Akaysha flew with Sashi back through the mountains, beating her wings with new enthusiasm. The mountains passed with a blur. The exhaustion from lack of sleep for the previous few nights was pushed to the back of her mind. She had a goal now, and she wasn't going to let anyone stop her from achieving it.

They reached New Doru Araeba after nearly an hour and a half of flying. Akaysha hadn't realised how far she had gone the previous night, and by the time she landed she was breathing quite heavily. She felt the mental nudge from her mentor, the golden dragon a little worried, but Akaysha sent back the reassurance she would be fine. She needed to do this.

The two of them walked through the gateway and into the city, padding down the large hallway to the double doors leading into the council room. It seemed most of the dragon rider authority as well as others of importance had gathered to talk about what would be done with Ragin, now that he had betrayed their trust twice.

The doors were opened before the dragons even arrived, Sashi having communicated with those on the inside that they were coming. As Akaysha walked in all eyes turned toward her. She glared back at them, refusing to back down knowing her rider's life may be at stake. The amount of people there astounded her. All of Ragin's classmates and their dragons were seated to the side. The council were around their usual table, and her confidence stumbled a little when she noticed Saphira gazing down on her with nearly unreadable curiosity.

She took a deep breath for turning her head to Eragon. She gently reached out her mind to the rider in order to talk to him.

"Akaysha," Eragon said solemnly, "Sashi said you have some information that may be useful."

'Yes,' the dragoness let herself be heard by everyone as she spoke, 'But before I answer what are you going to do to him?'

Silence was the response to her words. Glances were exchanged and she could nearly see the unheard conversations being thrown throughout the room.

"What do you think his punishment should be?" Eragon asked, startling her for a moment.

Akaysha glanced at Sashi, not expecting the question. The golden dragon nudged her, and once again the younger female found herself taking a deep breath and forcing herself to stand tall as she spoke.

'I do not think Ragin was at fault for what he did, or at least I don't think he wanted to,' she began.

"Are you sure of that?" the rider asked, "I was told you were... distressed."

'I was... what he did hurt me, and everyone... but I know Ragin. He wouldn't have done what he did without a good reason,' Akaysha spoke in the ancient language, so they knew she was telling the truth.

"Do you know the reason?" Eragon's questioning annoyed the dragoness.

'No... but that doesn't change anything. He could have been sworn to secretly or something,' Akaysha snorted.

"That is one thing we have considered," the man nodded his head.

No one was surprised when Theaden spoke up to this, "How can what he did be an accident? He snuck into the hatchery and tried to steal an egg, and failed. He manipulated a friend to break his oath, something that had to be planned. He then broke out again, and forced a young dragoness to fly him away with her egg. He betrayed his trust as a rider, and betrayed his loyalty to you, his own dragon! How can you continue to defend him? Not unless you are blind to his faults."

'I'm the only one that can see him as who he is,' hissed Akaysha, 'You don't know his thoughts, nor his feelings. You don't know the distress he felt when he talked to me that night. He was hurting as much as I was. You are the one that is blind.'

Theaden was startled at her response. The large black dragon behind him gave a hiss of his own, but besides that, neither said anything. Satisfied that she had shut them up, she looked over at Eragon and tilted her head, wondering what the rider would say.

"I see what you are saying Akaysha," he said, "But that does not excuse what he has done."

The dark dragoness growled lowly and dangerously.

"However, you are right in saying that you are the only one that knows Ragin, and if you believe that what he did was forced upon him then we will take that into consideration," Eragon said, "Until we hear the truth from Ragin himself though, we won't be sure."

Akaysha snorted, but that was likely the best she was going to get.

'Now, what were you going to tell us young dragon?' Saphira's smooth voice echoed through Akaysha's head, forcing her to relax somewhat.

'I believe Ragin is heading toward the lake Isenstar, near Gilead,' she told them slowly, 'It is the only destination that makes sense.'

"Why Gilead?" asked Logan, speaking for the first time.

'That is where that human Tharin lives. He is the only one I know that would be able to force Ragin to do something like this,' she said.

Eragon leaned forward, "Ragin said Tharin wasn't involved."

That was an aspect that had her confused. He had been very convincing that Tharin had not helped with stealing the egg, had gone so far as to say it in the ancient language. But that man's involvement was the only thing that made sense to her.

'You know Ragin is good at manipulating the ancient language. Tharin may have not been involved in the robbery, but he could have been involved some other way,' Akaysha tried.

