Special thanks to nauze18 for his beta reading skills.

Helena hadn't stop seething about her new nickname among the Urgals until she was back at work enchanting equipment. She did catch a little bit of the conversation between Orrin and Nasuada before Eragon dragged her off. Surda's king was plainly not happy about not being included in the talks with the Urgals.

"You could have joined us at any point," Nasuada said.

"Joining you afterwards would have drawn attention to me not being invited in the first place. We cannot afford the semblance of disunity."

The conversation continued but Helena was too far away to hear anything more. She really hoped that the posturing between Nasuada and Orrin wouldn't turn out to be anything serious. From what Helena could tell, Orrin wanted to have a say in the Varden's leadership, but Helena feared Nasuada was too much of an autocrat to give away any power.

Whatever happened to the council of elders anyway?

Regardless, Eragon was right in that she still had lots of work to do. The battle would need to be delayed for over a week if she was to place enchantments on everything she wanted to. Even then, she likely wouldn't have run out of things to do to prepare. She could always make more animated minions. The more time she had, the better. According to Nasuada the battle could start any day, so she had to prepare herself as well as possible.

To that end, she needed to check up whatever could be used to animate.

"I think I'm about to call it quits for today," she told one of the guards who had been placed near her; an older gentlemen with the beginnings of grey in his blond hair. She didn't like to have minders, but she did appreciate that he kept the gawkers at bay. "Could you arrange an escort for me to wander the camp. I want to check up on the project I've asked Nasuada to get started."

"You are referring to the request for the children to make small figures and drawings?" he asked. She nodded. "I'll go and inform Nasuada."

It was at that point that Helena noticed a presence that she hadn't noticed before because she'd been so focussed on her work. So she wasn't surprised when a new voice spoke up.

"No need. I'll keep her company," Angela the herbalist said as hurried over from behind a corner, Solembum the Werecat trailing behind her.

"Did you just show up?" Helena asked.

"I've been standing just out of sight for a while. I thought it only polite to welcome you back, but you've been ever so busy. I thought this was my chance before someone else snatched you away again."

"Well, I am rather popular," Helena said wryly before turning to her guard. "I'll go with her. Can you make sure that the remainder of these weapons get back to their owners?" Her finished products had routinely been collected to be delivered back to where they belonged.

"I'll inform my superior to see it done, and I'll send a message to Lady Nasuada," he said.

Helena gave a short nod before turning her attention towards Angela. "Lead on." And so they were off.

"I must say my dear, that I am looking forward to this little plan of yours. Such craziness is inspiring. Frankly I am a little jealous," Angela said.

"I aim to please."

"I do wonder what you're expecting to find. You can't expect people, let alone children, to make figures out of nothing."

"Then they can draw something." She had said that was an option, though to be honest, she wasn't sure if that would be enough for her to animation to work.

"Even that requires some luxury items that many don't have. Writing utensils may not be that hard to get under normal circumstances, but I'd wager many were sent scrambling after your request."

"I guess we'll just have to see," Helena said carelessly. If it worked, it worked. If it didn't, there was nothing to be done about it. Even without this plan, she was confident that they'd still have the advantage in the coming battle. "By the way, does your research into toads means that I'll have to use different reagents now for my potions?" she asked, trying to find out how much Angela knew about the things that had been revealed to her because of transformation during the Blood Oath Calibration.

"Yes, of course girl. Remember, toads don't exist."

"So if I use a toad, it wouldn't work." And after a slight pause, she added. "And please don't call me girl."

"As you wish your Rideriness. And your question is completely nonsensical. If toads don't exist, then how could you use one to see if it would work or not?"

Is she making fun of me?

"And if I used a frog? Specifically the kind of frog we used to think were toads?"

"If it's a frog, it will work as a frog, of course." Angela said in a 'duh' kind of voice.

"And if we continued to believe the frog is a toad?" Helena pressed.

"Well, from what I know of your magic, denying reality is a real option for you. So I guess it might work?"

Helena paused and thought that maybe she was going about this the wrong way. "Are you at all aware of the different meanings we sapients ascribe to the mundane world and how that can influence certain magical arts like potioneering?"

"I guess I am now," Angela grinned at her. "Thanks for confirming a theory of mine."

"You're welcome," Helena said dryly. That women enjoys her mystique too much.

Angela took a turn and they came face to face with a small tent with a women trying to stitch up some holes in a ragged shirt. "Hi there! You got the memo about that crazy request about making figures or some such?" Angela didn't give the women time to answer. "Why of course you have! So do you have anything?"

The women gave Angela a perplexed look that Helena thought was entirely justified. "Well no. I wouldn't know how to start."

"Any old toy maybe? A doll of some kind? Or a toy soldier? That would be ideal," Helena suggested.

"I have a wooden toy sword lying around, if that counts," the women said. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

"Never mind that now. Thank you for your time," Angela said before pulling Helena away. She whispered to her. "Let's not advertise who you are if you want to avoid the bowing and scraping. We'll have plenty of ground to cover without wasting our time on such nonsense." She paused. "Or do you suddenly enjoy the attention? That stunt earlier in the day with the magical terraforming certainly got you a lot of it."

"There is a time to be inspiring, and a time to just get on with it," Helena said. "So let's get on with it."

At the beginning of their search, Helena wondered if it wouldn't have been better to delegate this task, but it soon became clear that wasn't an option. Only she could tell whether an object was suitable for her purposes.

Mind you, she could do this magic with a simple rock if she tried hard enough but it wouldn't be as effective and take more effort. Even with the hours they spent walking the camps, Helena still felt this was effective use of her time.

When the sun started to set, Helena and Angela placed their eclectic hoard out for review.

They had dozens of small wooden toy soldiers of various qualities, even a few metal ones. The latter were collected from the more noble and richer families. Several drawings, again of varying qualities, of soldiers, dragons, and monsters. They even collected a couple of teddy bears. Those plushies looked anything but threatening but the imagination of the small children that normally clung to them for comfort and protection would make it easy to convince them to act as guardians and warriors.

"Well, get on with it," Angela said impatiently.

"I guess I should make sure it works, shouldn't I?" Helena said and levitated small metal figurine out at random. Any piece would do, for she had only taken things she had felt would be suitable for her purpose.

First the easy part. She increased the item's size to that of about twice of a normal human. This included the small sword it held. Next, she reached into the item's soul and levitated the statue a little further from the rest of the pile. This particular figure had been used by a general to mark friendly troops on a map, so it had no problem becoming those 'friendly' troops for real. Its smooth metallic eyes glowed red and it moved its arms out in a stretch as if it had just woken up from a long sleep.

It stood at attention and gave her a short bow.

"It will work," Helena said before undoing her work, letting the golem revert back to a normal figurine.

"You're something else, you know that," Angela said, staring at her with none of her usual mischievousness. "I hope you at least realize how crazy the stuff you can do is?"

"I've accepted what I am," Helena said.

"And what are you?" Angela said.

"A hero."

"Whether one is a hero or not has little to do with the powers you wield. Only what you do with it can make you worthy of that moniker."

"I know," Helena said, trying to hide her annoyance at being lectured. "But you can't say that just anyone could save the world, can you? You need power. Well I have decided to embrace mine."

"Great," Angela said dryly, sounding unimpressed. "Well I hope that works out for you. For everyone's sake."

Not you too, Helena thought. Of all the people that would have been nervous about the amount of power she could now wield, she hadn't expected Angela to be among them.

"I should probably go track down Eragon and inform someone official looking of my success," she said.

"I could come along," Angela offered.

"You can, if you want," Helena said, not really caring one way or another.

Saphira pointed them in the right direction and they found Eragon among the Varden's Magicians, trying to teach them some new spells.

Helena was about to turn around and leave again, not wanting to disturb him if he still had work to do, but Eragon stopped her. "We're almost finished here," he called to her.

"Will she be giving us instructions as well?" one of the magician's asked, sounding eager at the prospect.

"It wouldn't do you any good," Eragon said.

"Yet she seems to be allowed to question her," another magician said, shooting a glare at Angela.

"Like I said, the things Helena knows wouldn't do you any good," Eragon said again, more sternly this time. "Now recite the words for me one last time." Helena recognised some of the wards Oromis had taught them.

She looked at Angela who seemed to be enjoying the negative attention from the mages. "They do have a point though," Helena said quietly.

"You want them to interrogate you?"

"No, but I allow you to do it. Isn't it strange that I show the most favour to the one magic user in the camp that isn't officially sworn to the Varden?"

Angela snorted. "What; you're a politician now?" Helena didn't answer. "Fine. I can tell when I am not wanted." And she left.

Helena sighed. She like Angela, really she did, but she wasn't sure it was fair to show her preferential treatment. And to be fair, Angela was probably one of those that needed her help the least.

Solumbum, who had been following them silently all this time, drew her attention by brushing against her leg. 'Angela does just as much for the Varden as any of these other magicians.'

Helena was tempted to ask 'such as?' but she suspected Solumbum and Angela were offended enough, and it wasn't like she doubted that Angela was contributing. 'I know, and I'll apologise later.' That seemed to satisfy the werecat and it ran after his companion.

With Angela having left, a new female magic user took her place.

"It is good to see you again, teacher," Trianna came to greet her with a wide smile.

"And you," Helena said and meant it. "How's it going?" she asked, nodding at Eragon in particular.

"He's grown more confident," Trianna said. "We'll have no problem working with him, though I admit I thought you would have taken the lead here, not him."

There was a question in that statement that Helena choose not to answer. "So you are in charge of Nasuada's security." Helena knew that already from their brief mental conversations when she was with the elves.

"Yes, and it hasn't been easy. Assassin magicians that don't care if they die in the attempt are hard to defend against."

"Can Galbatorix truly be so careless with the lives of his mages?"

"There aren't many of them," Trianna admitted. "So far, two attempts were made. I would have loved to capture one of them alive, but keeping a magician bent on killing themselves safely contained isn't easy."

"I'll see what I can do." If nothing else, she was sure she could keep them paralyzed for as long they wanted.

"That wasn't a plea for aid, but thank you."

"So how is Nasuada as a leader?" Helena asked.

Trianna took a while to answer. "Decisive, stubborn, determinant. Nasuada doesn't listen to advice as much as some believe she should."

"And that's. . . bad?" Nasuada not being easily influenced wasn't necessarily bad.

"That depends entirely on whether or not we win."

Helena nodded.

"Remember how I was in a meeting with Nasuada when you contacted me first, all the way from Du Weldenvarden?" Trianna asked.

"Yea?"

"Well, many have started to see me as Nasuada's left hand – though with you back that's likely going to be you from now on. Point is, I'm important enough to be invited to all the important meetings. But after a while I simply stopped showing up. I simply got too much to do to justify showing up to many of them. I always wanted to be important," Trianna smiled wryly. "but I didn't expect it to be so much work."

"Ha."

"Though I expect my workload will be lesser now that you're here," Trianna said.

"Well I do intend to help out wherever I can," Helena said. "So don't hesitate to ask for my help."

"And the same goes for me as well. Please don't hesitate to summon me if you need me."

A small part of her wondered if Trianna was trying to suck up to her in order to further her own ambitions; a part Helena tried to ignore.

Eragon seemed to have finished and came over. He nodded politely at Trianna. "I'll count on you to take care of the rest, Trianna."

The sorceress gave a bow. "I live to serve." And she wondered off.

Once Trianna was out of earshot Eragon said. "Not sure whether I like her or not."

"She's fine and has helped us a great deal."

"True that," Eragon looked at her in amusement. "Are you over the embarrassing nickname the Urgals have given you?"

Helena smiled bashfully. "I might have overreacted. I'll still look for an opportunity to get some payback, but I won't jeopardise this alliance."

"Then you will be pleased to know that Nasuada and Nar Garzhvog have come to an agreement. They will fight with us in the coming battle."

"Decided so soon?"

"Everyone seems to be aware of the urgency. I still think this will cause problems in the future, but I also agree we should make sure we even have a future first."

Helena wasn't sure she liked that thinking. She wanted to make the world as 'fixed' as possible at the end of this war so she could move on. Leaving such problems hanging for the future to deal with ran counter to that.

"As an aside, where will we be staying?"

Eragon shrugged. "I haven't been told, but I am sure we'll have a tent somewhere close to Nasuada's."

They found Nasuada where Helena had last seen them; in the commander's tent talking calmly to Nar Garzhvog. Eragon's hand immediately went to the hilt of his sword though he didn't draw it. The motion was probably more instinct than anything.

"My lady," Eragon greeted.

