"Calm down, Snail! If you can't control yourself, you'll end up hurting someone!"

Arya seethed with anger and struggled to hold back her tears. Firnen, since his rider had unintentionally interrupted her conversation with Eragon, had been trying to prevent her from further outbursts of anger. The usually composed elf had, in her rage towards Yaela, blindly shattered a stone with her magic and forcefully hurled her handheld mirror towards the setting sun.

"Don't keep telling me to calm down! You know perfectly well how I'm feeling right now!"

"Alright, you leave me no choice..."

After Firnen abruptly ended his lesson with Altaris, gave him the task of fetching his rider, and hastily bid farewell, the green giant shot back to his rider with breathtaking speed. The pitch-black young dragon couldn't even ask the reason, as his teacher vanished so quickly, shielding his mind from the world. As Arya couldn't keep her emotions in check due to grief and anger, and Firnen closed off his mind, the elf didn't notice her soulmate approaching.

The Dragon Rider couldn't react in time as Firnen clasped her in mid-flight and propelled himself upwards with powerful wing beats. The sudden jolt snapped Arya out of her thoughts, and she screamed at her green soulmate in her mind, but he paid no attention and continued ascending. And then Firnen did something he would regret. He let go of his rider. In fast-forward, the green giant could observe his soulmate falling. Her mental cries momentarily subsided as she initially didn't grasp what was happening, but then Arya let out a full-force scream through her lungs. Unable to sustain this spectacle any longer and terrified by the shock and fear in his rider's eyes, Firnen shot after her and skillfully caught her again. Without exchanging a word, Arya climbed onto the back of her dragon and held onto one of his dorsal spikes.

"Do you know why I did that?"

"No."

"That's a shame. Please think thoroughly about your behavior again, and then answer my question once more."

Silence.

Of course, Arya knew why her dragon reacted that way, but she hadn't expected such a frightening free fall. "I'm sorry, Firnen. I may have overreacted."

"Overreacted?! You completely lost control! You allowed your emotions to overwhelm you and gave yourself entirely to your grief! Where is my little Snail who could control her feelings and actions?"

Her dragon's words hit her hard. Had she changed so much that she became insane without her beloved? Silent tears escaped the elf, transformed into salty raindrops by the wind during the flight.

Eragon... I want to see you so badly now! Eragon...

"Please forgive me, Firnen, and thank you very much."

"Just be glad that our students didn't see you like this. They would lose all respect for you!"

"I understand, Firnen..."

"You should contact Nasuada now, as it's already late. The sun has set a while ago."

"But before that, you need to take me back to the Dragonhold. My hand mirror is... missing, and it would be extremely difficult to draw water from the stone here."

It didn't take long until they saw the entrance to the upper Dragonhold. Surprised that their students weren't here at this time, they entered their part of the hold. Arya searched in vain for another mirror but couldn't find one, so she had to rely on a small bowl filled with water.

"Arya, finally! I've been waiting all day for you to contact me."

"I apologize, Your Highness, but I had a lot to do today and couldn't free myself from my duties earlier."

"Orik has already warned me that you still react too politely towards us. Speak to me as a friend. There's no need for pretenses between us anymore."

The Dragon Rider had to hold back her emerging tears, but fortunately, she managed to maintain a neutral and friendly expression. Within two days, she had been told that she had a friendly bond with another person, something she had been deprived of for years.

"Thank you..."

"You're welcome, Arya. But listen to me carefully now. This morning, two people contacted me and told me some things that sent shivers down my spine."

"That doesn't sound very uplifting. What is it about?"

"Our dear friend Angela informed me that she is expecting you in Hedarth. I also heard that she had at least one companion with her whom I don't know."

"How can she be in Hedarth so quickly?! We were all together in that small forest just a week ago. Anyway, those are not pieces of information that really worry me, Nasuada."

"Nor me. That's why I did some more research, and I heard that a whole pack of Werecats is roaming the city. It seems that your journey to the east will be eventful. However, her final words to me were somewhat peculiar. She asked me to remind you not to forget Solembum's words."

When the time comes, you must make a decision. But that decision is tied to a life. If you make the wrong decision, you will regret it for the rest of your life.

"I won't forget them, and she should know that. Although I find a pack of Werecats in a small trading city somewhat peculiar, these pieces of news are not really alarming, Nasuada."

"That's where our opinions differ because throughout the day, I received complaints from various noble families living there. However, the really bad news came from a very well-known Dragon Rider."

"Did Murtagh contact you personally? Then it must be very serious."

"Oh yes. Can you imagine Jörmundur's reaction when he recognized him in my mirror in the conference room? But that's not the point, as he told me about very alarming events in Aberon."

"In Aberon? That can't be good. Do you trust his information?"

"So far, they have always been accurate."

"What did he tell you?"

"First of all, there are strange figures roaming the king's palace. Apparently, a very threatening creature lives in the catacombs, which has infiltrated a servant among the king's ranks. He couldn't tell me exactly what kind of creature it is, but this servant goes by the name Milan."

"Shouldn't we send a small contingent there as soon as possible to assess the situation?"

"It's not that simple because the king apparently trains a special unit in a dungeon outside the city. He makes men from his army and new recruits fight against a few Ra'zac to improve their physical abilities. However, most humans don't survive this, and deep in the vaults of the dungeon, there is a room filled with a frighteningly large number of Ra'zac eggs."

"What?! And are you really sure that Murtagh told you the truth? If that's true, immediate countermeasures need to be taken. We can't allow the country to be endangered by a horde of Ra'zac and another mad king!"

"I know, Arya, but that's not all he told me. He also mentioned that there is supposedly an egg of the Ra'zac stored in that room, which is the size of two adult humans."

"We need to take action against that immediately. I'll inform Orik, and I'm sure he will take measures as well. But what still puzzles me is why you specifically gave me this information. I'm on my way to the east to protect and accompany the new Rider."

"I'm well aware of that, but I need you to convince Orik of the truthfulness of this information. As you surely know, the dwarves aren't particularly fond of this Rider, which I can understand, of course."

"But for that, I'll have to speak to him personally, but as far as I know, he conceals his presence with a spell that prevents anyone from finding him with Dream Sight. Eragon told me about it shortly after Murtagh disappeared, as he couldn't reach him anymore."

"You don't have to worry about that. He assured me that he would suspend that spell for two days so that his information could be verified. He didn't tell me where he is currently, but there are hardly any limitations to Dream Sight spells."

"Then I will contact him. In the meantime, you should already take measures to defend the southern border cities."

After that, the two women said goodbye to each other. Firnen, as always, listened to his rider's conversation and sent her a reminder of the words of friendship that Nasuada expressed. Once again, her green soulmate had been proven right, but he refrained from mentioning it further as his rider had very important conversations to conduct.