"It's like... brown snow." Blueberry commented first. Killer giggled while Dust added; "But worse. It's gritty and gets in your joints; and it's so nasty."

"I don't think you've ever had a sand bath." Error told him.
"What, and you have?"
"I have, they're very nice."
There was a silence.

"Welp, that's something you don't hear everyday!" Killer said loudly.

After that comment, the company of 9 and 2 horses made themselves comfortable in the shadow of a dune, Saphira crooning happily as she stretched. The others fell asleep quickly, even Nightmare decided to rest, his mind wandering the land of Alagaësia as he slept.

Error made small talk with Saphira about deserts he'd seen and enjoyed before, the conversation slowly waning into silence.

"Sleep, Saphira." He ordered gently.
I'm keeping watch for danger.
"Yes, but I have that covered. I don't need sleep, but you do."
I don't need sleep like the others do!
"Yes you do. Don't pull that argument with me, Nightmare did the same thing with me 50 years ago. I know the song and dance."
Fifty? Your age surprises me.
"Don't change the subject. Go to sleep, you belligerent dragon."
I am not-!
"Sleep."

She growled, laying her head on the sand and glaring at Error, who pointedly ignored her. He just resumed knitting, fully aware of the calming effect the clicking needles have on others. Saphira was no exception, her eyelids snicking closed as she blinked, before not opening again as a quiet hum sounded from her.

His needles clicked, the only noise aside from the light snores and whistling wind as they rested from traveling thirty-five leagues in four days.

..........

They slept long enough to clear their minds and rest the horses. There weren't any soldiers, but that didn't allay their suspicions. They knew the Empire would keep searching for them until they were outside of reach. Galbatorix wanted the Rider, and probably the skeletons, too.
Eragon spoke while they had a short breakfast.
"Couriers must have carried news of my escape to Galbatorix. He would have alerted the Ra'zac. They're sure to be on our trail by now. It'll take them a while to catch us even by flying, but we should be ready for them at all times."

"Or," Killer started with a malicious grin. "They can find us and we get to kick their asses!" Saphira snorted, her Rider hiding his smile as he chuckled while everyone else but Murtaugh shared a laugh. The other human was frowning.

They arrived at the crags they'd spotted from that morning while the sun was sitting on the horizon, a massive firey orb of dark orange, distorted by the heat waves as the sky around it was red.

Luckily the skeletons had been considerate, shading the humans with their Gaster Blasters as they traveled, immune to sunburn themselves. Although the heat was starting to affect them all. Nightmare hated it, as the hot, dry conditions where not something he functioned in.
When they dismounted, everyone was slightly moody, although different levels.

"How far do you think we went?" Eragon croaked after checking on the elf.
"I don't know!" Murtaugh snapped.
"Who the fuck cares." Killer muttered.
"I hate the desert." Nightmare growled, completely coated in sand.

Error and Saphira were the only ones unaffected, both sharing a look before glitch shrugged.
Murtaugh swore angrily. "We don't have enough water. And the horses have to drink."
Saphira quickly began digging a hole.

The skeletons listened intently to hear Eragon mutter the spell so they could do the same. Then Cross and Blue helped him bring forth a small pool, the Rider's face relaxing as they lessened his strain.

They all had enough to drink, animals sucking in a few gallons. Then Nightmare grumbled, and yeeted himself into the water, turning it black. Dust wheezed, turning into giggles.
"Holy shit he must fuckin' hate sand to jump into water!"

"Why? Wouldn't he love water?" Eragon reasoned. Even Cross snickered.
"Water dilutes his goop." Error explained bluntly. "I think we're in for a surprise." He muttered.

Then a white, boney hand erupted out of the inky water. It grasped the sandy edge of the pit, then heaved a shockingly small skeleton onto the mini beach. His right eyelight was purple, the left a familiar ice blue. He glowered at everyone staring before getting up and washing sand off his hands.

"Nightmare..?" Horror rasped.
"Is that your passive??" Dust questioned.
"Holy shit, you actually look like Dream." Killer stated.
The new, purple themed Nightmare suddenly teleported in front of Killer and held him by his shirt. "Don't. Compare me to Dream." He said coldly. Even his voice had changed.