"Eragon," Nasuada returned. "I fear that time may be shorter than we'd hoped. Our scouts report that the last of the empire's levies have joined their main army. They will probably attack as soon as tomorrow, maybe even tonight."

"Is that why you were in such a hurry to cave to the Urgal's demands?" Eragon asked, shooting a glare at Garzhvog."

Nasuada sighed. "Please Eragon. I need you to put aside your feelings for a moment and judge what I am about to tell you with logic and reason. Can you do that, both of you?" Eragon nodded and Helena even managed a hasty apology for earlier that day.

"Your displeasure has been noted and none of my people would ever insult you to your face," Nar Garzhvog told her. "We never expected to fight besides you as an ally."

"The same could be true for Eragon and Nasuada," Helena pointed out. "Yet their nicknames are nothing but respectful."

The Urgal chieftain paused. "There is a reason, and I'll tell you if you promise to remain calm about it."

"All right, I promise."

"Eragon's and Nasuada's sires' way of fighting was considered more honourable."

Helena didn't feel upset at that revelation; more curious than anything. "Because I mainly use magic?"

"Yes. There is less glory to be had if you sit safely atop your mount just using your magic to sweep your enemies aside. There is no bravery there."

"It's hardly my fault if my way of fighting is too difficult for you to deal with," Helena said mildly, thankfully earning a short barking laugh from Garzhvog.

"All right, moving on," Nasuada said. "We have to win the coming battle if the Varden are to survive and I am doing everything in my power to insure we do so." That was accompanied by a meaningful glance to Garzhvog before turning her attention back to Helena and Eragon. "Yet it will all be meaningless if you and the dragons die in the battle."

"Your father told us much the same before the battle of Tronjheim," Eragon said.

"And it remains true. To that end, I am assigning you each a group of bodyguards sworn, in the worlds of power, to guard you with their lives."

"No guards will be able to keep up with us. Not if Tronjheim is any indication. Back then, we had to move about the battlefield far faster for anyone on foot to follow," Eragon said.

"I understand. Nonetheless I'd like a couple of our best soldiers assigned to you. They will stay as close as possible without getting in your way and provide a safe haven for you to retreat to or serve as an emergency intervention should you get overwhelmed."

"I agree with Eragon," Helena said. "Within seconds, our dragons can jump away from any disengagement and be behind our lines. All this is unnecessary."

"And if either Godric or Saphira gets injured?" Nasuada asked. "If it decreases the chances of you dying through some stroke of bad fortune even by a little bit, it's worth it. As for them not keeping up with you? There likely won't be three distinct armies fighting a small distance from each other. You won't need to jump around as far and the troops I will assign you will be the fastest we have."

"Cavalry isn't suited for such close quarters fighting and they are the only ones who might be fast enough," Eragon said.

"Not cavalry," Nasuada said, giving a meaningful glance at Nar Garzhvog.

Helena understood immediately. For Eragon however the idea was so absurd that it took him several seconds before he did the same. "No."

"Yes, Eragon. For short distances the Kull can match even our best horses."

"I can't trust them. Please remember that their people have flourished in the absence of the Riders. If we die in this war, they are likely to hold a grand feast to celebrate!" Eragon nearly shouted.

"If they do that before we beat Galbatorix they will only ensure his victory," Nasuada pointed out.

"I understand it is difficult for you to trust us," the Kull said. "So we will permit you to inspect the minds of each warrior that will be assigned to your protection."

Eragon's glared but didn't offer any counter argument.

"I don't have as much of problem with this idea," Helena said, her tone indicating that she did still have a little problem with it. "But I had planned to count on my own enchanted army to guard me. They will be tied to me and I'll be able to direct them far better than any normal honour guard. Not to mention I won't need to worry for their safety like I would for a guard of flesh and blood."

"Could you do the same for me?" Eragon asked eagerly, obviously hoping to use it as an excuse to refuse the Urgals himself.

"I suppose I could," Helena said uncertainly. "While I will have finer control over them, they might not be as clever if they are to act on their own. Getting them to guard you whilst not getting in your way might be difficult."

"I would still like for you to accept the guards I assign you," Nasuada said. "These creations of yours are purely based on magic and magic can be undone."

Helena looked closer at Nasuada. "Are you hoping to have us set some sort of example for the troops. Like, we are willing to work with the Urgals so they needn't fear to do the same?"

"If we indeed sent out such a message that would be beneficial, but no. I truly think these measures will increase your chances of surviving, if only a little. You have already been given permission to inspect their minds, so you need not fear for their loyalty."

"And your warriors really agree to such a thing?" Helena asked, directing her question at Garzhvog. She didn't doubt it, but it still seemed worthy of questioning. "We would need to inspect their mind fully, meaning that we would chase every secret they may have, simply because they consider it a secret."

"We've agreed, yes. Partly because we want you to understand us fully and understanding begets empathy," the kull said, unknowingly echoing what Oromis once told them. "You will see that I have killed many humans; that is true, but never without reason."

Helena never doubted the Urgals had reasons for the things they did, but she sincerely doubted that she'd agree with those reasons.

"Wait," Eragon said. "You mean to tell me that you yourself will be fighting besides us?"

"Of course," Garzhvog said. "I would be honoured to fight besides such a mighty warrior such as yourself.

Helena recalled that Urgals determined their rank in society through combat. So it didn't come as a surprise that they thought highly of Eragon. Whether that regard would extend to herself, who used what they considered a less honourable style of fighting, was up in the air.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn't.

Helena didn't find any hint of treachery in the Kull that had been selected to guard her, as she had expected. She did discover that, to a man, they all wished they were guarding Eragon instead of her. Percentage wise, the Urgals had more of their people as mages, or shamans as they called them, but even compared to the humans they tended to be of a lesser quality. They could brute force magic, like throwing fireballs or lighting, but anything subtler than that was lost on them with the sole exception of healing.

They never had anything that could match magic users like the ones the Riders or the Elves had at their disposal, and that developed into a general suspicion of mages of that level. Mages who disdained personal physical combat. Mages powerful enough to lay waste to armies and enslave the wills of whole tribes, mages like they thought Helena was.

They're right about the laying waste to armies, but could I mentally enslave so many people like they think? The answer, Helena thought disquietly, was probably yes. Voldemort had been capable of such, and she was sure she'd surpassed him by this point.

"Just stay behind me and everything will be fine," Helena tried to reassure the dozen kull that were lined before her.

The Kull grunted. Only four of the twelve Kull could speak English, and their accent was worse than Nar Garzhvog. "We won't fail Rider." One of them said.

"I look forward to working with you," she lied.

"It will be an honour to fight at your side," the same kull from before lied in turn.

Helena nodded and went to join Eragon who had also just finished his inspection.

Eragon in front of Nar Garzhvog bared his neck, a sign of respect. "Nar Garzhvog. I am proud to have you at my side. You may tell the Herndall that so long as the Urgals remain true to their word and do not turn against the Varden, I shall not oppose you." As far as Helena could tell, Eragon was sincere.

"Again, we are in your debt, Firesword," Garzhvog said. He and the other Urgals pressed their first against their jutting brows.

"Eragon," Helena called, wishing to discuss everything she was seeing.

"Yes?" Eragon said, but before Helena could take Eragon aside, Nasuada butted in.

"Good now that this is settled, I must be off. Eragon, Helena, you will both receive my signal from Trianna when the time has arrived." And with that she left.

Helena grabbed Eragon's hand but first turned to Nar Garzhvog. "I'll be counting on you to keep him safe." Whatever else, she knew that the Urgals took their task to keep them safe seriously. She was also a lot more worried for Eragon's safety than her own. Eragon was strong, especially compared to any normal humans they will be fighting, but his style of fighting still exposed him to more danger than her.

"If by my life I can protect him, I will," Garzhvog promised.

Helena just barely managed to stop herself from nodding in respect, which they culturally saw as a sign of aggression. Instead she bared her neck and punished her chest, feeling very ridiculous doing so.

Eragon started to drag her away, apparently as eager to talk to her as she him.

"Galbatorix has Murtagh." He said as soon as they were alone.

"What?"

"I saw him in Garzhvog mind. They found in in the Beor Mountains along with a small family he was traveling with. The Urgals used him as a messenger to Galbatorix. He never returned."

"That's bad, I guess?" Helena said hesitantly.

"Of course it's bad!" Eragon whisper shouted. "I know I said I wanted nothing more to do with him, but that doesn't mean I want Galbatorix to have him."

"Yes, but there isn't much we can do right now. Nothing that we aren't already doing." Helena shook her head. "We'll save him if we can, but we can't just go sneaking into Gil'Ead again."

"Why not? We're way more skilled now than before. And I'm already planning to help Roran rescue Katrina when he gets here."

"Murtagh is one man. There is a lot more at stake than him." And Helena just didn't consider Murtagh a friend anymore after he guilted them into helping him run away. She wanted to save him, but she felt that saving Alagaësia as a whole was more important. "I want him to be safe, but we have to be smart about this. We don't even know where he is."

Eragon's eyes widened. "Helena, could you conjure me some water?"

She understood immediately. "Aguamenti," she dragged a pointed finger through the air and a flying curtain of water appeared.

"Draumr kópa," Eragon said. They saw nothing in the water except for a deep fog.

"I suppose that would have been too easy," Helena sighed.

"He must be protected from scrying like we are," Eragon said.

That, or he's dead.

"We will tell Nasuada. I don't know how many spies we have, but it shouldn't be that difficult to find Murtagh," Helena said.

"I know that Galbatorix offered a great reward if Murtagh was brought to him alive. Only alive. Surely he wouldn't go out of his way to get him alive if he just planned to kill him."

"Exactly. Murtagh will be fine." Unless he's part of the great army opposing us right now. "But what do you think of the Urgals, now that you've been in their heads?"

"There is more to them than I wished to admit," Eragon took a deep breath. "I was wrong. They are not monsters. I don't know if I'll ever like them, but I don't mind fighting at their side."

"There is nothing you found in their heads you find objectionable?"

"I wouldn't go that far. All of them have killed humans and don't try to hide it. But always for either land or food. Never just because they hate us."

Helena nearly laughed at the irony. "I guess understanding does begets empathy." Except it didn't for her.

As Garzhvog had wanted, she understood them now. She saw the love they held for their clan, for their people. The loyalty to their friends. The pride they had in their strength. But she had already expected to find those things. It was their warrior culture that no amount of understanding she'd ever be able to empathize with. The pride they felt went they successfully raided a nearby human settlement, to name an obvious example. Disgusting. That humans sometimes did the same to them was irrelevant. She'd hate those humans too.

It looked like she and Eragon could end up trading places as to who would speak for or against the Urgals.

'You should try to get some rest,' Godric's voice sounded in her head. By Eragon's expression she guessed he was speaking to both of them.

'Why? It's not that late,' Helena responded.

'But you may not get a full night's rest,' Saphira said. 'Godric and I can both feel it. The anticipation. There isn't much time anymore.'

'But I could still work on my enchantments," Helena objected.

'That you're at your best is far more important,' Godric said, and he was echoed by both Eragon and Saphira. 'Go. Make sure you have some food in your pack and anything else you might need for the battle. We'll wake you when it's time.'

'We will, but only after we cast wards on Nasuada and inform her of your feeling,' Eragon said to the dragons.

Nasuada took the dragon's instincts seriously and agreed that both Riders should take it easy until the battle was joined. They tried to convince Nasuada to do the same, but she claimed to still have work to do.

"A tent has been made available not far from here. I'll sunt a runner when I need you, or I'll have Trianna contact you."

"No need, I will simply rest here," Helena said, walking over to a rocky elevation on the already elevated platform on which Nasuada's tent was located. She quickly assigned the attributes a cushion to the rock and just like that she had beanbag with a decent view of both armies.

The benefits of magic. Any random spot of dirt on the ground could be made comfortable to live on.

Eragon gave a short laugh and joined her. Helena casted a few spell to quiet the area and make them less noticeable. Not enough that they couldn't be found, but enough so that those who weren't specifically looking for them would bother them.

They didn't sleep anymore since their transformation. What they did was more of a meditation. Helena used to the downtime to delve deeper into her new senses, focusing on the opposing army and trying to sense the tension that both Godric and Saphira said was there.

She sensed both that and more from them. They hated and feared her, she could sense. They feared the coming battle and they partially blamed it on her. There was something else there, something they, the people in the army themselves, considered unnatural. These were very vague feelings because she wasn't even reading the surface thoughts of the people, just the imprint they left on the metaphysical realm around them; the mere shadow of a shadow. The only reason she could get anything out of it at all was that some of the feelings were related to her existence.

