Andlátkyn; Vandr Sanses unin Alagaësia

The Burning Plains

The group was coughing as they hovered above the dragons, of which the Riders were struggling to breathe through the noxious smoke that blinded them all. They finally escaped the underbelly of the clouds, worryingly close to the ground as the dragons flared their wings and everyone took in the surroundings.
The charcoal and bloody smoke rose from the sickeningly orange bleached earth, rising from the many crevices in the packed dirt in off-white pillars, joining with the blackened clouds above. The river Jiet flowed staggeringly, stained a murky white as it gurgled across the landscape.

East of the polluted waters sat two armies, the Varden to the south and the endless Empire's troops, several times the size of the unfortunate Varden and Orrin's armies.
"Oh shit, that doesn't look good." Dust commented, snacking on a sausage.
"Really? Thanks, Captain Obvious, I never would have thought of that!" Killer yelled, a trickle of black trailing down one side of his face as his eyelights flickered slightly, full of fear. "There's so many of them.." He trailed, looking back at the sprawling army.
"Come on, we need to get out of the no man's land." Cross spoke up, pointing to their allies.

The team immediately dove down, going as fast as they dared to avoid Galbatorix's army and it's magicians, Bird, Reaper and Dream falling the fastest as Dust whooped from the exhilarating drop, Horror jumping off his Blaster for a brief freefall before slowly meeting back up with it again.

Suddenly, a flock of arrows shot up to meet them, forcing the winged ones to circumvent them as Blue stopped them with magic, letting them fall to the distant ground below as Eragon caught one fired after the original wave.

A hundred feet above the compound, Saphira flared her wings, GB doing the same to swoop just under her before dropping and flapping as he landed- once more ahead of her as she landed on her hind legs and ran to a stop amid the tents. The others merely hopped off their Blasters or teleported to the ground.

Several dozen soldiers gathered in awe as the Riders dismounted, GB grinning as Blue gaped at them in surprise. Cross merely stood at attention, ignoring the others as Horror held a sausage in his teeth like a thick cigar beside him. A familiar large man started shouting at the crowd to get back to work before facing them all respectfully, clearly hiding his shock at some of their changed appearances.

"You've arrived just in time…. I can't tell you how ashamed I am you were attacked. The honor of every man here is blackened by this mistake. Were any of you hurt?"
"No." Eragon spoke for them.
Smiling in relief, the weapons master, Fredric continued. "Well, there's that to be grateful for. I've had the men responsible pulled from duty. They'll each be whipped and reduced in rank…. Will that punishment satisfy you, Riders and Wyrdaí Islingrya?"
Blue looked ready to say something when Eragon beat him to it. "I want to see them."

Fear flashed briefly across the man's face before it was masked. "I would also like to see them?" Blue added. "Me as well!" Dream waved for attention as he spoke. Nightmare sighed slightly at his brother before Fredric nodded sharply. "If you'd follow me, then, sirs and Majesty."

The entire team followed the human as he led them to a striped tent with twenty miserable men stripping. Upon seeing their arrival, they all dropped to one knee. "Hail, Shadeslayer!"
"I feel forgotten." Nightmare whispered to Dream, only to receive an elbow. "Calm down, they saw the shiny dragon first."
Eragon walked the line of soldiers, his boots the only sound as they crunched into the baked, crusty earth. Blue stood in front of them, staring with wide sockets as Dream tugged his brother along to join him. Reaper shrugged and vanished, the sound of him taking flight the only hint that he left.

"You should be proud that you reacted so quickly to our appearance. If Galbatorix attacks, that's exactly what you should do, though I doubt arrows would prove any more effective against him than they were against us." The men all glanced up in disbelief and surprise, hope tinting their faces like the brazen orange light of the sickly plains.
"We only ask that you try to discern what you are firing at next time, alright?" Blue suggested.
"In a real fight, it's entirely possible we will be too distracted to dodge or stop your arrows." Dream added.
"Is that understood?" Eragon asked.
Confused on who to address, they ended up with a unanimous "yes" added with a slew of "Shadeslayer", "Rider/Riders", and "Lord". A few called out sir in panic.
"Just stick with sir if you're confused on what to address." Dream explained gently, glancing at Eragon, who shrugged slightly in response.