Chapter 2 – Old ties

When Eragon had heard the cry in his mind, he knew something was different. Over the years his mind had twitched in the way that signified something had happened to the bearer of his cousin's ring, but never in a way that signalled immediate peril. Within seconds he had scrambled to his living quarters in the bower that was his home and assembled provisions and anything he might need. His armour, bow and arrows, and sword, Brisingr, all retrieved from a corner of the room and Saphira's saddle buckled to her now-enormous frame.

Reaching out to Glaedr and Umaroth in their eldunari, he quickly threw everything he knew and felt at them, including his vision and fear that what they feared of the future was dawning. Blodhgarm too was summoned and informed of what had transpired, his face showing a grave expression as he nodded at what was said.

Within minutes, Eragon was found in the centre of the town in front of the low building that stored the eldunari, on top of a saddled Saphira and looking down upon Blodhgarm and the remaining seven of what once was his twelve elven companions.

"I will take with me Glaedr and Umaroth, the others must remain in your care Blodhgarm-elda," Eragon said to Blodhgarm as the latter looked on with concern.

"We all know what's at stake Shadeslayer, we can only hope the dark times are not yet upon us once more, I will ensure their safety with the aid of Cuaroc and Valdr." Blodhgarm replied, the automaton with the dragon head looking on indifferently from his defensive position at the buildings entrance.

Eragon nodded at Blodhgarm solemnly as everyone else looked on reverently. It had been nearly two hundred years since last Eragon Shadeslayer set foot in Alagaesia and wore the attire of warfare. Stepping back from Saphira, Blodhgarm then summoned the collective energies of those eldunari who would remain and started chanting in the ancient language the spell that would transport Eragon to the vicinity of the ring-bearer. Eragon could feel the spell latching onto the ring all those leagues away through his very being. It was a spell that could traverse the leagues with little difficulty and was similar to one Ebrithil Oromis had used to help him when his mind was attacked by the remnants of Durza's consciousness. The same spell that would intertwine all the eldunari and make available their energy, if needed, to Eragon and his companions the moment he left Dyr Aurbodain.

As the spell began to take effect, Eragon put the image of the rings in the forefront of his mind as everything took a hazy edge to it before disappearing in a bright flash of light. What he felt then was like nothing he had ever experienced before; he felt like he was being compressed in all directions, uncomfortable but not painfully so as if he was squeezed through a space too small to fit.

When the feeling had subsided, Eragon found himself in the bright skies of a new morning which was no longer as strange as it used to be, the sun having already risen where he had just been far to the east. Plummeting to the ground as Saphira unfurled her massive wings, Eragon took to examining the ground below, breathing in once more the air over Alagaesia. His ecstasy and quenched longing of the moment was broken by Saphira as she pulled at his mind, pulling him into hers.

What he saw through tinted eyes of superior vision, even to an elf-human hybrid such as himself, was a young boy and girl fleeing some unknown danger at the wooded edge of what could only be the Spine. As they broke from the trees, the boy fell even as he carried the girl back towards a majestic castle Eragon did not recognise. Without hesitation Saphira dived to their aid as Eragon used his mind to latch onto the ring on the finger of the boy, who even now struggled to regain his feet.

What they saw next though chilled them to their hearts involuntarily for they recognised the pursuers immediately. Breaking from the tree-line and braving the sun to capture their prey, the two Ra'zac closed the distance between them with astonishing speed; it was all he could do for Eragon to snarl "Brisingr" at the sight of their hated enemy.

At his command, fire erupted from the ground between predator and prey causing the Ra'zac to stop and giving Saphira the time to land in the fire's wake. With his back to the wounded duo, Eragon unsheathed Brisingr and advanced on the foul creatures of darkness even as they lifted swords of their own and threw aside their cloaks to reveal what lay underneath. Without the need to communicate or even see her, he knew Saphira had coiled her body in a defensive stance around the children and watched on as fire danced in her nostrils and between her massive jaws.