Eragon sighed, sitting back in his chair. Saphira shuffled behind him. Akaysha could almost see the silent conversation between them. She looked around the room to the others. Freya looked angry and conflicted. Logan seemed tense, but was trying not to show it. Theaden had a dark frown on his face. Some riders seemed angry, some seemed willing to listen. Some were impossible to read.

"I will take your words into account Akaysha," the leader of the riders eventually spoke, "But I think we all agree that we need to get him back here."

There was a murmur of agreement.

"In that case, Logan, you will lead a small team of riders in an attempt to find him. I will notify the riders we currently have in Alageasia to see if we can have them intercept him," Eragon said.

'I can help find him,' the black dragoness said.

'Akaysha, it would be best if you stay here,' it was Sashi that responded, 'You are exhausted, and in the end you would only slow us down.'

'But...'

'We will bring him back safely,' the golden dragon promised, 'But for now rest, young one.'

Akaysha couldn't deny she was exhausted. Now that her news had been delivered it was as if her body had finally caught up with her and demanded a good couple of hours of sleep. Besides, she could always try to catch up to them once she had.

"Well, now that that's sorted, choose your team Logan. The sooner you leave the better," Eragon said.

* * *

'I'm getting tired. If you would like me to keep this pace it would be best if we rest soon,' Vaela, the white dragon Ragin had tricked into taking him to Tharin said, her exhaustion carrying through the mental link.

They were flying high in the sky, above even the clouds. Ragin had been forced to use magic to help himself breathe easier. Through the clouds he could see the glittering of the river that lead to New Doru Araeba. It was far to the north of him, though they were flying parallel to it. He reasoned that Eragon would likely alert the riders in Alageasia, and following the river directly would make it much more difficult to evade them.

He was thankful for Vaela's white scales, as they didn't stand out as much as other dragons' scales in the sky, and was silently impressed by the female's tenacity. She had flown hard and fast for the past two days without so much as asking for a break. They were likely a good day ahead of the other riders, which was all Ragin needed. At the pace they were flying it would likely take another four to five days to reach Lake Isenstar. But if Vaela exhausted herself beforehand then it would take much too long.

'Very well,' he told her, 'Land there.'

He sent her the mental image of a grove of trees with a clearing just large enough for her to land comfortably in it. She obeyed, beating her tired wings and circling down toward the ground. It was still the middle of the day, but Ragin didn't mind at all, considering it would likely be safer to travel at night.

The white dragoness landed heavily, her tired wings drooping at her side. Ragin waited for her to lay down before sliding down from her back. He pulled off his pack and set it buy her side, stretching out his legs and arms. After nearly two days on dragon back he was beginning to get stiff.

"I'm going hunting," he told the dragon, "You stay here and rest."

The only response he got was an exhausted huff. He grabbed his bow from his pack and walked into nearby trees. It didn't take him long to find and kill a large deer which, with the use of magic, he pulled all the way back to Vaela. The white dragon was fast asleep, curled around the bag that held her egg. When Ragin saw her he hesitated a moment, guilt beginning to worm its way up from his stomach again. He quickly squashed it down and busied himself with making a fire. He then cut off the leg of the deer and cooked it over the fire for his own meal.

Vaela slept until the sun was beginning to set in the horizon. Ragin looked over as she stirred, one eye looking at him suspiciously. He watched her for a moment, the firelight dancing of her white scales. It was a little strange, as he was so used to the dark night-sky scales of Akaysha seeing the white only made the pang of loss so much greater. Would his dragon ever forgive him?

'You look sad,' Vaela stated carefully.

Ragin straightened himself up immediately, ridding himself of the dangerous thoughts. He had no choice but to do what he did, no matter how wrong it was. The path he was on now was the only possible one he could have chosen.

"I'm fine," he grunted.

The white dragon snorted softly, looking around the campsite and spotting the dear. With a hungry rumble she pulled herself over to the carcass and immediately dug into it, only taking a couple of minutes to devour to the entire thing.

'You are that rider that came about a month ago, are you not?' she asked eventually, surprising Ragin. She had never tried to start a conversation with him.

"I am," he replied.

'The rider of Akaysha.'

He narrowed his eyes slightly, "What's it to you?"

'Just... curious,' Vaela said.