The resting also gave her plenty of time to think on what she was sensing. Nasuada said the enemies might need to rethink their strategy now that the Riders and Dragons had arrived. Yet that wasn't true. It was like they had been waiting to attack until they had arrived.

Suddenly, Helena didn't feel quite so certain anymore in how easy this victory would be. With the new control she had over her own dreams, she tried to force herself to relax.

Soon, far sooner than they had expected, a messenger was sent to rouse them, a very high born messenger.

"Lady Helena, Eragon. It's time," Orrin called out to them as he rode towards them on his decorated horse. He was dressed in full battle regalia which he hadn't yet been earlier in the day.

"Really?" Helena asked, climbing of their cushiony rock. She felt the growing tension from the opposing army but somehow they still didn't seem ready to attack.

"Nasuada has ordered the attack," Orrin said. "Apparently one of her mages has snuck into the enemy camp and poisoned their water," he said with distaste. "The plan is to attack while they are weakened by this. . . tactic."

"You don't approve," Eragon pointed out.

"I understand the reasoning," was all Orrin said. "Anyway, I asked to be allowed to inform you. To make sure I could wish you both well in coming hours. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how much we are depending on you."

"We won't fail you, your majesty," Eragon said, to which Orrin nodded.

"You are to join your Urgal bodyguards on the front. It's risky having you bear the brunt of the initial clash of armies, but Nasuada believes your presence will be necessary to bolster our morale. I happen to agree."

"We'll be fine," Helena said, believing it.

"What do you make of Nasuada's pact with the Urgals?" Eragon asked.

"I think Nasuada should have invited me," Orrin said, sounding kind of petulant to Helena's ears. "But I can't deny a part of me is relieved this choice wasn't mine to make. I understand why she thought it necessary, and also how badly it could go wrong, and she'll be blamed for it if it does."

"And if the choice had been yours, what would you have done?" Eragon said.

Helena suppressed a smile. Orrin had just implied he didn't want to make the choice, but of course Eragon would push ahead and ask his opinion regardless. Even after all this time, she still wasn't sure whether Eragon was just oblivious to when people were reluctant to answer a question or whether he knew and did it anyway.

"I would probably have refused, given that the Lady Helena believes we can win the coming battle without any help. My only worry is that if we had turned the Urgals down whether they would turn to raid our lands. I don't know whether we could fight both them and the empire at the same time." What the Urgals would do if they had been refused hadn't even occurred to Helena. "I probably would have discussed it more before coming to a decision."

"But we don't have time to for long negations," Eragon said.

"Well, you're right that we are short on time," Orrin said curtly. "We can discuss this topic further if you want, after we win."

"Of course, I shouldn't keep you from your duties," Eragon said hurriedly. "Best of luck to you, your majesty."

"And you as well," Orrin said, again, before pulling the rains of his horse and galloping away.

"Well," Eragon said with a nervous breath. "I guess this is it."

"We've done this before." Helena said, trying to sound reassuring.

"And I fear we'll do it many more times afterwards and it will never stop being horrible and dangerous." He put an arm around her and pulled her close. "Be careful out there. However powerful you may be, a lucky strike can still kill you."

Only if they can get near me, Helena thought. She gave him a faint kiss, emphasised with an exaggerated 'mwah' sound, to show she appreciated his concern. "I won't take risks if you promise to do the same."

"I promise," Eragon said. They looked to see Saphira and Godric descending near their position. They were already dressed in the same armour they'd worn in Fathen Dûr.

'Are you ready?' Godric asked. Helena could feel his eagerness for the coming battle.

'Yes.' After wishing Eragon and Saphira good luck one final time she joined Godric.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was clear surprise wouldn't be factor on their part. Everybody could see the men gathering in orderly lines, ready to attack. Helena knew Nasuada had wanted them ready to attack before the enemy army could organise in turn, but it was not to be. As seasoned as some of the Varden were, this army was comprised of several disparate groups. The long-time Varden from Farthen Dûr, the Varden that had recently joined up, the men of Surda, a few dwarves, and most disparate of all, the Urgals. Many had never fought in a battle this large and the organizing took longer than any of them would like. By the time they were all ready, so was the enemy ready to receive them.

Helena and Eragon's guards were, to their disappointment, on separate sides of the army. It was clear Nasuada believed the benefit of evenly distributing dragon and Rider assistance among the army was more valuable than having the two pairs readily position to work together. Helena understood and even agreed, but still wished it were otherwise.

Helena was placed on the left side of the army, closest to the river. The leftmost side of the army was comprised entirely of their new Urgal allies, almost seeming like their own separate force. From what Helena could guess, the Urgals were placed in position where they wouldn't be in a good position to turn on them in the middle of the fight. Not to mention that I'll be close by should they try anything. Helena didn't think they would, and neither did Nasuada, probably, but old distrusts aren't so easily cast aside. More so for the common soldier in the army than the leadership. If the Urgals wanted to earn their trusts, now would be their chance.

'How do you want to do this,' Godric asked her.

What he wanted to know was whether they would do as they had in Farthen Dûr. Share Godric's instinct and love of violence between the two of them so that Helena wouldn't be hindered by her own scruples.

'I want to try and see if I can do without that crutch first,' Helena answered.

'It will be even worse this time if you keep your mind open like Oromis suggested,' Godric warned. She'd feel the pain and hopelessness of her enemies even more strongly in that case, and she'd have to ignore that and keep going. Godric was undoubtedly correct, but it just felt very unheroic to deliberately close her own mind to the pain she was inflicting or use Godric to make sure it didn't affect her.

'Torturing yourself does nobody any good,' Godric said with the tone of someone who knew it was pointless to argue.

'I'll let you take over if it becomes too much for me,' Helena promised and started to let some of her soon-to-be-animated-creatures out of her back and bringing them to 'life'. Innocent little figurines, from excellently crafted clay dragons to amateurishly made toy soldiers that looked more like snowmans made of dirt than anything else started to fill the field before her. Behind her, the Urgals muttered something at her display of magic, but she couldn't even tell the general tone, let alone the meaning.

'These little toys won't ever be able to keep with my fury,'

'Don't worry. No animated clay dragon will ever replace you, dear.'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Godric growled. 'And what are we waiting for? Will we be fighting tonight, or what?'

'Good question.' Nasuada had wanted to attack to take advantage of Angela's poison, but here they stood just staring at each other. Two armies, fully assembled and ready for battle, and completely standing still. 'Someone needs to give a signal, I guess?'

'Why wait. Let's just tear into them.'

'We really shouldn't'.' Though Helena would be lying if she hadn't thought of it. There were many spells she had that could reach the enemy from this distance. Nobody had told her, but she guessed she was supposed to wait for something?

'If you need permission, then ask for it,' Godric said impatiently.

'Yea,' she had already been considering to do so before he asked. She knew roughly were Nasuada was located so finding her wasn't an issue. 'What are we waiting for?' she asked.

'We suspect Angela's poison didn't work, and now are wondering whether we should attack at all.'

'Bah!' Godric cursed. 'Can't we at least drop some rocks on them?'

'No, wait,' Saphira butted into their conversation. 'Listen'

Helena did and she heard the sound of metal beating upon wood. It was faint at first but soon it became unmistakable.

'There beating there weapons upon their shields,' Helena said.

'A clear challenge,' Godric said, sounding approving. Nasuada broke the mental contact to give orders.

An officer galloped past them, shouting "Make some noise people!" And soon the Varden were responding in kind. Godric and Saphira added their own roaring to the cacophony of sound. It was loud enough that Helena felt the need to dampen the sound in her immediate area.

When the officer galloped past again he shouted, 'Incoming! Shields up!'

Helena didn't carry a shield but with a thought all the arrows that were heading in her general direction had rubber suction endings instead of sharp metal. Like the kind placed upon toy arrows for little children to use to make sure they can't hurt anyone.

'Finally.' Godric prepared himself for a large fire breath. Helena prepared herself to assist since she knew that Godric's fire couldn't reach that far without help.

Let's see if I'm truly as mighty as I think. With her help Godric's flame traversed the whole battlefield to lick at the flesh of those at the other end. Even with her help, the distance probably weakened the flames but should still be enough for her purpose.

The enemy didn't react to the flames and lifted what looked like spears, though they held them oddly. They must be warded against fire or something. Not unexpected since that's how it was back in Farthen Dûr as well. She would just need to find spells that could get around the protections. Or just beat at them until they break. She doubted whatever magicians the empire had could stand against her onslaught for long.

'Those are not spears,' Godric said. 'Look closely.' And he shared his red tinted vision with her.

Helena mind froze in panic for a few crucial seconds as she realized what she was looking at.

A chorus of small explosions sounded across the battlefield. Arya's assessment from earlier that day was proven false as the empire introduced the first ever handheld firearms to Alagaesia.

Helena took stock of the situation and calmed herself. It wasn't as bad as she had feared. These were indeed the first ever attempt at firearms if the lack of accuracy was anything to go by. A handful on her side were wounded by the bullets but they lost more to the volley of arrows. Godric's armour was hit a few times but it, enchanted as it was, didn't take any real damage. Still, Helena made sure her wards would be able to deal with any fire on her person. She probably didn't even need to do so, since she did have protections from arrow fire and this might be similar enough, but it never hurt to be sure. The worst the new weapons had done was make their army nervous. Effective or not, it was something new they hadn't seen before nor expected. Helena could feel the unease clearly as she had her mind open as Oromis had trained her to do.

'Time to deploy some tricks of our own,' she told Godric and sent her animated army to charge at the enemy. Godric followed a safe distance behind them. The rest army was charging as well. Far to her right she saw Saphira charging as well.

It took nearly half a minute to reload the firearms for another volley and Helena's puppet were even less affected by it than Godric's armour. The evidently long reload time soothed Helena's worry even further. Archers could fire three times as fast and do nearly as much damage.

Helena focussed on the land itself and brought the fire that had been imprinted on its soul to the fore. The burning plains always had small gouts of flame coming out of the cracks in the land at irregular intervals. Now Helena took control of this to summon a veritable wave of flame from beneath the ground to crash into the ranks of the empire. When the flame were dispersed enough, Helena saw that the soldiers hadn't been protected by wards after all, as those in front of her were covered in horrendous burns wounds. She could see it clearly at this distance. Then why wasn't there a reaction before. Why isn't there one now. Some had fallen to the ground but many were still standing, yet they didn't utter so much as a whimper. Helena had her mind open and had prepared herself to share an echo of the pain her victims would feel but there was nothing, just a sense of fatalistic determination.

And then Godric fell upon their foe and his ferocity left Helena with little thought for deep thinking. Helena focused on keeping her animated minions close and have them make it more difficult for anything to flank them. The Urgals would take care of her back, though she couldn't resist leaving at least one hulking teddy bear to their back as well. From their thoughts, Helena could tell that the Urgals were feeling a mite superfluous.

I told Nasuada I didn't need help, Helena thought with some grim satisfaction.

'Something is wrong,' Godric said as his claw pierced – more like crushed – the neck of a fallen soldier. 'They're not behaving as they should.'

'They don't feel pain.' Helena said. Godric spewed forth a burst of fire and a soldier latterly ran through the flames slashing wildly at the soft flesh inside Godric's mouth. The soldier died in moments but it was the first time any mortal had managed to injure Godric, ever. The Urgals in Farthen Dûr hadn't managed to pierce and get past his reflexes. And this battle had only been going for less than a minute. 'This is wrong,' Godric said with something that wasn't quite fear but close to it. He fell back and allowed two animated figures to take his place and give them a moment's think. 'It must be magic.'

'I must tell Eragon and the others.' She was so familiar with him by now she had no trouble finding his mind even amidst the confusion of thousands of souls at war.

'Eragon, the soldiers. They can't feel pain.'

'They can die,' he responded fiercely, but she could tell he too was unnerved. From what Helena could tell, Eragon was fighting on the ground next to Saphira. 'Tell Nasuada if you can, I'm busy.'

Finding Nasuada took only a few seconds. 'What?' Nasuada clearly sounded impatient.

'There is an enchantment on the soldiers. They can't feel pain. No doubt you'll have many reports telling you the same soon enough.'

'What?' Helena could tell Nasuada understood her perfectly well and was just breaking her mind on the implications and how she should respond. 'How will that influence the battle, do you think?'

