his hand. We sat on a palisade breathless, absolutely motionless.  I noticed to large shadows on the large.
Don't look up, I thought, Don't look down. He would have seen us, and then all our hard work to go unnoticed upon our escape from Eastcroft would have been in vain. Without a sound we jumped to the other side of the wall. I heard Eragon's pack rattle as we hit the grass-covered ground. We crouched low and dashed through the 'lifeless' landscape.

More than half a dozen times during our flight territorial dogs from farms came and barked at us, attempting to scare us away. Eragon tried to use his mind to calm the dogs and I hoped that it would work; I knew however, that it was unlikely that they would calm through Eragon speaking into their mind. We then tried to assure them that their excessive barking and their 'intimidating' snarls had scared us away. That seemed to quiet their barking.

We were five miles away from Eastcroft and it was evident that no one was following us. There had been no presences of minds and no one had come to confront us yet, so we decided that we would rest a while by a charred stump. I knew I needed to contact Nasuada; it had been quite some time since I had contacted her and she would be getting worried, so I bent down and scooped up several handfuls of dirt and moved it into a pile in front of me. "Adurna rïsa," I said quietly. I heard a faint trickle as I watched the water well out of the surrounding soil and gather in the hole I had made. The water filled the hole quickly and soon I spoke the word, "Letta," making the flow of water stop.


Nasuada's face appeared in the water after I spoke the spell to summon her image to us. "My Lady," Eragon bowed.
"Eragon," she replied, "You are safe, thank Gokukara, We were so worried."
I noticed that she seemed tired and hollow-cheeked. I had hoped it was not from an infection in her Trial of the Long Knives self-inflicted wounds.
"I'm sorry I upset you, but I had my reasons," he seemed apologetic. I personally found the reasons not enough to risk his own life. Yes, Katrina needed to be saved and Sloan needed to be brought back; but if Eragon had died there was no point in either of those people surviving. In fact, a traitor like Sloan did not deserve to live and was more of an inconvenience. I suppose it was kind to spare his life, and in many ways Eragon was becoming more like an elf every day. In both maturity and outer appearance, with his pointed ears and elven eyes. I stared at him with wonderment. There was a conversation being carried on by Nasuada and Eragon. I hoped that they wouldn't ask me anything while I was gazing intently at Eragon's now very elven features. Suddenly I heard Nasuada say, "I'm impressed; you found him. I wasn't sure you could."
I finally realised that this was addressed at me by the long silence. I replied, "Fortune smiled upon me."
"Perhaps, but I tend to believe your skill was as important as Fortune's generosity. How long until you rejoin us?"
"Two, three days, unless we encounter unforeseen difficulties."
"Good. I will expect you then. From now on, I want you to contact me at least once before noon and once before nightfall. If I fail to hear from you, I'll assume you've been captured, and I'll send Saphira with a rescue force."
That seemed a little unrealistic. It was foolish to use magic in a public place, or when other people were present, which could very well happen while we were out here. "We may not always have the privacy we need to work magic," I reminded her.
"Find a way to get it. I need to know where you two are and whether you're safe," she commanded.
I suppose her reasoning was reasonable, but not her solution. I stayed silent for a moment, thinking of how to best address the situation and how not to insult Nasuada. I decided to say, "If I can, I will do as you ask, but not if it puts Eragon in danger."
"Agreed."
It was a suitable compromise at least. Eragon seized the moment to see if Saphira was around. I began to stop listening. Nasuada went to look for Saphira, because she had left a little while ago. I told her that I could maintain the spell while she went in search for her. Saphira soon was within the sight of the scrying pools reflection. There were several loud noising which sounded like crunching and crashing and I supposed that most of Nasuada's furniture would have to be replaced after Saphira's visit. I began to stop listening again and watched Eragon as he spoke with his beloved dragon. He was very handsome, even for a human. Tall and lean, very similar to an elf indeed.

Soon we said goodbye to Saphira and Nasuada. I terminated the spell and gently wiped the dirt off of my 'lovely' dress.
"Let us be off," Eragon announced already starting to run off into the distance. I supposed he was eager to be home with Saphira.