Nasuada looked down at them for a moment, then sighed. "Please, rise and take a seat. I'm sorry for yelling at you all. It just upset to think that if you had been able to assist us, you were not doing so due selfish reasons; I know now this is not the case. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive," said Niaomi as she stood. "Undoubtedly we would feel the same way in your position. ...now, we must get back to the subject on hand."

She pointed to the map. "There are nine mages, so there will be nine teams. I shall go solo, while Arya, Nathan, Nicholas, Renata, Rosaminda, Eragon, Blödhgarm, and Du Vrangr Gata can each be paired with one of the elves. We must all be in place in time to launch our attack at exactly noon. This will prevent the mages from communicating with each other, since they will have put up their barriers to protect their mind against us. Now, we have about half an hour left to get to our positions. Let me show you all where you'll be going."

"Don't forget communication," said Renata.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Nia dug through her bag again to extract several mirrors that were like her and the others. "Arya, Blödhgarm, Eragon, and Trianna will all need one of these so we can stay in contact."

Nicholas spoke up. "A bit before noon, I'll activate the spell so you will be able to view all of us so we can launch our attack all at the same time."

"Lady Nasuada should have a mirror, too," said Rosaminda. Her voice was as if she was singing instead of speaking. "That way, we can report in to her once we are done, and we can all meet back here afterwards. Just think of Lady Nasuada and you'll see her in the mirror. Same goes if you want to contact any of us. Your own mirror will produce a soft sound when someone if trying to contact you."

A guard knocked lightly on one of the poles of the pavilion. "My lady, the Du Vrangr Gata have arrived."

"Excellent," said Nasuada, and smiled at them all. "Seems we can finally get this underway."

____________________________

Eragon stood with his partner, a silver-haired elf named Luwæn, a little ways off from the tent that housed their target. He held up the mirror so that he and the elf could see the others once they appeared.

I don't like leaving you all alone to fend for yourself, grumbled Saphira. She had been irked to find out that she couldn't accompany Eragon.

"I'm sorry, Bjartskular, but it's simply too compromising," Niaomi had said. "We want to try to keep all the mages alive, and your presence would terrify the mage into killing himself."

As it rightly should, Saphira had huffed before reluctantly settling back down beside Nasuada's pavilion to wait.

Eragon smiled. Saphira, you heard Niaomi. We don't want you scaring them to death.

I am not that repulsive, sniffed Saphira.

But you can be that terrifying.

Point noted. Now, focus on your mission. I'll be here to offer strength if you need it.

Thank you, Saphira, Eragon whispered to her. Saphira retreated from his main focus, but he could still sense her and faintly hear the sound of her humming.

He heard a soft "ding" and looked at the mirror. Its surface was clouding over, breaking into eight separate parts. "Amazing craftsmanship," murmured Luwæn. "I would love to know how the Rider made it."

"Hopefully, we'll all have time for a nice long chat after we defeat the Black Hand," Eragon replied.

The mirror cleared until he could see all the faces in the mirror. Nia's was looking up at the sky. "Is everyone in their positions?" she asked softly, looking back at them.

"Ready for action," said Nathan, grinning.

"In position," said Arya, her eyes determined.

"Us as well," said Blödhgarm, his dark haired partner nodding from the side.

"We're good," said Renata and Rosaminda at the same time. They chuckled quietly.

"Du Vrangr Gata is ready to act," Trianna said stiffly. Eragon saw that her brows were narrowed in concentration as she prepared to call on the spirits.

"Ready when you are," whispered Nicholas. He winked in the mirror and said, "This'll be fun."

"Luwæn and I are also prepared to begin," said Eragon softly.

Niaomi smiled. "Excellent." Eragon suddenly noticed as she said that one word that she spoke sort of like Nasuada, enunciated certain parts of words in the same place; however, some parts of her speech lilted like Arya. Before he had time to dwell on the subject, she was speaking again.

"Ok, it's almost time," she said, looking at the sky and mouthing numbers. "In five, four, three, two, one - "

"Go!" shouted Nathan as he disappeared from the mirror. The others were fading as well as Eragon tucked the bronze tool into his belt and launched into action.