Helena took a moment to think of a good answer. Godric took that time to re-enter the battle, though he was far more caution now. 'It gives them the courage or determination to see us dead, regardless of what it might mean for their own survival. Yet it also makes them reckless and throw their lives away. In the first few seconds of the battle they managed to wound Godric, yet we also killed more of them than we otherwise would against a normal foe.'

'Thank you for the report, and please, don't take risks.'

'I won't,' and Helena refocused her efforts on the battle. 'Do you need me to heal that cut inside your cheek?' She asked Godric.

'It's just a flesh wound, but if you can do it safely, then go ahead.'

Given that it really didn't seem that big of priority, Helena decided to wait until they had another moment's peace before tending to the injury. However deep her understanding of magic now went, its reliance on her state of mind hadn't changed so healing when they – and given the way that Godric and her were fighting together it was definitely a they – were fighting to kill and maim didn't seem wise.

That moment's peace didn't take long to arrive. Whatever surprises the enemy army might have for them, she had been right, so long as they were smart and didn't take risk they really weren't in any danger. Helena continued to summon the flames from beneath the earth and few of the soldiers were warded against such an attack. Godric, while unnerved at the reckless courage of the enemy, wouldn't be caught off guard again. On top of that, the lack of pain of the enemy made it a lot easier for Helena to read their thoughts. They also didn't really struggle for life and had already accepted their coming deaths when they charged at them and this lack of struggling and hoping for life dampened any guilt Helena might feel at ending those lives. All of those factors meant that many didn't even come close to even scratching Godric's armour before their lives were snuffed out.

From their minds she also learned that the painless ones where in the minority in the army and most of them had volunteered for the job. The reward for doings so was a great deal of money to be payed to their families or new and better homes and jobs for loved ones. Some were also simply really patriotic.

'If there truly aren't that many of them, they won't last long.' She told Godric. They were killing them by the dozens. She didn't have any idea how the rest of the army was faring but Helena still felt confident in her earlier estimation that Godric and her could take this army by themselves if they had to. The enemy didn't even seem capable of overcoming her animated toys, let alone Godric and Helena themselves. Twice someone tried to use the primitive firearms on them again, but one found himself incinerated before he had a chance to use it and the other's shot was veered off course thanks to the wards. Soon Helena and Godric found themselves in a clear field with the enemy not daring to approach for some distance. Even the painless ones were frightened. They had resigned themselves to death, but they still wanted their deaths to mean something.

'We can break this army by ourselves,' Godric said gleefully.

Helena wasn't feeling Godric's joy at the situation, but she agreed. 'Let's see if we can–"

A large roar sounded in the distance and not in the direction she knew Saphira to be. Helena looked up and right there, next to the setting sun, two new dragons were rushing towards the battlefield. One of them was red and could easily be mistaken for Godric at this distance, the other was green with white neck spikes that were so thick on his forehead they almost looked like a crown.

Helena blinked a few times to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her. 'The eggs that Galbatorix was trying to hatch?'

'I'm afraid so,' Godric's love of battle was great and indeed, a part of him looked forward to fighting the new arrivals, but that part of him was dwarfed by sadness at the knowledge that two more of his race were now likely enslaved by the black king.

Eragon's presence knocked at the borders of her mind. 'We must fly out to meet them,' he said.

'Let's see if we can capture them alive,' Helena suggested. 'There is a chance they don't want to be part of this.'

'Let us hope they are slaves,' Saphira said angrily. 'For if any of them are willing servants I will tear their scales of them one by one.'

'If we can capture them alive that would be great, but let's not take chances with our own safety,' Eragon said.

'They are likely to be even greener than we. Not to mention without the advantages we have,' she said, referring to the abilities gained during the Blood Oath Celebration.

'Let us hope so.' And as one, both dragon and rider pairs jumped into the sky. From the sky Helena noticed that were she had just been the empire had indeed been left in shambles. If only I'd have had a few more minutes.

'Like we practiced,' Godric said to both her and the other pair. The two dragons continued to ascend in almost vertical line, hoping they'd have a height advantage by the time they'd meet their opponents. Their opponents were trying to do the same, but they were ascending at an angle, hoping to cut them off. That angle was the only reason Helena's side had a chance to gain the high ground since their opponents already had some height on them from the start. Helena assisted as best she could by conjuring an extra air current at Godric's direction. Normally, Godric was faster than Saphira when Helena was assisting with magic, but now, Godric made sure to give Saphira the same boost he received from her. With the two dragons flying so close together, that was still possible. As a result Saphira, due to her admittedly superior talent, got ahead of Godric.

A few seconds before the dragons would cross paths Godric and Helena realized what was about to happen. Saphira and Eragon had managed to get above their foes, but Godric and Helena would be just too late, and the two hostile dragons were about to cut in between Godric and Saphira.

'So be it,' Godric said, and Helena knew he was about to try and ram the other red dragon. From this distance it was clear that Godric's scales were off a lighter colour compared to the wine red of the other one. Helena could also see the two Riders, but both were covered in armour, including helmets to hide their faces. Helena and Eragon were armoured much the same.

Just like in their practice matches with Saphira and Eragon, Helena prepared to use magic to lessen the impact on her body from the coming collision. The enemy angled his body and spread his claws wide to meet their tackle head on. Helena tensed her muscles and briefly lost the ability to think as the crash sent both dragons tumbling towards the ground as they clawed at each other. Still, she seemed able to recover faster than her human counterpart though as he still had his head buried in his dragon's neck by the time she gathered the wits to summon her spear staff to her hand. She tried to use her enlargement trick with the spear to try and skewer the other's dragon. The enchantments placed on it allowed her to hit the other dragon at the perfect angle, though it didn't feel like she managed to pierce deep. Unlike her and Eragon, the other two dragon's didn't wear armour, but it was possible their scales were warded to behave as such, costly though such trick would be.

When the ground started to come dangerously close, the other dragon tried to disengage himself form Godric in order to not crash. Common sense would dictate Godric allowing him to do so, so he could avoid crashing as well. He didn't do so, instead using the opportunity to try and bite or claw his opponent to prevent his escape, tearing at least a few scales from the other dragon as he resisted. The other Rider finally managed to gather his wits after the crash however and, displaying some impressive dexterity, leaned out of his saddle to cut at the connecting points between the dragons, forcing Godric to let go.

Their opponents scrambled to slow their descent enough to prevent themselves from become a red stain on the rocky ground. Godric only bothered to angle his body so he would crash into the floor with his belly instead of his back were Helena was.

When Godric hit the ground, Helena had already cast a spell that made a mockery of mineral physics causing the earth to bend around Godric forms as if the earth was one giant trampoline. When their momentum halted they had to be at least thirty meters into the ground. When the earth came back up Godric was launched into the air. Helena's spell had also saved their opponent's a tough landing and they too were launched into sky, though not as high as Godric and Helena were.

'And now we have the height advantage,' Godric said, a grin in his voice. 'Having you as a Rider almost feels like cheating.'

'I aim to please,' Helena said, and pointed the red bulb on the other end of her staff towards their enemy and a bolt of lightning shot out towards them. Their wards probably prevented any damage, but those wards took energy to maintain.

It was clear the enemy was aware that time wasn't on his side since he didn't waste time trying to get into a better position, instead going straight for them.

Helena was about to summon extra wind to hinder the enemy but then she felt a presence trying to invade her mind. She tried to focus her mind on Godric's neck spike directly in front of her, but she felt like she might not be able to keep that up for very long. The minds attacking her were dragons, she could tell that much, and there was more than one.

'Eldunari,' was all she managed to Godric. Mental communication was hard when your mind was under attack.

The enemy didn't immediately go for another physical struggle, instead flying by and spitting fire at them.

Any complex magic was out of the question under these circumstances, but few magics were truly still complex to her after her transformation. With a single thought the fire coming at them became nothing more than a pleasantly warm breeze.

Helena started to devote all her effort to the mental fight, letting Godric focus on the rest, including how to use her magic. Even in this state, they were able to maintain a connection between their minds, allowing Godric to direct Helena's powers as if they were his own, just like he had done in the battle of Tronjheim.'

The wind continued to buffer against the enemy and moved to make Godric's flight just a bit easier.

Helena didn't focus on fighting back in her struggle, just on defending herself. Even if she could beat the enemy in this field, which she doubted, there was no need to. With her help, Godric could outfly the enemy, and due to the nature of how their respective magics works, they would also be able to outlast them.

The assault on Helena's mind abated when the two dragons against crashed into each other at least three kilometres into the sky. Again they started to tumble to the ground and lose altitude. Helena tried to use the brief reprieve to find her human opponent and cast a spell that would hopefully be able to slip past whatever wards he had in place. When she looked at his saddle, however, he wasn't there. The other red dragon was riderless.

'Behind you!' Godric yelled in her mind. Helena turned her neck and her mouth dropped open in astonishment. Somehow, in the middle of two dragons wrestling in the sky, the enemy rider had managed to jump from his dragon to Godric and was now using his neck spikes to climb his way to her. If she didn't already expect that Galbatorix had somehow given him supernatural strength and dexterity it was confirmed in that moment. That also meant that if he managed to reach her she was done for. She didn't have the same physical abilities to compete in melee against an opponent like that.

The first spell she tried was blocked by the wards and Helena knew that if she failed again, he would be on her. Helena had a plan but she didn't have time to share it with Godric. She put her hand on Godric's armour and made it searing hot. For Godric it would be an annoyance but no human would be able to stick to it without protection, neither her, nor this unwanted passenger.

Helena unbound herself from the saddle with magic and let go. Immediately she drifted away into the air and the sound of the dragons fighting grew distant. She had more than one way to prevent herself from falling to her death and Godric would know this. Her opponent, whom she noticed had also been forced to let go and was falling not far from her, undoubtedly could prevent his own death as well, but anytime he was forced to use magic and exert himself, his energy reserves would dwindle.

For good measure, Helena sent a continuing stream of light at her opponent which represented her trying to increase the weight of her opponents armour. It wouldn't increase his fall speed – that wasn't how gravity worked – but it would make it more costly for him to decelerate himself. Or he could try to fight her enchantment directly, but that also would bring him in direct conflict with her magic, giving Helena more opportunity to exhaust him.

If possible, Helena wanted to end this fight before they'd even hit the ground. She and Godric were the perfect team. Godric brought the raw muscle accompanied by the strength and speed to compete with any supernatural being, while Helena worked the magical angle. Her own lack of physical abilities and melee skill didn't matter so long as she stayed atop Godric. Anyone who wanted to reach her would first need to get past Godric's supernatural strength and reflexes. When they were separated however, things tended to get a little riskier for both of them. Her current opponent would only need to run for an instant to reach her and she couldn't afford that. Apparating back to Godric was an option, but she knew that Galbatorix likely knew that ability could be countered. And if he knew, this new Rider might also know, and any failed apparition attempt would leave her even more vulnerable.

Her opponent didn't try to fight her enchantment directly, which Helena thought a foolish move. Even if it would cost him, trying to slow his fall like this would be even more costly. And besides, he would need to counter her enchantments eventually if he wanted to move afterwards.

Helena kept a close eye on her opponent as to have some clue as to what he was doing, but he didn't seem to be doing anything. Even when the ground started to come dangerously close he didn't do anything, not even attempting to slow his fall.

Only then did it occur to Helena that maybe he couldn't slow his fall. He had to be even greener than her at this Rider business and it was possible he simply didn't have an answer to his current predicament. At the same time Helena remembered that she didn't actually want this guy dead. He might not even want to be here. When she couldn't wait any longer she casted a slowing charm on both his clothes as well as her own. It would save him, but he still wouldn't be able to move in that armour after they landed.

They dropped on the other side of the river where the battle was taking place. Helena landed on her feet while her opponent collapsed under his own weight once he hit the ground.

Helena tried to keep her voice gentle. "Surrender, and I promise you, you won't be harmed."

Her opponent answer came with a short laugh. "I see you haven't changed a bit."

That voice.

Her opponent whispered something and the knots tying his armour pieces together came undone, allowing him crawl out of it. This included his helmet, allowing Helena to see his face.

"Ah," Helena said with a despondent sigh, "Hello Murtagh."

- earlier -

Eragon watched worriedly as Godric and the other red dragon tumbled towards the ground after they tackled each other.

'They can take care of themselves,' Saphira said to him, even as she tried to harass her opponent from above. Now that Saphira had won the race for altitude, the green dragon seemed unsure of how to proceed. It tried to race away so it had more distance to manoeuvre, but Saphira easily kept up, forcing the green dragon to lose more altitude unless he wanted Saphira on his back.

