The wandering rider

Chapter two

Happy hunting

With the previous day's events fresh in their minds, Kane and Cress treaded lightly in the places they visited, wary of whatever had mutated the Ra'zac and given it the power to control Tuskgver. If it was some strange force of magic, Kane believed that, perhaps, Eragon could tell them of its origins at a later date, though he doubted the chance would come anytime soon. And so, he made a mental note to speak to Jeod about it when he next saw the writer and trader.

Since early that morning he and Cress had been hunting for provisions, as to avoid starving on the trip back to Iliera. Flying out to Narda had been strenuous enough, as the reason for going was to capture a rouge magician who had stolen an Eldunari. That had been easy enough, with Svinrr to help Kane subdue the opposing Eldunari's mind. Then all he had to do was capture the man and turn him into the authorities. It was a task that Nasuada could have easily given to Roran Stronghammer or another member of the Varden, but she had felt it necessary to send a rider.

And so he'd gone. The task, at least, had taken his mind off of his and Cress' weakness compared to the Elven and Kull riders.

A flicker of movement caught his attention, and he turned himself towards whatever it was. His eyes scanned the bushes and trees, and then he expanded his mind towards where he'd seen the movement. A moment later, he felt a feral presence. It took him another few seconds to figure out it was a mountain lion, at which point he stabbed Sigtknurl into the ground and pointed his gedwey ignasia hand towards the creature. He heard a growl and a shuffle of movement, which caused him to push the words he wanted to use to the forefront of his mind, then to his tongue.

"Bjart garzla!"

The cat roared loudly, though not louder than Cress, and then stumbled out of the bushes, two bright orbs of light hovering over its eyes. Taking his chance, Kane rushed forward, stabbing it through the chest. As he did, he uttered a blessing, then drained its dying energy and placed it inside the translucent gem that rested in the hilt of Sigtknurl. As energy poured back into it, the gem took on a green glow, using the color that the mountain cat's energy had been. As it passed into the void, he pulled the Dwarven-made blade back out of its body, whipping the blood off of its silver blade with his same-colored cloak. Once he was satisfied, he returned the sword to its sheath, then expanded his mind outwards once more.

When it brushed against the mind of another person, he was rather surprised…And when he realized who that person was, his surprise grew. It was none other than Balnemir, the elf he had met on the island of the riders. At the time, Balnemir's dragon was only a bit bigger than Cress, but if Cress' current size was anything to judge, then Thelduin was at least the size of two houses, plus a horse. The thought scared Kane for a moment, before he realized that Balnemir hadn't obtained an Eldunari, and he doubted that the Elven Rider had since.

Balnemir!, Kane said through his mind, it is I, Kane Gregorsson…How has fate treated you, old friend?

Balnemir recoiled at first, and Kane could feel an attack brewing from the Elf and his dragon, Thelduin. But after Kane named himself, the older rider relaxed a bit, saying, Well in its own. What is it that has brought you to the Spine, Gregorsson? And do not say the Eldunari in Narda…You would have passed by her long before now had that been all.

That was true, of course. Kane and Cress had chosen to fly out to Vroengard after Narda. The reason was a simple one; time. They'd apprehended the thief easily, and had another few days left, so they'd tasked themselves with flying to Vroengard and combating whatever they may have found there. That had been easy enough; Cress flew, Svinrr gave his energy to help, and Kane stored what energy he could within Sigtknurl's gem. That had, sadly, been used up on the trip back so that Svinrr could rest. Hence, the mountain cat…

Ah…We just explored some of the coast. I visited with my parents in Narda…They said that they plan to move to New Carvahall soon, as not to be so close to the place where the riders go and come from.

An ample excuse…Very well, then, Gregorsson. Where are you?

Kane projected a picture of the game trail he stood on, and a few moments later, Balnemir appeared through the foliage, a bow strung at his side with an arrow strung through. The arrow head was shaped as a leaf, and was stained with blood. Kane raised an eyebrow in question, but Balnemir shook his head then nodded towards the end of the trail. "Nasuada sent us to break up a group of rebels before they gained too much power…Turns out their all magicians from the old Empire."

"You killed them all?"