"Well I think you look cute." Blue told him matter-of-factly. Nightmare glared at him, but was otherwise frozen.

Then Cross swooped in out of nowhere and scooped the smaller Nightmare off his feet, no eyelights as he yelled at no one in particular.
"I'M SORRY BOSS BUT THIS VERSION OF YOU IS SO CUTE!!!" And squeezed the enraged Nightmare like a plushie.
"Cross, I'm going to kill you."
"THEN I'LL DIE HAPPY HAVING SERVED THE GREATEST KING OF TERROR KNOWING HE WAS SECRETLY AN ADORABLE BEAN!!! AH!" He sobbed.

The best part was that Nightmare didn't actually fight back. He just fumed in Cross's grip, looking like an angry kitty.
Everyone else was quietly giggling as Cross died of cuteness overload.

Eventually he excavated himself from Cross dusting himself off and shooting a death stare at Dust for petting him. Dust proceeded to pet him more, not caring for his personal safety.
He found himself pinned with the offending arm pressed behind him.
"Fuck! Boss, I surrender!"
"Apologize."
"I can't! I'm not guilty!"
Killer brayed with laughter a few feet away, earning a few looks from the others.
"Say goodbye to your hand, you cheeky, insubordinate prick."
"Wait, Boss no!!"

Nightmare grinned evilly as his free hand glowed, pressing his phalanges to Dust's skull. His voice died as he fell unconscious. Nightmare stood up and grinned at everyone else, dusting off his hands.
"Anyone else?" He asked brightly.
"NOPE, I'm good!" Horror responded a little too loudly.
Killer cried, but it was indistinguishable from the normal black tears dripping down his face.
"Why can't we enjoy your overwhelming cuteness??" He whined.
"I'm not cute." Nightmare said flatly.
Error snickered, sharing a look with Blueberry. The chipper skeleton bounced to his feet and walked up to Nightmare, who was now a few inches shorter than even him.

With a mischievous grin, Blue confidently booped his nose cavity. Nightmare blinked, then looked ready to murder him.
"I will end you."
"You know you're even cuter when you're mad, right?"
A light, purple blush traced the small King's cheekbones.
"I'm not fucking cute!" He growled.
Blue patted his skull.

Nightmare yanked it off, blushing harder as he yelled.
"ALRIGHT! EVERYONE GO TO SLEEP BEFORE I MAKE YOU!!"
Blue kept a constant UwU face as they settled down, receiving evil glares from Nightmare constantly, though he did nothing to stop it.

When they all slept, except Error, he sighed and collapsed into his sleeping bag to hide his huge blush.
Truth be told, he would never admit this, but Nightmare secretly loved it. He had never been called something so.. positive about him, least of all his appearance. He loved the genuine adoration, especially when it definitely wasn't for his aura. His was negative. Obviously.

Gradually he too, fell asleep. Wondering Alagaësia in his slumber, until he came upon what was perhaps the greatest city he had ever seen. Towering structures, almost like small mountains, loomed above Nightmare like a past coming to life. They were in ruins. Something had wrought terrible destruction on the beautiful city for giants. Titanic bones lay in piles around him, all that was left of a once glorious race. He knew what he saw was the fallen city of Dorú Areaba.

ℨí𝔩𝔩𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔯 ℭ𝔦𝔠á𝔩𝔩𝔞é
Ä𝔣𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔲𝔪𝔯. 𝔄𝔩𝔞𝔩ë𝔞, 𝔳𝔞𝔨𝔫𝔞 𝔳𝔞𝔫𝔶𝔞𝔩í.
𝔉𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔦 𝔰𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔞𝔳 𝔥𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫 𝔥𝔧𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔞. 𝔄𝔱𝔯𝔞 𝔡𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔩𝔲𝔫𝔲𝔰 𝔰𝔧𝔬𝔫 𝔦𝔩𝔲𝔪ë𝔬 𝔲𝔫 𝔤𝔞𝔱𝔥 𝔫𝔬𝔰𝔲 𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔯.
ℌá𝔳𝔯 𝔪𝔬𝔯'𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔯, 𝔄𝔩𝔞𝔩ë𝔞.
𝔇𝔲 𝔰𝔨𝔲𝔩𝔟𝔩𝔞𝔨𝔞 𝔲𝔫 𝔈𝔩𝔡𝔲𝔫𝔞𝔯í 𝔳𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔞 𝔡𝔲 𝔞𝔫𝔡𝔩á𝔱-𝔨𝔶𝔫.
𝔏𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔞 𝔱𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰𝔞 𝔫á𝔫𝔤𝔬𝔯ö𝔱𝔥 𝔣𝔶𝔯𝔫.