The green dragon was soon forced into a near vertical dive. Eragon felt Saphira's elation at her dominance over this fight; her predatory instinct coming-to-the-fore.'

The green dragon pulled out of his dive just in time so it was flying just over the ground with maybe a yard to spare. From its moments it seemed that it was resigned to being attacked from the worst position possible as was merely trying to mitigate the damage when it crashed to the ground to the ground.

The next moments seemed to Eragon as if they were happening in slow motion. Saphira claws touched the shoulders of the green dragons, causing him to be pushed down and briefly scrape over the ground. At the same time, a rumbling sensation sounded from below the ground. Immediately afterwards a gust of searing hot fire basted up from beneath the ground, flying just over the green dragon and hitting Saphira right in the side. Even for a dragon, that hurt, and even Eragon yelped in pain though he caught only a small amount of it. Saphira was forced to let go and the green dragon immediately escaped and flew up into the air.

Saphira managed an unsteady landing while Eragon assessed the damage and healed what damage Saphira allowed him too.

'They somehow planned this,' Saphira said, glaring at the other pair flying overhead. 'Do you think the Rider used magic to force the ground to erupt?'

'Helena could do it easily but she overrides reality, not bends it.' The possibilities that he was facing a Rider with the same abilities as Helena was more than a little worrying.' If not, they would need to know where the fire was close to the surface to guide it with their energy, or predict where it was going to erupt on its own.' This place was called The Burning Plains for a reason and gusts of fame did occasionally erupt from beneath the ground, but he had no idea how they could have predicted where and when such an eruption would come from. 'I will try to attack the other Rider's mind and see if I can learn anything,' Eragon promised.

'Hold on tight. I will need to pull some fast acrobatics if I want to get into another advantageous position,' Saphira warned, and she pushed herself of the ground, flying upwards at an angle. As expected, the green dragon flew to intercept them, now more confident in a confrontation now that it could attack them from above. Eragon tried to assault the mind of the other Rider, but it felt strange, as if it contained multitudes; scores of distinct voices whispering in the cavern of his mind, like imprisoned spirits begging for release.

Just like Helena, Eragon quickly realized that their opponent was backed by multiple Eldunari; the souls of enslaved dragons. This meant that they were unlikely to win a contest magical endurance. If they won, it would be solely due to a difference in skill, not power.

We knew that we'd one day have to fight Galbatorix and that he'd have way more power at his disposal. This shouldn't be as hard as what is to come. Though Eragon had always expected Helena to be here whenever they fought someone like this. She could confront someone's magic, no matter the power, and overcome it. Sadly, I'm all we have right now.

'Should we stall for Helena and Godric to finish of their opponents?' Eragon suggested, knowing Saphira would take it poorly, but he had to suggest it. He genuinely believed that might the wisest move.

'No!' Saphira said, sounding angry. 'We are not second fiddle to those two.' While Eragon knew Saphira liked Godric and Helena, she hated the thought of being second best. She hated it even more when other people believed she and Eragon were second best compared to Helena and Godric, while Eragon didn't mind. It has been the source of many arguments between him and Saphira; her pride and his humility.'

'Fine, but no fighting to the death, remember?'

'I'm not the reckless one,' Saphira said, still sounding angry. 'Prepare yourself.' She jumped back into the sky. The green dragon came to intercept them, now starting from a more advantageous position. Saphira didn't try to manoeuvre around the green dragon, instead accepting the challenge. When they were about to meet, Eragon felt the blood rushing towards his face when Saphira tilted her body so she was upside down and grabbed her opponent's claws in her own. Saphira somersaulted both herself and the green dragon in a large arc and at the end of the end the manoeuvre, Saphira was once again on top. The move had been performed so elegantly that it was almost impossible to tell that one of the dragons had been an unwilling participant.

Saphira let go when the green dragon threatened to bite one of her legs to free itself. She tried to take advantage of her opponents ensuing difficulty in righting himself from his upside down position by clawing at his flesh as she flew by, but the enemy Rider showed his mettle by interjecting his shield where Saphira was about to strike.

Saphira yelped as her claw was brushed off. 'Must have hit it at a wrong angle.'

'Bad luck.' Eragon said trying to sense if Saphira was injured from the pain she was feeling. 'Is it bad?'

Saphira scoffed inside his head. 'I'm not so fragile that I'd break a claw just from that.'

Saphira was the better flyer between the two dragons on top of being bigger and faster. Eragon could tell that much, yet to him it seemed the green dragon was great in predicting what Saphira was going to do and lucky on top of it all. Faints never worked and he got in several lucky blows the few times they clashed in the sky. The reason Eragon called them lucky was that he didn't even look at where he was hitting half the time; it was more like trashing randomly.

'All right, enough of this,' Saphira said. Eragon knew she was frustrated at having so much trouble with an opponent she could sense wasn't as adapt in the air as her. She charged, intending for another grapple.

Eragon, meanwhile, grabbed his bow. Doing anything complicated was hard while waging a mental battle, but Eragon had been practicing with a bow long before his journey with Saphira had even begun. It was as easy as walking to him.

The green dragon attempted to evade Saphira, but she was simply faster and didn't bother with any clever manoeuvre and simply headed straight for him. In a last ditch effort to avoid the clash, the green dragon dove downwards.

'Coward. That just puts him in a worse position,' Saphira sneered.

'Be careful. They might be trying the same trick as before.'

'I'll be careful,' Saphira said.

They didn't try to use the same trick as before, instead they seemed ready to dive into the river beside the battle.

Knowing that if they were going for a dive, his arrow would soon be useless he let loose a shot mid-flight. Their opponents had been so lucky this fight Eragon was surprised when his shot actually hit the enemy Rider, though it was unlikely to cause much damage given the armour he wore.

'Of course your shot hit. You give yourself too little credit, as always,' Saphira said. 'Now brace yourself, hold your breath and press yourself to my neck.' Both dragons folded their wings and dived into the water. The water was reasonably deep for a river, but it still took almost the whole debt for the resistance to slow both dragons down enough for them to not crash at the bottom. The green dragon kicked up a large amount sand when he hit the ground, and even more when Saphira crashed down on top of him.

It was instinct more than anything that caused Eragon to utter the next spell. "Sharjalvi!" The sand that threatened to temporarily blind all parties was moved just enough to prevent just that.

Dragons were heavy, but not as heavy as something of that size would suggest. This gave them a great deal of buoyancy underwater. This, Eragon realized, was why the green dragon had chosen to come here, where Saphira's larger size and weight wouldn't be as big an advantage. With one shove, Saphira was thrown upwards, prevented only from going further up by her grip on the green dragon's shoulders. Both dragons tried to bite the other, but were also wary of exposing their neck, which meant that neither could extend themselves very far. Saphira was forced to let go unless she wanted her paw bitten. Both dragons circled each other in the water, and occasionally swiped at each other with their claws, but resistance induced by the water made everything slower and so less dangerous.

After about fifteen seconds of this, Eragon wondered if their opponents had some spell that allowed them to breath underwater. Eragon knew that there was oxygen in the water and he could summon that into an air bubble, but he also knew that 100% oxygen wasn't particularly healthy to breath, especially not when under high pressure like when underwater. Eragon couldn't recall why that was a bad idea, but he did vaguely recall from Oromis' lessons it was supposed to be unhealthy. It would still beat choking to death, but he still asked Saphira if she could move them back to the river bank. Besides, if the enemy wanted to be here, that was a good reason for them to be anywhere else.

Saphira tried to disengage, but the green dragon managed to bite at her tail when she tried to move upwards. She let loose an underwater roar that caused a wave of bubbles to erupt and moved to slash at her opponents face, but he let her go before she could reach him.

Her original intention to move the fight back in the air momentarily forgotten, she followed to green dragon back down, livid, wanting to at least get one good hit in right now.

'Saphira no!' Eragon tried to say but it was too late, and the two dragons were once again grappling one another. Saphira did eventually try to disengage again, once Eragon started to feel the need to breath, but the green dragon didn't seem inclined to let them go.

Eragon was just about to start devising some spell to pull oxygen out of the water in a bubble to breath when the other Rider pushed himself off of his saddle towards the surface. It seemed he wasn't the only one in need of breath. He'd been reluctant to leave Saphira behind when facing two opponents, but with the other Rider out of the picture, he felt comfortable leaving her to deal the green dragon for a while.

He pushed himself off of Saphira, swimming towards the surface and the other Rider. It was difficult, being as he was clad in armour, but he still managed to reach the surface and took a grateful gulp of air when his head broke the water. Not far from him, the other Rider was climbing to his feet and turned his helmeted face in his direction.

Saphira had shown she was a match for the other dragon. Now it was his turn.

Eragon draw his sword and held it in a guard position. 'Before we do this, I need to know. Why do you fight for the empire?'

His opponent laughed and to his surprise it sounded like woman's laugh. 'I care nothing for the empire. I fight for Galbatorix himself.' And from the way she said it, she fought willingly.

Eragon tried to steel himself for the possibility that he'd need to kill this enemy and charged, the water at his feet splashing upwards with each step. He could understand a Rider fighting for the empire; fighting to protect their homes like many in the imperial army no doubt did. He held no sympathy for the answer this Rider gave. Still, he really hoped he'll be able to simply incapacitate her on account of her gender. He hated the thought that he might have to kill a women, even an evil one. Saphira, Helena, Arya Nasuada, Oromis and a host of other people he knew would no doubt berate him for his reluctance, but he couldn't help it. It was simply how he was raised.

The other Rider pulled out a blade of dark purple and met his charge. They traded a few testing blows before moving apart. Eragon studied the enemies blade carefully, something that didn't' go unnoticed.

"You like it?" She said, turning and showcasing her blade. "She's one of the Rider blades Galbatorix managed to salvage."

"One of the ones he stole, you mean," Eragon retorted.

She shrugged. "What use do the dead have for them? Anyway, Galbatorix gave her to me. I think he mentioned the sword had a name before, but I admit I don't remember it, and I don't really care honestly. I was given permission to rename her so now its name is Maela"

'Maela', Eragon knew, was the elvish word for 'silence'.

"The name of my sword is Brisingr, and my name is– "

"I know who you are, Eragon" she cut him off and attacked him. Even as he backed away and fended of her attacks, Eragon wondered at the hostility with which she spoke his name.

"I'd like to know the name of my enemy," Eragon said between slashes. His opponent didn't answer immediately, instead continuing her attack, which Eragon had no trouble fending off. She didn't seem to be much better at melee than even Helena, though she did have supernatural strength and speed. When she overextended her swing Eragon instinctively took the opening, taking a step forward, and promptly lost his balance when he slipped over a lose slip of mud. His opponent immediately took advantage with astonishing speed, grabbed his arm and twisted it so when she pushed him further to the ground his elbow hyperextended itself painfully.

Eragon let loose a cry of pain, but also immediately recovered to intercept his opponents blade and forced her to let loose of his arm.

"Waíse heill," Eragon muttered through gritted teeth. The spell didn't take a lot of energy, but the pain did linger. He again grabbed his sword with both hands and was glad when his other arm responded to his commands.

His opponent took a step back however and slowly opened the vizier of her helm. "No," Eragon whispered in horror.

Her face was smooth and round, and he could see wild unwashed black hair falling behind her shoulder. Her eyes were of a blueish purple and looked unusually large and wide for her face. What really drew Eragon's attention however was the silver dragon tattoo on her forehead, the Gedwëy Ignasia.

Eragon knew of only one who had the Gedwëy ignasia on her forehead.

She grinned at him. "Hello Eragon. My name is Elva and I am very glad to finally meet you."

- at about the same time -

"Please, tell me you're here against your will?" Helena asked.

A look of incredible weariness came over Murtagh's face. "I don't see how that matters at this point, but yes. I wouldn't be here if I had a choice. You know what I wanted. I wanted to leave it all behind, but fate has ever been my enemy," Murtagh looked up to where his dragon was still fighting Godric. "Though I can't say it

has been entirely bad."

"He has your true names then?" Helena guessed.

"Yes."

"So what are your orders? Maybe we can work around them?"

"My orders are to try and fight and capture you, and present you to the king. And even if I could find a way around such a command, what would be the point? After today, this war will be over. For whatever it's worth, Helena, I am sorry."

From what Helena could tell, Murtagh seemed sincere in his apology. That kind of pissed her off for some reason. "You've given up."

"On escaping? Yes. On life? No. I'll continue to try to make the best of my and Thorn's situation and that means not antagonising Galbatorix even further. Like I said, I am sorry."

