Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Seven: Luminescent

"We need to get those arrows out of her wings soon Eragon. We need to make a hasty exit." Eragon nodded at me and walked over to the bleeding wing.

"Murtagh, hold her wing down while I remove the arrow." Murtagh went over to Saphira's side and held her wing down as Eragon broke the head of the arrow off to make a cleaner extraction. "Hold on."

Eragon yanked the arrow out of Saphira's wing, causing her wing to slip out of Murtagh's hands and clipped him in the jaw as she whimpered.

"She caught me by surprise."

"She didn't mean to," Eragon replied before sealing the wound. "Mal, take Saphira and the elf and fly to safety."

"Get moving boy's," I shouted before Saphira flew into the air. We sailed until Eragon contacted Saphira that they needed to stop. Saphira glided down to an area where a stream was bubbling at the base of a cliff. I unstrapped the elf and Saphira helped me lower her to the ground.

"Saphira, she should have awakened by now," I said frowning while feeling her forehead.

"Indeed, little one."

"I have to heal her."

"And you will," I smiled when Alethea joined our conversation. It was a few minutes before Eragon and Murtagh rode into the camp with exhaustion. They both dismounted and walked over to where I was kneeling.

"As far as I know, she's the first elf the king has captured. Ever since they went into hiding, he's been looking for them without success, until now. Were Galbaorix's men able to extract the elves' location before we rescued her?" Murtagh said with a frown.

"We will find out when she wakens," Eragon replied, looking at me with a frown. "Is something bothering you, Mal?"

"You know the answer to that already Eragon," I replied shortly before brushing dried blood away from her face while I felt Murtagh's eye's on me. "We need to make her a bed."

The boy's stretched out a blanket before moving the elf when she was on the ground again. I lifted her torn sleeve to reveal a severely bruised arm, riddled with cuts. I gently rolled her onto her back and unlaced the back of the shirt to expose her back.

"Eragon!" Eragon and Murtagh ran over to me at sucked in a breath when they saw the elf's back.

"Can you heal this?" Murtagh said slowly.

"I don't know. There is so much."

"I refuse to let her die Eragon." I snapped at Eragon, who paled at my unusual anger.

"This will take time, I need food and rags boiled in water, I can't heal everything," Eragon said after a few seconds.

"We can't risk a fire, unwashed rags, and cold food will have to do," Murtagh replied before Eragon set his hand on the elves spine. I placed my hand on his shoulder while Saphira, Alethea, and I poured our energy into Eragon. We remained like this until dawn, the elves wounds were healed to the extent Eragon, and I could do. Eragon trembled and sat back with exhaustion while Saphira nudged him soothingly.

"Will she live?"

"I don't know, elves are strong, but even they cannot endure abuse like this with impunity. If I knew more about healing, I might be able to revive her. We better get moving again."

"What? No, you must sleep." Murtagh protested.

"As absurd as it sounds, Eragon is right, we cannot afford to stay here much longer," I said while lacing the elves shirt back up. "Eragon you're going to have to sleep in the saddle."

Murtagh sighed before reluctantly giving in.

"In that case, I'll lead Snowfire while you rest," Murtagh said before helping me strap the elf onto Saphira's back.

We made camp in the shadows of the Beor mountains after a weary trek through Hadarac desert. I pulled the elf off of Saphira's back as I have several times before while Murtagh went off to hunt. It was now that it was safe for Alethea to leave my pack and go flying.

"Go eat some gazelle but don't get caught by Murtagh." Alethea's little head bumped my chin before she jumped off my shoulder and headed into the sky. Saphira settled down next to where I laid the elf and let out a puff of smoke.

"I am sorry little one." I leaned back against Saphira's side, confused by Saphira's words.

"What for Saphira? You haven't done anything."

"You and my sister have to live a life in hiding while Eragon and I are free to roam the sky's."

"It's not your fault Saphira once we get to the Varden I can hopefully find a safe place for us to train." Saphira gave me a look with her beautiful blue eyes before setting her head down. I stared at the flames until Alethea came back and darted into my bag.

"The boy returns."

"Did you get enough time to stretch your wings and eat?"

"I did my rider, at this size I require less food, and I don't mind riding around in your bag," Alethea said before curling up to sleep. True to Alethea's words Murtagh came back to camp dragging a gazelle behind him.

"We can eat well tonight," Murtagh said, dropping the gazelle before looking at me. "Is everything alright, Mal?"

"Oh, I'm fine Murtagh, I just have a lot of things on my mind, Eragon, Saphira, Alethea, the elf....."

"Alethea?" I glanced up at Murtagh in a slight panic. "She's your pet, right?"

"Yes, she is the most precious thing in my life right now, I'm afraid that if the Empire gets their hands on her, she will be killed." Murtagh sat down next to me and took out his dagger, playing with it.

"Why is the Empire after you?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I am unaware of the reasons for Galbatorix's efforts." I lied, turning my head to look at the dark-haired boy/man. I frowned, annoyed with myself. "Your chin needs cleaning."

Murtagh stopped playing with the knife and looked at me while I wet a rag and headed over to him.

"She got you good," I muttered, cleaning the scratch, it hadn't bled much, but the skin was pretty torn up. "But it looks clean."

"Why is it that you wear that head wrap, was the desert not hot enough for you?" I let out a little snort and hit his shoulder.

"Well, I've been wearing one since I was a baby, it's just a habit, I guess." Murtagh's brow furrowed at me while he studied.

"Whatever you're hiding behind that demonic head wrap, I'm sure it won't affect how you look," Murtagh said with a small smile.

"What? My dirty housewife look?" I laughed while Murtagh shook his head at me and stood up.

"You will still look just as beautiful as you are now," Murtagh said before walking off while my face went beet red and Saphira let out a dragon's version of a chuckle.