The words had no source, yet they clearly originated from the spectare floating out of the ruins and facing Nightmare.
They echoed, their meaning becoming clear.

Zíllandr Cicállaé.
Nightmare. Lost Dream, awaken magic.
Friend shadow thornapple heart. Let the silver moon see truth and unite us all.
Have peace, Lost Dream.
The dragons and heart-of-hearts watch over the skeletons.
Stop this blasted war.
.......

He addressed the ethereal dragon of light.
I will do what I must to heal this misbegotten world, but there is only so much I can do. Alagaësia has it's own balance that I cannot remedy. I have sensed it, beyond just Eragon and Saphira. This world is bound to the dragons. It will die without them...

With sparkling eyes the spirit moved closer, eyes full of benevolence. It spoke in a whispering voice of fire.

𝔚𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔡𝔬 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔢 𝔠𝔞𝔫 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢. 𝔉𝔯𝔢𝔱 𝔫𝔬𝔱 𝔄𝔩𝔞𝔩ë𝔞, 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔢 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔲𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫. 𝔊𝔬 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔚𝔞𝔯𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔱. 𝔉𝔩𝔶 𝔣𝔞𝔰𝔱, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔟𝔢 𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢; 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔦𝔫 𝔞 𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔪𝔶. 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔘𝔯𝔤𝔞𝔩𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔠𝔩𝔬𝔰𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔉𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔇𝔲𝔯. 𝔊𝔬, Ä𝔣𝔡𝔯𝔞𝔲𝔪𝔯 𝔄𝔩𝔞𝔩ë𝔞. 𝔊á𝔫𝔤𝔞..

His mind returned to his body and Nightmare awoke.
"Skulblakar lífa!" He choked before the meaning of his own words sank in. Error was the only one to hear him, somehow understanding everything.

......

Everyone was sour the this morning, the air freezing for the humans while the skeletons winced at the sand in their joints. Dust somehow had it piled in his sockets, cursing the whole time he scraped it out.

Nightmare, heeding the warning he received the night before, informed the rest of the team that they needed to move faster. He refused to explain why, just that he knew something was following them. He received many angry complaints before he snapped.

"Damnit, I want out of this hellhole just as much as you do!! I don't mean to push the animals so hard, but we have no choice! There is an army out there, taking the same path as us and they are not on our side!! Do you want to perish out here for our dust to become sand blowing in the wind or make it to the blasted Varden?!!"

The company fell silent, subdued by the outburst. Then they began packing up without a word.
A new day of a brutal desert march.

Midday they stopped, the Sanses leaving their Blaster out after getting off so they'd all have some shade. It didn't last, they had to keep moving after five minutes.

Cross and Blue were the first to notice the faint shapes in the distance were mounds. The sky above was eerily blanched, whiter than bone.
Then Eragon exclaimed. "Those aren't hills, their the lower slopes of the mountains!!"

"Oh... fuck, that's huge..." Killer breathed.
"Okay, before I thought they were about the size of Ebott, but this is just.. really?" Blue goggled at the sheer size of them.
The colossal mountains loomed above them in the distance, intimidating and beautiful.

As the day went on, the Beors didn't look any closer, but the landscape around them changed into a savanna of sorts, the air much cooler than the miserable desert heat. A few herds of gazelle leapt elegantly through the tall lush fields of grass.

By evening, the range was just three miles away, a league. They wearily bedded down beside a stream, grateful to escape the boiling hell of the Hadarac.