"So much for being here against your will," Helena said harshly. "You have given up and are now collaborating to save yourself."

Murtagh opened his mouth to retort, closed it, nodded to himself and said. "I guess there is some truth to that."

Helena took a deep breath. Time to stay true to her name. "Well, I'll never give up, not even on you. I'll find a way to free you from your chains."

Murtagh gave her a smile that was full of exasperation. "And risk all the lives of your allies I will be forced to kill in the meantime,"

He had a point, but. . . "Well, unlike you, I have chosen to be a hero. You're clearly a damsel in distress, so I can't just kill you. I will do my best to save you." Helena couldn't help but adding with some hostility. "Even if you don't deserve it."

"Ha!" Murtagh gave that mocking laugh she was still so familiar with. "You really haven't changed. You still think your morally superior to me and everyone else."

"Not everyone. Just to someone who would side with evil just to save his own skin."

"It's not just my skin I am trying to save," Helena knew he was talking about his dragon Thorn. "I pity you Helena, I really do." Then without any further warning, he charged.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eragon's thoughts were in chaos. This women, child, was his greatest mistake and he had made plans to try and correct his mistake once he encountered her. He had never imagined meeting her under these circumstances, but those plans were like an anchor to hold on to now.

"Elva, I know that I wronged you, and I can't imagine what you must have endured. I humbly ask your forgiveness."

"Well, that's no fun," Elva pouted. "Well, if you want my forgiveness, you'll have to earn it."

"The elves taught me how to undo a spell, and I believe I can free you of your curse. It won't be easy, but it can be done."

"Too late. Galbatorix already lifted my curse."

Eragon had feared as much. "Is that why you are loyal to him?"

"Shouldn't I be? He did me a great service."

"How did he lift the curse? Since Galbatorix didn't cast the curse himself, he couldn't have removed the curse completely."

"You're right, of course, and I suspect you already know what was done instead. A new spell was place upon me, one that counteracted the annoying bits of your curse."

Annoying bits? Eragon has thought Elva would want to get rid of all of it all. "You were to be a shield to guard against the misfortune of others. What part of that isn't annoying?"

"Your spell was a torment, and I do not like to think back on those days. I could not sleep or rest. I was forced to abandon my crib to go into the cold night to go and fulfil the purpose you forced on me. I remember wishing for death often, but even that, my curse never allowed, for the dead cannot be a shield to misfortune." Elva's words hit him almost like a physical blow. It was even worse than he had feared. "When Galbatorix offered to remove the curse, I hoped he could turn me back into what I was. To destroy this horrid creature I had become and turn me back into a child. But after he first attempted to undo the curse something unexpected happened. I was still aware of all the pains that were and could be, but I felt no compulsion to undo them. When I had the power to ignore the suffering of others. . . I can hardly describe it." Elva's eyes sparked as if she was close to crying. "It was like feeling warm for the first time when before I was slowly freezing to death. It was wonderful in a way no mere words can describe. Galbatorix offered to try again, but I refused. I didn't want to forget. I wanted to always remember how wonderful it is to not be cursed."

"But you can still feel the pain of others?"

"I am aware of it, yes."

"Then why, or even how, can you fight, especially for Galbatorix? You must know he is the source of much pain."

"I told you, I can ignore it."

"But you still know it."

"Empathy is not the same as sympathy. If I ever had the capacity for sympathy, your curse washed it away when every tiny bit of misfortune someone else felt made my life worse. The whole world could burn around me, and it wouldn't faze me. No, there are only two people whose fortune matter to me. My own, and Firnen. I am grateful to Galbatorix, but even his pain doesn't bother me, not that he needs my help."

"Firnen, is your dragon? What does he think about you willingly serving Galbatorix?"

"It is not a problem." Eragon noticed a pause before Elva's answer and a troubled look in her eye that made him suspect that was an outright lie. "In any case, you said you wanted to atone, right?" Elva smiled. "You can't undo your curse, so how will you make it up to me?"

"What do you want?"

"I know you won't let me capture you, but maybe you could let me hurt you a little?" her words sounded far too innocent for what she was suggesting. "It's only fair, after all."

'Eragon!' Saphira's voice sounded in his head. She had been content to let him face this problem on his own, but this seemed to be a step to far.

"There is more at stake here than just us two, Elva. I won't deny I have an obligation to you, but I have an obligation to the world as well."

Elva scoffed. "Oh please, it's not like you matter. You could die right here and it wouldn't affect the outcome of this war in the slightest. Did you know we were originally only supposed to come fight you after the battle had already exhausted you? Yet when Helena's magic threatened to crush our army by herself we knew we had to come and face her immediately. It seems to me that either Godric and Helena can defeat Galbatorix or they can't." As if to emphasize her point, the earth beneath their feed shook in a display of power Eragon knew could only have come from Helena. "Face it Eragon, you're irrelevant. Galbatorix knows it, the Varden know, and you know it."

The terrible thing was that Elva wasn't saying anything Eragon hadn't thought to himself many times already. "If I am so unimportant, then why does Galbatorix still want me alive?"

"Good question. The answer is that he really doesn't. He just doesn't want to damage Saphira. That's all really. Beyond that, you're irrelevant. If we were to fight, you know justice would be on my side. You deserve to lose."

'Eragon,' Saphira's called out to him, even as Eragon knew she was fighting her own opponent still underwater.

Elva smiled wildly. That wide smile and the too large eyes were one of the most haunting things Eragon had ever seen. She drew her purple sword and telegraphed her next strike. "If you want to earn my forgiveness, just stand still."

And Eragon did.

'Eragon!' Saphira's panicked voice sounded one more time before Elva's sword cut into him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Out of the ground, a huge curtain of fire appeared along with Helena's wave.

Murtagh's appearance briefly disappeared behind the flame, but in an instant he stormed out of the inferno towards her. Whatever the magical price for guarding himself from the flames was, he obviously considered it worth it if he could get close to her.

Helena prepared her staff but still wasn't ready to concede to melee. She slammed the spear end of her staff in the ground and a huge earthquake shook the ground. Murtagh stumbled and gouts of flame appeared out of the newly created cracks in the earth. He managed to keep his balance though and continued his charge while yelling his defiance."

Tapping the ground again with her staff, the ground beneath her, which had been cracked so it formed a small island surrounded by flame, shot towards the sky. Helena was forced to one knee due to the speed of the movement.

"Your magic is even more bulshit than I remember!" Murtagh yelled at her.

Helena ignored him and summoned a continuous stream of lighting downward to drain Murtagh's wards. "Tell me when you're low on energy. I don't want to hurt you by accident."

Murtagh responded by throwing all his mental might, bolstered by several enslaved dragon souls, at her defences. Helena focused on clearing her mind in the more difficult form of occlumency, giving the attack nothing to cling to.

"Stenr jierda!" Murtagh yelled and the tower upon which Helena stood started to topple over. Helena knew this was a feat that would force Eragon to his knees in exhaustion, but Murtagh still seemed capable of running towards where Helena would land.

Thinking quickly, Helena elongated her staff until it hit the ground and served as a pole to guide her fall. Murtagh was having none of this however, and kicked the base of her pole so she was once again falling uncontrollably. She did manage to reach the ground just before Murtagh and once again turned it into trampoline to break her fall and be flung further away. Murtagh didn't intent to give her a moment's rest and gave further chase.

Out of corner of Helena's vision she could hear the large stone tower she created crash into the ground. She pointed her staff and all the small pebbles that broke off from the pillar, or were flung into the air due the crash turned into a swarm of leaves that swirled around her and carried her safely down.

"Complete bullshit, I say!" Murtagh yelled at her while she next turned the leaves into a swarm of angry bees that headed straight for him.

Murtagh tried to charge through the hazard but when Helena hit the ground again with her staff, the ground between them turned into a viscous mud like substance, slowing Murtagh.

"Should have just done this from the start," Helena muttered and lowered the viscosity of the ground until Murtagh sank to just below his shoulders until his midriff before turning the ground back to normal. Murtagh burned the angry bees away with a quick brisingr, but now he was stuck.

Helena let out a relieved breath and brushed a bead of sweet from her forehead. As short as that had been, it was intense. She could hear her own heart beating in her chest. "Got anything more? I do still have other places I need to be," Helena said, looking towards the battle of the two armies. It was hard to tell from here, but she got the impression that without her support, the Varden were having a lot of trouble.

Murtagh gave her a venomous look, but didn't say anything. A roar sounded and they both looked towards the east sky. Thorn was heading right towards them, Godric hot on his tail. Helena prepared to defend herself, but Thorn ignored her and landed right next to Murtagh, moving over him and snarling at her.

'You won't harm him,' a new voice sounded in her head. Deep, like Godric, though more gravelly.

'Believe it or not, but I've always had your Riders best interests at heart,' Helena said as Godric landed next to her. 'just let me stun the two of you, and you have my word you'll be fine.' Thorn glared at them resentfully. "Face it, you've lost," Helena said out loud.

"Enough my friend," Murtagh said, still stuck in the ground. "Let's just give her what she wants. It's not like it matters." Murtagh looked at a point in the sky behind her. Helena turned to see what he saw – she needed Godric's eyes to spot it – and for the first time in this battle felt the beginnings of real fear.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A grunt of pain could be heard at the river bank where Elva and Eragon faced off, yet despite the blade having cut into his side, it didn't came from Eragon.

"Let go of me!" Elva yelled as she tried to pull her hand out of the vice like grip Eragon had on her hand; her sword hand that was also grabbing the blade embedded in Eragon's flesh. "It hurts!"

"Indeed it does," Eragon said through a hiss, referring to his own pain. "I hope your vengeance is satisfied." With his other free hand he slammed the pommel of his sword into Elva's face, causing her to fall to the ground, letting go of her blade in the process. Eragon carefully pulled the blade in his sides free and healed the flesh it had cut. Next, he swung the purple blade far into the river.

Elva crawled back to her feet and pulled out a dagger from somewhere. With a yell of anger she came at him, slashing at him wildly. Under normal circumstances Eragon would have nothing but contempt for her pathetic technique, but Elva was no normal opponent. Still, if he guess was correct, he wouldn't be caught off guard by her curse again.

Eragon presented his hand and within seconds he managed the grab Elva's knife. Eragon fought to ignore the pain as the hilt of the knife bit into his hand, though the metal glove he wore prevented it from going dangerously deep. At the same time Eragon's other hand grabbed Elva's arm and he forced her back to the ground, prying the knife out of her hand.

Eragon calmly pointed the tip of Brisingr at Elva's throat. She looked at him in terror, for once looking like the young child Eragon knew she actually was.

"Your curse. It lets you know what can cause someone pain, that's how you and Firnen managed to get all those lucky blows, and how you knew where to fly so the eruption of flame from the ground would hit us.," Eragon said.

Elva didn't say anything, instead keeping her eyes on the blade pointed at her throat.

"But if you truly have perfect future vision, you would have already won. It also doesn't say what will cause you pain, if it did, I would never have been able to hit you with that arrow earlier. You know what you need to do or say to cause pain, but that's all you know. Not how to actually win."

And once Eragon had guessed that, it wasn't hard for him to exploit it. He had confirmed it earlier when Elva struck into his sides. Eragon resolved he would prevent any strike except one that would hit a specific point in his armour, a point where his armour would hopefully prevent the sword from going too deep. Just as he expected, Elva's curse guided her to strike at the only point where the result would cause him pain. When he knew where the attack would land, taking advantage of it was easy. And he was able to do it again when she came at him with a knife.

"Please don't hurt me," Elva begged.

"I won't. Everything that happened to you and what you've become can rightfully be called my fault. You're still my responsibility and I still intend to fix my mistake. But I have more responsibilities than just to you Elva, so I can't just let you maim me."

Saphira finally emerged from the water, dragging a bleeding and clearly incapacitated Firnen behind her. 'You scared me,' Saphira said to him.

'I'm sorry. There was no time to explain'

"Lower your wards so I can put you to sleep," Eragon commanded.

"I won't," Elva said, trying and failing to sound confident. If anything she sounded hysterical. "You, you just said you won't kill me, so there is nothing you can threaten me with."

Eragon sighed and leaned down, placing his hand over Elva's mouth and nose, and also placing his foot under her head to make sure she didn't go under the shallow water. She struggled for a time, but eventually passed out due to oxygen deprivation.

'Thank you, Eragon,' a voice that Eragon quickly guessed was Firnen's, spoke to him. His voice was surprisingly soft for a male dragon's. "I can't deny I hold some resentfulness for what you have done to Elva, but you're as honourable a person as I could have hoped for.'