Unperturbed by their appearance, Eragon used his elven speed to close what little distance there was and engaged them with fierce strokes of his sword. The fight lasted all of thirty seconds against his foes, minor wards guarding their bodies insufficient to stop a Rider's blade for long. Before he could dispatch the second one though, a jet of flame flew past him and engulfed the doomed creature head to foot in searing flame as it turned to flee back into the woods.

Eragon couldn't help flashing back to the avenging of his uncle in the deep recesses of his mind as he watched Saphira rise from her position and approach the reeking bodies to consume them in blue-white fire emanating from her maw. All that was left of the foul creatures moments later was a smoking pile of ash in the middle of sparse patches of grass and mud.

"Ra'zac!" he spat viciously as he turned to the still forms of the two behind him. Without a second thought he went over to the boy and girl, finding them alive though unconscious where they'd fallen. Repairing the injuries to both, he noticed the small crowd gather at the entrance to the strangely low-built castle. A few people had braved a closer look and now stood not far off from where he was, eyes cast downwards at the would-be victims of the Ra'zac with the occasional stealthy glance at Eragon or Saphira.

Without further ado, Eragon picked up the larger of the two, the boy and, picking a large muscular man nearby said, "you! Bring her in" motioning at the young girl at his feet. With a sense of urgency, the man stumbled forward to obey and, picking up the girl gingerly in his arms led the way back into the castle, the crowd parting as the sea before a ship as Saphira made to follow to the door.

The large man knew where to go as Eragon followed on his heels. The route through the castle took them past many doors and corridors, even as their inhabitants were rising as news of the attack on the youngsters spread. At the end of the short walk, Eragon found himself in a long, low room full of beds; a hospital for the sick and elderly. Choosing two beds separate from the few inhabitants who lay within, the strange man and Eragon both lay the children next to each other in neighbouring beds, even as they slept on.

As a nurse came over to check their condition, Eragon stepped in front of her and said, "all these two require is sleep for now. If they should wake, send for me immediately and give them plenty of water. I wish to have words with them as soon as they have recovered sufficiently, but until they do I will remain outside with my dragon awaiting your word."

It was all the nurse could do to nod at him before she busied herself by covering her new patients with blankets and mopping their faces with a cool cloth. Seeing the care they received, Eragon was satisfied his requests would be seen to without further questions and made to leave them be. It had been a long time since he had spoken anything of length in the common language and his tongue no longer wanted to form the now archaic-seeming words, the clarity and force of the ancient language now absent in the air.

Re-emerging from the castle to see Saphira stand sentinel to the new morning, a wave of nostalgia swept over Eragon as he recalled the days when Saphira was a hatchling and she eagerly awaited the beginning of a new day. Rather than immediately removing her saddle, he moved to her side and stroked her flank as she nuzzled towards his touch, the years may have passed quickly but so had their bond deepened. Making sure no magician was near them, they expanded their minds to include Umaroth and Glaedr and allow them to also witness something different.

On Dyr Aurbodain, it was not uncommon for Eragon and Saphira to include especially Glaedr in their mental union. Whenever Saphira hunted, Glaedr's eldunari was fastened securely to her empty saddle so he too could re-experience the thrill of the hunt through his talented student, as his mind mingled with hers. As Eragon and Saphira learnt all they could from the other eldunari, Glaedr helped them understand what was sometimes only conveyed through images, sounds and smells. In return, the rich and new experiences passed on to Glaedr were shared with the eldunari as Eragon and Saphira rested, for even though some of the maddened eldunari still slumbered in a deep sleep, the subtle shifts in their emotions indicated the special brand of therapy may have been of some help no matter how little.

The hours passed as they waited patiently for word of the children's awakening. Content to remain in a state between consciousness and meditation, the only break in Eragon's vigil at the courtyard of the castle was to run through the Rimgar, the set of exercises designed to improve elven flexibility. Though he was now capable of performing all the levels, Eragon still wished he had that final smoothness which his master had demonstrated all those years ago. Still, it was refreshing for relaxing his body and mind and allowing him to focus on the moment, as it was to wash his body of grime using a bucket of water supplied by the early morning inhabitants.