"Well, if you've finished your rest then we better continue. The faster we do this the faster you can get home," the rider said, getting up from where he had been sitting.

She huffed, before getting to her feet and flapping her wings a couple of times in order to loosen them up. Ragin approached her, picking up the bag and climbing up her leg. He sat himself on her back and with a quiet order the two of them were once again flying into the sky, high above the clouds.

For hours they flew, the two of them remaining silent. Ragin was deep in his thoughts, trying and failing to fight away the inner turmoil of the past couple of days. Events played through his mind like whirlpool as he looked for anyway he could have done things differently. Maybe Tharin had been bluffing his threat, but a man like that never threatened something he couldn't follow through with. Maybe if he hadn't of searched the assassin and took the mirror. But if he hadn't Tharin only would have sent more of them. If he hadn't allowed Freya to fall in love with him then he wouldn't have been able to break his oath, and would be even more trapped than he was now. If he had told Akaysha, Tharin would have found out and killed her anyway. Everything ended in him making this choice, the only one, and that thought was the only thing that kept him going.

'It is Ragin... isn't it?' asked Vaela suddenly, breaking his train of thought.

'What?' his anger at his situation coming through in those words.

The dragon hesitated a moment, 'Are... are you running away?'

Her question startled him, and he found himself frowning. Was he running away? That was not his main concern. He had to kill Tharin, that was his goal. But what then? Would he return to a place he was so hated? Where so many wished him to death? Where they wanted to tear him away from the being he loved more than any other?

'Does that matter?' he said.

'Well... last I heard... Akaysha and you were as close as any dragon and rider,' the white dragon said, 'I have always been jealous of the rider's bond. To run away from such a thing... its confusing.'

'I don't want to discuss my reasoning with you,' he told her shortly.

Her growl again surprised him, 'I am flying you all the way to Alageasia. The least you could do is tell me why.'

Ragin narrowed his eyes, anger and frustration leaking from him in waves. He knew Vaela was aware of this, and was likely observant enough to realise that the anger wasn't exactly directed at her. He didn't want to give his story to this dragon, but part of him considered the idea. Usually he would have talked about this with Akaysha... but she wasn't here at the moment. He needed to vent... somehow. Of course he wouldn't tell Vaela everything, such as the real reason he had taken her egg with them, but he guessed it was a small kindness to at least give the white dragon a reason for this panicked flight.

He sighed, leaning back, a little unused to flying without a saddle.

'Well?' growled Vaela.

'I don't have a choice,' the dark rider eventually said, the words harder to say than he had originally thought.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Exactly what I said. Getting to Alageasia is the only thing I can do... it's the only way I can save her,' he shuddered softly.

Vaela was silent, waiting for him to continue.

'A dangerous person has been hunting both of us ever since she hatched. He found us in New Doru Araeba, and is now threatening her life. The only thing I can do to save her is kill him.'

The white dragon rumbled softly, 'I doubt a human would be able to do much to a dragon.'

Ragin barked a laugh, 'You don't know this person. Human is not a way I would describe him. I'm assuming you know of Akaysha's wild magic?'

'Of course.'

'He is the one who gave her access to that power. If he can do that... I don't know what else he is capable of.'

'Yet you hunt him alone.'

'It's the only choice I have left.'

'Does your dragon know of this?'

'I doubt it,' Ragin sighed, 'I was under oath not to tell her.'

'This human again?'

'Yes.'

'Does he know you are coming for him?'

'He knows I'm coming. He doesn't know the reason.'

It was a couple more minutes before Vaela began to speak again, 'Why would this man give Akaysha so strong a power?'

'I am unsure,' Ragin replied, 'I don't even know how he did it. Whatever magic he has, it's beyond my understanding.'

'And if you don't succeed?'

'That's not an option,' Ragin's quick answer caused her to hesitate.

'It's a possibility.'

'It's not one I can afford to think about.'

That was how Ragin had completed all his missions. There was always a possibility of failure, but if you think about that then there was no way he would go into the situations in the first place. Of course one had to plan for everything, but failure was something that could never be planned for. Killing Tharin was the only option.

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Alright! New chapter guys! I am so sorry it took so long to get out. Been busy with life I guess. I really want to get this book finished and its getting so close to the end, yet it still feels so far. Its hurting me XD. I'm gonna try and get more chapters out quicker but I can't promise anything. But for now, vote if you enjoyed this one and comment what you thought. See Ya!

Pennator^^