Age of the Dragon 1: Return of the Riders

Chapter 5

A half league from the city, Fallyn arrived to find the boy healing his dragon's many wounds before he came to one that looked dangerous. An arrow embedded in her flight muscles.

"Hold her wing down," the boy called to Murtagh, who had been readying their horses. Clathus trotted over to her with a pleased whinny.

She brushed her fingers over the horse's nose and made her way over as Murtagh rubbed his scrapped jaw after an involuntary jerk of the wing sent him flying.

"She caught me by surprise," he admitted.

"She didn't mean to hurt you," the boy assured.

"Let me see," she said, stepping up to him, and turning his jaw so she could see. She spotted the point where her sword had cut him, and with a quietly murmured word, healed both. "Consider that an apology for the first."

"Apology accepted," Murtagh chuckled, rubbing the first wound's location.

"Um, so, who is this?"

"Fallyn," Murtagh said. "Eragon. Eragon, Fallyn. Apparently, she's been tracking you since she found Brom's tomb."

"You knew Brom?" Eragon questioned.

"I think we have more pressing issues than who I knew when and where," she said, her gaze flickering to the direction of the city.

"She's right," Murtagh said, mounting his horse as she swung up onto Clathus's back. "We need to go."

Eragon hugged the dragon fiercely, then turned and mounted his white horse as Saphira took to the skies. Fallyn's eyes softened at the sight of Arya, sitting limply in the dragon's saddle.

"Soon, my friend, we will speak again."

She looked back, recalling how easy it had been for her to track them, and murmured a quick spell. Now the horses' hooves would appear backward, and the men would not be able to follow the trail.

They rode through the night, and when dawn began to colour the horizon the three stopped their horses.

"I must sleep - whether they catch us or not," Eragon said, looking worse for wear.

"Agreed," Murtagh rubbed his eyes. "Have Saphira land. We'll meet her."

Fallyn turned her horse to follow them, and soon they arrived to find Saphira drinking from a stream at the base of a cliff.

Murtagh and Eragon removed the unconscious elf from the saddle and lay her down. Fallyn was concerned, as Arya hadn't even stirred the entire time she'd been with them.

After a moment, Murtagh spoke up.

"As far as I know, she's the first elf the king has captured," he said. "Ever since they went into hiding, he's been looking for them without success - until now. So he's either found their sanctuary or caught her by chance-"

"Or ambush," this drew the attention of the two humans to their hooded and masked companion.

"You know something?" Eragon questioned.

"I have speculations," she answered. "And foremost is that this was an ambush. Since you saw no others with her, that would imply she was either foolishly traipsing on her own, or she and others were ambushed. The latter is more likely."

"I'd have to agree," Murtagh said. "Especially since if the king had found their hiding place, he would have declared war by now. Which begs the question; Were Galbatorix's men able to extract their location before we rescued her?"