Just as the sun reached its peak and started its descent once more, the nurse he had talked to before emerged from the castle and seeing them walked over to them hesitantly. Replacing his armour with a forest green lamarae shirt and wearing his warm cloak again he buckled on his sword and waved her forward.

"My Lord, the two children have just awoken and are asking for you," the nurse said respectfully.

"How do they fare? Do they appear recovered to you?" Eragon asked, ignoring the title of Lord for now.

"Nothing that can't be fixed with some more water in them; which we pull from the well. That is why I came in person," she replied, waving her hand in the direction of the stone-walled well.

Nodding at her reply and her eagerness to see her charges health improved, Eragon gave her a hand in lifting the water from the well by using his considerable strength and then insisted on being the one to carry the heavy load inside.

In the infirmary, Eragon saw the two youngsters sitting upright in their beds, wary of their surroundings as they zeroed in on him the moment he entered the room. Rather than address them straight away, Eragon set the bucket down with a sloshing sound as he filled two clay cups with water and wordlessly passed them over.

The two quickly drained their cups, though they did not deign ask for another as they resumed their gaze upon Eragon. Taking their cups, the nurse refilled them anyway and passed them back as Eragon seated himself on a wooden chair at the foot of their beds as they drank the cups slowly this time.

"How are you feeling?" Eragon asked, breaking the silence at last.

"Tired, and hungry I guess." The boy said after a moment's hesitation as the girl gasped, as if her companion said something out of place.

Eragon chuckled slightly, alleviating the fear on the girls face slightly, "Most are after magic is used to heal them. You did well just to be able to flee after those things following you, I was afraid I might be too late." He said as shock registered on their faces.

"You healed us and killed the two….things pursuing us? What were they? Who are you? Why are you here?" The girl rambled, one question riding on the back of the last.

"Questions can wait for later, now though," Eragon said as he turned to the door. A few seconds of bewildered silence was followed by loud footsteps from down the hall, someone running towards them and another. The footsteps ended just beyond the door as it was thrown open, its hinges shrieking in protest as a man and a woman entered the room. Dishevelled and wearing clothes ill-suited to the approaching cold of winter, the woman took in the sight of the children and wailed before running to the girl and enfolding her in an embrace. The man could only look on with relief before approaching the boy and wrapping an arm around him in a reserved manner.

Eragon sat quietly at the end of the bed, comfortable with giving the family the time to recover from the shock of the children's plight earlier. When the children were relieved of the attentions of who could only have been their parents, their gazes were still fixed on him as they finally brought their parents to regard the strange Rider who had saved their lives.

As the women finally realised they were not alone next to the beds, she let out a small cry as she tried to futilely cover what little she wore as clothing. Eragon passed over his travelling cloak which she gratefully accepted and donned quickly. The man wore a tunic and breeches; though they too had been put on hurriedly and was not sufficient for the approach of the cold winter. For now though, the hall was more than warm enough to beat off the chill, twin fires were lit at either end and burned bright.

"What do you say to getting some food into the children before we talk?" Eragon asked the parents.

They exchanged glances with each other and the children before the man replied, "Thank you, kind sir. The banquet hall is not far from here."

"Are you two up for a short walk to breakfast," Eragon asked the children kindly. The tension still present in the parents shoulders easing with the manner of the question.

"I…think so," they both said, though they cast their eyes at their own bodies, unsure their injuries were truly healed.

"Shall we?" Eragon asked, as he rose and the others did the same. The kids swung their bodies over the sides of their beds and winced as they tentatively put weight on their feet only to find no pain. Eragon smiled slightly as he noted their surprise, though he hid it as they glanced at him. Though they could manage to walk on their own, Eragon noted both parents were on hand to catch any slips or falls by the siblings.

Before leaving the hospital, the woman looked up at Eragon before asking, "Forgive me for asking, but you saved our children and we don't even know you name?"

Eragon's expression turned serious as he looked her in the eyes and said, "My name is Eragon Bromsson," before turning and following the nurse who would lead them to the banquet hall.

Astonishment and worry flickered though the parents' minds; even though Eragon filtered what he felt from the people around him, the spike penetrated the thrum of everyone else. The small family looked at each other in startled silence before following him to breakfast.