'Thank you. And I'm sorry,' Eragon responded.

'Elva has potential, but Galbatorix prayed on her desperation and now tries to twist that potential to his own ends. I try to protect her from his manipulations, but the wounds your curse inflicted on her run deep. She is bitter and wants to world the understand just a bit of what she went through. I assure you Eragon, if she wanted vengeance, that papercut in your side wouldn't come close to evening the score.'

'I'll fix this somehow,' Eragon promised. 'I admit, I have idea how, but I must try.'

'Then all I can do is have faith and hope,' Firnen said. A new roar sounded across the horizon, faint almost inaudible if it wasn't for his elvish hairing. 'And I fear my faith may be tested soon.'

Through Saphira's vision Eragon saw, far into the distance, a pair of black wings.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Helena tried to suppress her rising panic. While a part of her had hoped she'd have a chance to end the war for good, she in no way felt ready for this.

"I warned you that after today the war would be over. Again, I'm sorry, but your so called heroism will come to naught." Murtagh said. "Galbatorix just wanted to find out how far me and the others had progressed. He didn't actually count on our victory. I think Galbatorix counts only on himself."

"Hence why he is here in person," Helena said.

"I know you won't, but you should consider surrendering. Trust me, whatever you're going to try won't work, and it will just get more people killed. How long will that army of yours hold-out without your help? Or are you so arrogant you can defeat Galbatorix himself while still helping the Varden?"

'Our time is better spend otherwise than arguing with him.' Godric said. Helena couldn't argue with him on that and quickly remounted on Godric. Within seconds she contacted Eragon. 'I've won my fight. What's your status?'

'My opponents are taken care of. Alive, but they won't be moving any time soon. What do we do?'

'There is only one thing we can do. We must fly to meet him, though I should go warn Nasuada first.' And check up on the rest of the army while I'm there. See if they are holding in our absence. Godric jumped in the air moved towards the fighting armies.

'By my estimate we have maybe two minutes.' Helena would have judged it to be less, but she trusted Eragon's eyes before her own. 'I'll go make sure the other two pairs are secure and won't be helping Galbatorix.'

'My opponent was Murtagh.' She said, and she could sense Eragon shock through the mental contact. 'I am sure you can talk to him after all this is done.' The only question was which of the two would be in chains.

Godric flew over the flank by the river and it didn't look good. Without dragons and riders, the empires greater numbers began to count. This was especially true on the flank furthest from the river where the empire could stretch its line to start enveloping the Varden.

The only place that was holding was where her animated soldiers were still fighting. If only I could make more of them. There was nothing on the stony ground that had enough of an identity to hold such a complex enchantment for long though. But as she searched the battlefield with her new senses, she discovered that wasn't actually true anymore.

A possible solution appeared before her, but it was horrifying to contemplate.

'Nasuada!' Helena called once she found the woman's mind, projecting as much urgency in her voice as she could. 'Look to the horizon upwards the river.' They were close enough that even human eyes could spot them now.

'Then you know where your focus needs to be,' Nasuada said.

'You're losing here,' Helena pointed out.

'You can't afford to be distracted and Galbatorix won't wait for you.'

'What if I have a spell that could even the odds here?' Helena said.

'If you have such a thing, why didn't you use it before?' Nasuada asked harshly.

'I couldn't use it in the beginning and it's. . . bad. people really won't like it, but it might save their lives.'

'I don't care what people think. If you can save my people, do it.' Nasuada ordered.

But even with Nasuada approval, she hesitated.

It's unnatural, disrespectful.

It will save lives.

Everyone will hate you.

That last thought only strengthened her resolve. She wouldn't flinch from her purpose just because she'd lose popularity.

At her direction, Godric flew past the battle lines. Red light shone from them upon the battlefield. Within a few seconds, wherever they past, fallen soldiers and Varden stood up again, their lifeless eyes glowing red.

'That won't go over well,' Godric warned, completely redundantly.

'I can't let their dislike stop me from saving them.' That was the heroic thing to do, right?

'Still a martyr,' Godric accused. 'We'll talk about this later.'

They quickly joined up with Saphira and Eragon in the sky. Helena felt like she should say something to them; some last words of encouragement, maybe even a goodbye? One way or another this could be the beginning of the end for their journey together. There was just too much she wanted to say, and not enough time or words to say them in.

'I love you,' Eragon said to her.

He always was better at this than me. 'I love you too.'

Helena thought she might only just make it in time to Eragon before Galbatorix was upon them. But it looked like he was still a minute away. The reason she kept underestimating the distance he and Shruikan were at was soon apparent. Shruikan was ginormous. He casted a shadow over the land larger and darker than most clouds. Shruikan dwarfed even Glaedr. Saphira and Godric were kittens attacking an elephant. Both younger dragons could easily fit into its jaw.

'How fast are they?' she asked Godric, who she knew could judge that much better as her.

'About as fast us right now, but I can't tell if they can go faster,' he said.

Larger, thus stronger, and maybe faster. Wonderful. A head on struggle like they had with their fellow juniors was out of the question. They'd need to land on Shruikan and climb his back. Shruikan's neck looked long and flexible enough to attack them, even there, but it might allow them to attack Galbatorix directly. Helena knew that wasn't a good plan, but she couldn't think of anything better.

Saphira and Godric separated, each wanting to pass Shruikan by one side so that at least one would be at his back.

At this distance she could see Galbatorix himself. A figure wearing splendid armour of black and silver. He did not wear a helmet, and through Godric's enhanced vision she could see his features. He had tanned skin and a handsome face, not like an elf with its graceful beauty, but like a human with rougher features, deep black hair, and a well-trimmed stubble. He didn't look a day over forty.

"I understand you'll want to test me!" Galbatorix voice sounded. He didn't bother to try and commune telepathically, not that they would have allowed him into their minds without a fight, but instead enhanced his voice so it was clearly audible over the blowing of the wind. "Feel free. We shall talk once you are satisfied."

Shruikan make no move to intercept either of the two younger dragons. This also meant he didn't slow down as they passed him, and only Saphira managed to turn fast enough to grab unto Shruikan's body. It felt weird seeing Saphira's normally imposing image clinging to Shruikan's skin. It illustrated the difference in size between the two like nothing else could. She was like a mouse climbing a bear.

Through Helena, Godric called upon the wind to help him gain speed and catch up to Shruikan. At the same time Helena also called forth a stream of magic in order to press against whatever wards Galbatorix had in place. She expected his power to be immense, but it still had to be finite.

Saphira was swiftly moving her way up Shruikan's body, racing between his neck spikes, in order to reach the black king. Helena paid close attention, ready to help in whatever way she could once they reached him. When Saphira almost reached his neck, Shruikan made his move. Dragons were not made for climbing and Saphira's climb involved a lot of jumping, which meant she was completely separated from Shruikan's scales for short intervals. Within these short intervals, Shruikan suddenly dived downwards, accelerating faster than anything of that size had any right to. Saphira was sucked downwards with the displaced air. Shruikan turned and swiped at her with his claw. It missed, but yet again Saphira was blow away by the generated winds. She managed to right herself quickly, but she was now far below them.

Godric was also sucked downwards, but his descent was more controlled since he had been farther away and so the turbulence wasn't as strong. Helena was able to help guide the wind so that it brought Godric to Shruikan's neck where he could breathe fire on Galbatorix himself. It didn't even singe the saddle, but she had expected as much. Using the cover of the large flames, Helena took the opportunity to summon several small rocks from her pocket, expanded them to the size of boulders and shot them towards Galbatorix. His wards were strong enough to divert the rocks, but they still landed on Shruikan. Helena thought she could sense the giant black dragon flinch from the impact, maybe, hopefully.

Then Godric had to retreat since Shruikan's neck bent until he threatened the bite them clear in two.

We are like mosquitoes to this thing, Helena thought.

Shruikan made no move to pursue them. Instead he simply flew lazy circles in the air, waiting for them.

'He clearly wants to talk,' Gordric commented.

'Of course. Villains just love the sound of their own voice,' Helena responded. Talking would accomplish nothing good, she knew. 'Keep trying to attack. Provoke him. Try and force him to use magic on us. And see if you can get above him again.'

Godric could indeed get above Shruikan because he again made no move to stop them. Helena took several more rocks from her pouch, but instead of enlarging them and firing, she instead tried to increase its weight to ludicrous proportions before releasing them above them. Where they landed black scales were torn and Shruikan was briefly knocked off course. It was a pity she couldn't drop them from higher, but then they could have been intercepted or dodged.

Within seconds though, the wounds she had inflicted healed over. That has to be costly, she hoped.

Shruikan continued to fly in a leisurely pace, not pursuing either Godric or Saphira.

Helena could feel Godric frustration, mixed with not a little bit of fear. She felt it herself. It was obvious what they were doing. They were saying 'Come at us. There is not a thing you can do to stop us. Tell us when you realize this so we can discuss your surrender.' Intellectually, Helena knew this was a good thing, since this would be exponentially more dangerous and difficult if Galbatorix was taking this fight seriously. At a more base level, however, that kind of confidence was intimidating like nothing Helena had ever seen. What if that confidence was justified?

Saphira and Godric grouped up again and they were given the time and opportunity to talk telepathically.

Saphira and Godric wanted to try and reach Shruikan's neck and throat again. Eragon wanted to try and climb unto Shruikan's back himself in the hopes of crossing sword with Galbatorix.

Helena wanted them all to play it safe. Even now, she was pushing against the kings wards and draining his energy. If Galbatorix wasn't planning to take them seriously, they should punish him for it.

'If Galbatorix isn't worried about the drain on his reserves, then that means he has reason not to be worried,' Saphira told her. 'And if he feels that your magic is becoming a threat to him, he might decide to stop holding back. I fear we wouldn't be able to withstand such an onslaught.'

Eragon finished his dragon's thought. 'We must take advantage of the opportunity we have now, and win this fight with one deadly strike, before they start fighting for real.'

They raised good points, and so they continued on the offensive. It was tempting to just charge recklessly and count on the enemy not taking advantage of easy openings, but none of them did that. Despite Galbatorix not fighting seriously, they feared he would punish them if they tried to do the same. And so, Godric and Saphira again came from above.

Galbatorix seemed to want to show off some more, since he didn't bother to have Shruikan dodge in any conventional way. Instead they sped up too such speed that it was difficult for Saphira and Godric to keep up, let alone attack them. As they neared closer, the turbulence from the giant speeding dragon again started to become a problem. Godric, through Helena's magic, was able to mitigate those troublesome winds, but the effort was so great that Helena had to temporarily abandon her attempts to drain Galbatorix's wards.

Helena was convinced that the only reason they were eventually able to reach Shruikan's back was because they were allowed to do so. Which means he isn't worried. We need to do something he won't expect. Helena tried some of her more esoteric and weird spells on Shruikan to see if she could bypass the wards, but she didn't even get that far. Shruikan was so large that most of her spells just refused to take. In the same manner that she couldn't just vanish an entire mountain or cathedral, she couldn't just curse Shruikan.

This time Saphira was more careful and didn't jump so high that she'd fall for the same trick as last time. They were going slower as a result, but were making steady progress. Occasionally Godric or Saphira tried to test Shruikan's skin, but neither was able to penetrate the black scales. Leaving some white scratch marks were the most the younger dragons were accomplishing.

Still, they were getting close enough to Galbatorix that it looked that they were about to reach him, when Galbatorix contributed to the 'fight' for the first time. Helena had felt what it was like when Murtagh launched a mental attack at her boosted by several enslaved dragon souls. This time she felt like a tsunami of pain and despair was trying to blow her very soul out of her body. Emptying her mind was the only way to even begin to put up a defence, and it left her completely paralyzed. Worse, it was clear Eragon, Saphira, and Godric were all hit by the same mental assault. Without any effort on Shruikan's part, Saphira and Godric just tumbled down from Shruikan's back. Helena didn't even notice they were falling until Galbatorix stopped his assault, and she didn't doubt he could have kept that up until they fell to their deaths.

'Helena,' Eragon contacted her, and she could sense the fear in him that there was truly nothing they could do to this enemy.

'Just keep attacking. Frustrate him and exhaust his patience,' Helena told him. She still had something she wished to try.

And so they kept trying, and none of their attempts worked any better than the previous one. Shruikan could out speed them, and knock them out of the air with the very wind of his movements. If they got past that, then Galbatorix just repeated the wave of mental pressure from the dragon souls to paralyze them. It was difficult to keep mustering up energy real determination during their attacks, knowing how hopeless they were.

