As the crimson sun invaded the night sky, conquering its sibling and forcing it to retreat to the depths of the end of the world, Nephis watched in silence, arms wrapped around her legs as she challenged it with her gaze, chilling coldness in her eyes.
Its rising brought with it the deep hues of lavender and red, reminding her of a host of unpleasant memories.
She, unlike most, did not find the morning sun beautiful. Only during the far-too rare mornings spent with Sunny had she found herself appreciating its colors.
Thinking about Sunny left a strange pang in her chest.
He wasn't here. He probably had no idea where she was, and was just as worried and confused as the rest of the human world. More so, actually. She didn't have any memory of telling him where she had gone.
Neither would Cassie, or the Firekeepers. She knew they, under Cassie's watchful Aspect, would be fine on their own, so she didn't let herself worry much about them. Cassie had led them practically single-handedly since their creation anyway.
But she could not say she was not as worried about what Valor would do in her absence. Without her, one of the beloved sword sisters, the public would fall in disarray. They would also be pressuring everyone she knew, including Cassie, on her whereabouts. They might even try to take control while she was gone...
She stopped her train of thought with a quick burning of her Aspect, watching the white flame, colored by the morning sun, as it danced in the palm of her hand.
It's torture was unique and exquisite. Blessedly minor and insignificant, since it had no real goal besides distracting herself, but still there. Still underlying.
It would never leave her.
No matter how many times she used her Aspect, it always burned the same way. No amount of 'practice' would ever help with the pain, and not for a lack of trying.
Only strengthening her resolve and focusing on her goal at hand would help her forget the torture using her Aspect brought.
Sometimes.
As she extinguished the flame with a flex of her palm, her newest companions woke almost simultaneously as each other.
She had no ability to predict whether or not the dragon had actually slept, besides the measure of her breathing, which she was unfamiliar with and had no doubt Saphira had absolute control over anyways.
For all she knew, she hadn't been alone in watching the rising sun. Not that such a thing brought her fear, of course- she was used to sleeping next to dragons. Kai had done so several times, when they needed to be battle ready and had only several hours every few days for rest, and was too exhausted to bother changing his transformation back to his beautiful human self. Perhaps it didn't cost him much essence to maintain, or perhaps he was simply too tired to care during those times. Probably a bit of both, since the essence pool of a Saint was practically endless.
At least, in comparison to their strength before.
Murtaugh stirred atop his blankets, and Saphira tugged her giant wing from underneath her Rider, causing him to roll forward a few feet, caught up and tangled in his sleepwear. He chastised her blearily.
"Saphiraaaaaaaaaa. A good morning would have been more appreciated..."
He yawned widely as he extricated himself from the strangling fabric, his dragon moving with him as she rose from her curled position. Her maw opened in an impressive array of sharpened, ivory teeth, and a terrifying sound escaped from the depths of her throat. Suddenly, Murtaugh was much more awake, flying upwards into a sitting position and staring around himself wildly, a dagger appearing in his hand from underneath his pillow, hair in disarray as he looked for the source of the noise. His face settled on the dragon, and he stared at her for a moment before groaning and laying back down, his arm covering his eyes.
"Eragon, get a hold of your beast... it's too early for this."
The dragon's bugle, with was probably her approximation of a yawn, turned abruptly into a hiss as she turned a sapphire eye to stare at Murtaugh, who ignored her.
Eragon himself didn't respond, rubbing his eyes and staring about the campsite with bleary eyes. They landed on Nephis and slid right past as he yawned again, but then he froze and dragged them back to her.
He stared.
Then blinked.
"Oh, uh, good morning."
Murtaugh raised in arm in confusion, turning his head to looked at Eragon, and then his gaze landed on Nephis as well. He also stared.
Nephis, feeling uncharacteristically awkward, nodded to the two of them, and then, after a moment, directed one up at the dragon as well. She wasn't used too... well, being with people who weren't used to her. It had been years since she slept with someone that wasn't Cassie, a Firekeeper, or over the last few weeks, Sunny.
Thinking of Sunny and 'waking up', her cheeks tinged a slight pink and she abruptly stood up and began walking quickly, away from the campsite.
"I'm, uh, going to check the area. You all get yourselves situated."
They were too surprised to respond as she extricated herself from the situation.
'Don't think about Sunny, you fool... You don't even know when you're going to see him again.'
Her heart plummeted deeper than she ever would have liked it too in her chest.
'I don't know when I'm going to see him again...'
She began pacing the campsite, giving it a wide berth.
* * *
Eragon stared in shock as she left, walking away. He couldn't even remember what her excuse was, too surprised by her expression.
'Did she just... blush? Surely not...'
Saphira spoke in his thoughts in a wry, though thoroughly blunt tone.
'Don't flatter yourself, Little One. She was not thinking about you.'
Eragon whirled about and stared up at Saphira in surprise.
'What? I never said she was...'
Saphira chuckled in her throaty, dragon way. Which, of course, meant a terrifying, rolling growl that would make an average man wet himself.
'We share minds, Little One. You would have reached that foolish conclusion on your own, eventually, so I am here to tell you otherwise. No. She did not react in that way due to the attention you and Murtaugh gave her. I suspect she is thinking about a past companion, perhaps even a mate. I've been watching her for most of the night.'
Eragon tried to argue otherwise, opening his actual mouth to retort, but then closed it without saying anything. He knew she was probably right.
'Whatever.'
He grumbled back at her, internally. Then he paused and asked tentatively,
'So?'
Saphira snorted a huff of air, stretching in a cat-like manner as her dagger-like claws dug into the cracked earth.
'As far as I can tell, she does not harbor us any ill will. Of course, that is merely what I could sense from her and her actions, which she took little of besides tending our fire dutifully, so it is a very improper approximation. I did not dare attempt to reach her mind. I believe I would be dead before I realized it if I were to try.'
Eragon shivered slightly.
'She is truly so terrifying?'
'You already know the answer to that, Eragon."
He nodded, swallowing.
"What have we gotten ourselves into…"
Murtaugh, who had busied himself with taming his hair with a rough comb, frowned and looked at him.
"What?"
Eragon looked at him, then shrugged.
"I believe we are in quite a bit of trouble, friend. Namely, her."
Murtaugh stared at him with unbelief written all over his face.
"We are pursued by the Empire and desired by Galbatorix himself. We have angered a Shade and amongst our party is an actual elf that we rescued from prison, which you escaped from yourself."
Eragon nodded solemnly.
"Yes, yes, presumably, and yes."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"... she is more trouble than the rest combined."
Murtaugh nodded.
"So you can tell, too."
Eragon laughed heartily.
"We're in trouble this time, Murtaugh."