"In the name of Glaeder, of course I didn't…They have too much power, and I not enough. The wards they've placed are similar to some of the ones Galbatorix had; Thelduin can barely get near them before their wards push him back, and there are too many minds and voices to close in on one…Normally, it would be as simple as throwing a pebble, but they seem to be stronger than any human magician…"

Kane relayed that to Cress, even though he had no reason to, as the silvery dragon was already speaking to Thelduin, the silver-blue "wolf" dragon. Many laid claim that Thelduin was met to hatch for Blodhgarm, who had been the one who trained Balnemir, but Eragon and the other elves argued otherwise. Blodhgarm's most notable line had been, 'But if I were a rider, then I would no longer see fit to be a wolf. And if that were so, then this similarity between myself and Thelduin would cease to exist.' Kane had to applaud him on his strange logic.

After consulting with Svinrr and Cress for a time, he pulled the hood to his silver cloak up, then reached behind him and grasped his shield, pulling that to his forefront and tying it to his left arm. He then unsheathed Sigtknurl, pointing the silver blade towards the ground, and started moving forwards. At first, he thought Balnemir had chosen to stay behind, but then he felt the Elf's conscious against his. It took a few seconds before he let Balnemir in, and even then, he did his best to keep the connection minimal.

Cress grumbled, a sound building up from deep in his throat and rising to his tongue, where it became a growl. Thelduin-Blodhgarm-colored-dragon mimicked him, digging his iridescent blue claws into the dirt. The two sensed a group of short-hairy-magic-users only a few miles further into the forest, and Thelduin had explained that they were some evil people left over from the Egg-breaker's-empire. Just the thought of that name caused Cress to remember his hundred year wait for the day Eragon entered the secret sanctuary on Vroengard and gathered them all, whisking them away to the excitement of the world above. Thelduin had hatched first, if only by a few months, and had been a larger egg than Cress. For that reason, he was a half-a-house taller than Cress, though Cress liked to believe he had stronger flames than his brother, and was also faster.

Balnemir-bond-of-trust-Elf-Friend is going with Kane-round-ears-bad-smell to confront the evil-eggbreaker's leftover magic users. We must give aid.

Not yet, Thelduin. Wait until the right moment, and then we strike. Svinrr spoke this time, from his place in Kane's magic-invisible-bag. Eragon had taught all the riders that trick, and even some of the dragons, but Cress didn't like the fact it had more potential to cut then his own teeth or claws.

Why wait, Svinrr-elda? We could strike now, bathe their wards in flames, and then Kane-brother-for-life could slay them all with ease…With Balnemir's help, I mean.

Have you learned nothing, Cress-dragon-colored-as-the-moon? If you are to slay a beast larger than yourself, it must be at the moment of surprise.

Next, Thelduin interrupted, saying, Svinrr is correct, I despise saying. We wait until they begin fighting.

And so they did. The dragons moved as little as possible, keeping their heads low as not to arouse suspicion. Cress pawed at the ground at times, flicking his tongue out and sniffing when he thought he smelt something. Likewise, Thelduin did the same, but less frequently. The reason why, or, at least, Svinrr sometimes said, was, "Thelduin was raised by an Elf…His manners, attitude, and most other aspects, then, are going to be less curios and rash than that of a human. Cress, you have been raised by a human, and so you are more human. The dragon named Aruna who was raised by Kiirp the Dwarf is bound to be smaller but stronger, and more prone to mountains and solitude…And Tuskgver will always be more warlike than the others. It's a simple logic, really…"

Cress decided to try and explain that to Thelduin, but the wolf-like dragon cut him off, saying, 'I already discovered that in my ponderings, youngling brother, now, focus!' At that, Cress returned to his own thoughts and ponderings, wondering whether the smelly magicians had noticed Kane-yawe and Balnemir yet. But, he supposed, they would know if that had happened.

And so they waited.

And waited.

And an hour passed.

And another…

And then, finally, like an ocean wave rising high above the shores, a sense of danger struck Cress and Thelduin. The dragons turned their heads slightly, made eye contact, then unfolded their wings and took a running start. With three steps for Cress and only one bound for Thelduin, the brother dragons leaped into the air and glided off towards the battle scene.