"Alright, enough children," Galbatorix enhanced voice sounded. Seconds afterwards they were all suspended in mid-air.

This was exactly the moment Helena had been hoping for.

She couldn't move a muscle, but that didn't prevent her from using magic. First, she cast the biggest blast of light and sound she was capable off, purely as a distraction. Next, she focused her mind on a point as far away from here as possible. A point she had specifically memorised for this purpose. A point at the farthest point northeast of Alagaesia she has ever been; far in Du Weldenvarden beyond where the enchantments over that forest prevented magical travel.

What she was attempting was difficult. Apparition required a will to move somewhere, and she was trying to force herself to a point very far away from Godric, something anathema to her Rider instincts. Yet she had a lot of incentive to want this to succeed. Galbatorix was succeeding in his 'I am so far out of your league' demonstration, and this was the best plan she had.

She felt the familiar squeezing sensation and dearly hoped Galbatorix was distracted enough by the light and sound explosion not to stop her apparition, something she didn't doubt he was capable off.

She felt no further resistance when she popped out in the middle of a foresty area, still suspended in mid-air due to Galbatorix spell still holding her in place. With difficulty, Helena ignored the mental anguish of suddenly being cut off from Godric's mind and pushed her magic against the spell holding her.

This was her big plan to beat Galbatorix. Alagasian magic became harder the further you are away from someone in a linear fashion. Right now, not only was she pressing her infinite magical energy against Galbatorix's limited one, it was like she was doing it with the help of a lever that was longer than most countries. She didn't care how much energy he had. His power should snap within seconds; before he even had time to– "

The air directly in front of her exploded in a burst of light and Galbatorix himself now stood directly in front of her. "Where do you think you are–"

Helena apparated back towards Godric with far greater ease than she had when leaving. She couldn't let him trap her alone with him in the middle of a forest.

She appeared in the air above Godric, still suspended and unable to even fall. Godric had been released though and was flying circled around her. She couldn't spot Saphira anywhere.

The same explosion of light from before marked Galbatorix's return.

That doesn't look like apparition, Helena thought. That looks like the alagasian form of teleportation. Oromis had demonstrated and explained how it worked. It's energy requirements didn't change with distance, but teleporting something the size of Saphira's egg was enough to leave someone like Arya too exhausted to move. Even for a Rider doing so was difficult, and Galbatorix could seemingly teleport his whole body with little difficulty.

"You really have nothing to be ashamed off," Galbatorix said, sounding almost sympathetic. "That really was a brilliant trick. That would have killed me if you fought me even a few decades earlier. Even now that came closer to beating me than I ever believed was possible at this point. But you won't be trying that teleportation trick again." Galbatorix pointed his hand and Godric was again caught in the air, unable to move. The king jumped off of Shruikan and guided them all towards the ground. Shruikan landed some distance away from them.

'What do we do now?' Godric asked her and she could tell he was panicking.

'I am still pressing my energy against his,' Helena said, but also started think their cause was hopeless. That had been her best trick.

"Tell me, what is it that you want?" Galbatorix asked, having landed smoothly on his feet.

"You don't care about what I want," Helena answered

Galbatorix sighs. "Correction. I don't have to care about you want. You are beaten, and you must realize that by now. Just taking you with me, breaking your minds, and turning you into obedient slaves is something that I am capable off. Yet I prefer it if my most important subjects serve me willingly. So I ask again, what do you want? Maybe we can negotiate."

Helena didn't answer, still thinking furiously about some way she could turn this situation around. Where were his Eldunari?

"Think on it," Galbatorix continued. "You could plead for my help to travel to your old world. You might plead for leniency for the Varden after they lose the war. I heard you take objection to some of the corruption in my kingdom? Serve me willingly and I will give you leave to tackle that issue with my blessing. Tell me, what is that you want?"

"What if I asked you to release the Eldunari you have enslaved?"

Galbatorix scoffed. "I am many things, but I am not a fool. The Eldunari are a large part of my power, without which you might have been able to beat me."

"They are living thinking creatures. They are not just a part of your power." Even now she could feel an echo of the torrent of pain and despair carried by the dragon souls when they attacked them. Any attempt at being reasonable by Galbatorix was waste of time when he was responsible that.

"Call them whatever you like, the pinnacle of military victory is to capture your enemies resources intact and use them for your own benefit. I would not have gotten as far as I had without taking every advantage. Those dragons were my enemies and resisted me to the last. So, consider what will happen to you depending on your choice. You still have a chance to live a full life after this. If pure altruism drives you, then you can still help the world within the restrictions I will place on you." Galbatorix asked again, patiently. "And feel free to keep pressing against my wards if you want. Eldunari naturally regenerate energy, and together they recover energy faster than you force me to expend it."

"Now I ask again, what is that you want?"

Would it be so bad? Helena couldn't stop herself from thinking. If the choice was become like those Eldunari or submission, what could she do? The situation just looked so hopeless. Fighting to the last and dying for what she believed in might not even be an option.

The air behind Galbatorix shimmered and Eragon seemed to appeared out of nowhere. Helena recognised what Eragon did as bending the light around him to achieve a form of invisibility. He had his sword out and was already bringing it down by the time he appeared. At the same time, Saphira also appeared right above the black king.

Time seemed to slow down as Galbatorix slowly moved his head to the side, presenting his neck to Eragon's blade as in invitation. Brisingr stopped less than an inch away from his flesh by some invisible barrier. Saphira was frozen in the air with a whisper from Galbatorix's lips. Both were thrown to join Godric and Helena with a casual movement of Galbatorix's finger.

"Good of you to join us," Galbatorix greeted them warmly and gave them the same offer and questions that he had directed at her.

"I'd rather die," Eragon answered through clenched teeth.

"That's not an option I am afraid. I need all four of you alive."

"Why?" Helena asked.

"Well, technically I only need two of you intact. You, Helena, because I hate to leave an experiment unfinished and a avenue of magic unexplored." He must have read the question on her face since he smiled and produced a familiar holly wand from his pocket along with one loose phoenix feather; both looked severally damaged. "Do you by chance recognise any of these items."

"Where did you get those?"

"The feather found its way to me from a traveling merchant that clearly didn't know the value. It carried a hint of magic completely foreign to this world. I used a ritual to find more of its kind which is how I found the wand. Then I used the same ritual on the wand, but that didn't go quite as planned."

Helena more or less understood what had happened since what Galbatorix was describing was very similar to the ritual that she had planned to use to travel back to her old world. And if it could do that, it would make sense that it could also have brought her here. All it required was an item connected to the place you planned to summon to or from. A feather from Fawkes must have somehow made it way to Alagaesia, which Helena didn't find too hard to believe since if there was any creature capable of just traveling between dimensions with impunity, it was a phoenix. That feather made its way to Galbatorix who used it to summon items or people related to it. Helena suspected that Fawkes would have been summoned, along with her phoenix-feather-wand, yet she doubted even Galbatorix could restrain a phoenix, leaving him with just the wand. Then he repeated the trick with her wand, and if there was a single item that carried the imprint of her soul in the whole universe, it was that wand. She could well believe it could be used as a catalyst to summon her from anywhere. The ritual would have also explained the damaged state of both items. The only thing she didn't understand was why she was summoned to some out-of-the-way-forest and not Galbatorix's own palace.

"Where you trying to capture a phoenix?"

"Is that what it is called? Well, yes, I tried," he answered, confirming her suspicions. "But mostly I just wanted to know what would happen."

"You summoned Helena to this world just because you were curious?" Eragon asked.

"Oh no. I didn't even know who she was. But that feather represented a magical puzzle and a whole new plethora of questions. Why wouldn't I try to figure it out?" he turned his attention back to Helena. "As you can imagine, I have a lot of questions for you girl. The other one I want alive, is you, Saphira. While I am not longer as sure of this as I used to be, considering Godric's existence, you are the last known female dragon in existence. To kill you might be condemning a whole race to the void. You might be surprised to learn that I don't want that."

Saphira's mind contacted her and swiftly conveyed a desperate plan for how they might get out of this mess.

Helena draw her sword Zar'roc and held it too Saphira's neck. She next spoke in elvish, to make her next words magically binding. "One wrong move and I kill both Saphira and myself."

Galbatorix's posture froze. "You two are valuable, but you are not invaluable. Don't do something stupid. Though things may seem bleak, you all still have much to live for."

"You will not take us. You will retreat to Urû'baen and you will stay there," Helena demanded, summoning a knife from her back and holding to her throat for emphasise.

Galbatorix made no aggressive moves, but he did frown at them, looking more disappointed than angry. "You are making me very unhappy." Nobody made a move to respond. "I waited a long time and I can wait a little longer. However, if I leave here empty handed, you must swear that you will come to me within a year. And when you do, none of you will use this trick again."

All four of them made promises in the ancient languages to that effect.

Galbatorix clicked his tongue. "For a supposed bad guy, I seem to do a great deal to preserve your lives, don't you think?" None of them responded, causing him to sigh again. "Very well, I promise to retreat to Urû'baen and not leave for a year." When Helena still made no move to sheath her sword he added. "And I will leave without any of you four in tow." Helena put away her weapons. "I was going to congratulate you on defeating my pupils, but you have put in me in a bad mood."

"How did you find Elva?" Eragon asked.

"I don't feel inclined to answer any more of your questions," Galbatorix looked at a point above them and smiled. "But speak of the devil."

Firnen's green form landed at their clearing soon after.

"I am sorry master. I wasn't strong enough."

Helena knew who this had to be by the gedwëy ignasia on her forehead. That raised a whole new bunch of questions, but that was for later.

"He has been a Rider much longer than you, and no matter how grown your body or how much you've been through, you are very young. We'll talk about your fight when you get back and think of ways you can improve." It somehow felt wrong to hear Galbatorix speak in such a reassuring tone. He sounded like Oromis would when talking to them.

Murtagh arrived not long after with Thorn. He didn't meet anyone's eyes.

"It appears I have failed, young Murtagh." Galbatorix told him. "Are you disappointed? I was hoping you'd get a chance to rekindle your own friendship with these four? I know you've been very lonely these past few months, even with Thorn."

It was plain to see that Murtagh did not appreciate that comment. "May we leave master. Thorn and I are eager to return to the capital."

"In a moment. Do you want your father's sword back," her gestured at Zar'roc at Helena's waist. "It is yours by right, and Helena here has annoyed me greatly today. I would be happy to take it back and give it to you."

Murtagh finally looked at her, but his face was unreadable. "If you want to take Zar'roc back, go right ahead, but I want nothing to do with it."

"Oh very well." Galbatorix made a shooing motion. "Go on then." They didn't need to be told twice and Thorn jumped into the air.

"Well if Murtagh doesn't want the sword, I'll try something else." Galbatorix started to mutter something under his breath. They all knew he was casting a spell, but they were powerless to do anything about it. With the flick of a finger, a bolt of light impacted Godric.

"What did you do?!" Helena demanded. She didn't feel any pain from Godric, but that didn't reassure her.

"That spell will do nothing but feed upon your dragon's own energy at a slowly increasing rate. It will kill him after a year, and weaken him greatly until then. Consider it a further incentive not to keep me waiting." With that, Galbatorix, mounted shruikan, and flew off, Firnen following close behind.

Helena, Godric, Saphira, and Godric were left alone. Nobody spoke for a long time.

"How do we win against that?" Eragon asked finally.

"I don't know of any magic that can overcome that." But right as she said it, a thought occurred. This wasn't the first time she faced an opponent that she had no hope to defeat conventionally. I do know of magic that can overcome that.

'Banish that thought from your head!' Godric warned her.

She couldn't though. It was the one thing she knew that was stronger than the power she had seen Galbatorix wield. A kind of magic that Helena believed was the strongest magic that existed. A magic she had cast once before, saving the lives of many of her friends. It had brought the greatest Dark Lord of her world to his knees and it had saved her own life long ago.

Magic requiring the willing death of a witch or wizard for the sake of another. The love based magic: Sacrificial Protection

Finnally done. This, I see, as the end of act 2 and the beggining of the final act 3.
High school is still sucking away my free time, and I have recently started another project that might take some time away from this. A 'What if Naruto was born female?' what if series on youtube. I know its dangerous to start a new project while this one still isn't finished, but I couldn't help it.
I will say again though, that no matter how long it takes, I will finish this story eventually.

Poor Murtagh. He is an excelent warrior on par with Eragon, but Helena is simply too hax.
And poor. . . everyone really. Galbatorix's power is simply ffing rediculous.