Chapter 4: meeting
Screaming… Fire… Blood… Rage...
Brom awoke in a sweat, his nightmare still vivid in his mind. He looked around the room. Nothing was out of place, and Eragon was sleeping in the bed on the far side of the room.
Letting out an exhausted sigh, Brom lifted himself out of the bed and looked out the window. The sun was only just coming over the horizon, but villagers were already up and about.
"Brom?" He heard Eragon's voice behind him.
Turning around, he saw the Eragon himself was barely awake, probably sensing the old man's presence.
"I see you are awake." Brom observed.
"No thanks to last night…" Eragon muttered.
Brom raised an eyebrow, "And what happened last night?" He asked, curious.
"Something attacked. The giant warded them off. I tried to wake you, but you were sound asleep." Eragon explained.
Brom grimaced. He was asleep? And Eragon was unable to wake him up? Brom was a naturally light sleeper, so it confused him greatly. The mention of something attacking last night also warranted his attention.
"You said something attacked last night, and the giant warded it off?"
Eragon nodded, "They were strange, red creatures. They came from the forest in droves. The giant was able to hold them off all on his own somehow, he moved as fast as lighting sometimes." He went on describing the events of the night before, from the creatures to the weapons used by the giant.
"And you say it made the area as bright as day?" Brom asked.
"It was a strange blue light that covered everything, and there was nothing left of the creatures head." Eragon explained.
Brom frowned. The tale, had he not heard it from Eragon, he would have discounted as nothing but an old fairytale. However the story did warrant investigation.
"In any case, we should go down for breakfast. We can ponder the situation on a full stomach. Make sure Sapphira hunts for some food herself, as well as staying out of sight."
[-]
Walking through the forest, he followed the trail of blood to its source. The attack on the village the night before only enraged him more. He couldn't save his own world, and he couldn't save the one of the marine. But he would be damned if he let another world fall to the demons.
Finally, he spotted the source of the blood that now drenched the forest floor. A gore nest. The flesh and blood from creatures of their own dimension making up its structure, the argent energy radiating off of it. A beating heart just visible in the center of it.
Walking up to it, he reached and grabbed the heart and ripped it out, crushing it his hands. The nest let out an unholy screech, before collapsing, the argent energy returning to the hellscape it came from.
A shadow flew over him, invisible to the normal human, but quite obvious to him. Looking upwards, he saw what to the untrained eye would look like a bird of some sort. But to him, he saw something that had the intellect to fly high enough to obscure its true size.
He made a mental note if the creature, making sure to investigate further later. Moving forward, he filled the markers on his HUD to the last gore nest. This final one, and the village would be safe from the demons, and he could move to the next.
He hacked through the foliage, revving his chainsaw and using it to cut through the vines and branches. A waste of fuel to be honest.
He spotted the final gore Nest in a clearing, which was guarded by several imps, as well as a single hell knight. He pulled out his shotgun, and dashed out of the foliage towards the demons. He dispatched the closest imp to him quickly with a single shell to the head, its blood adding to the forest floor.
The other demons noticed their comrades death, and screeched before charging him. He gripped his shotgun, before dispatching one of the other imps before it got close.
One imp managed to flank him, and jump at his back. He simply turned around, grabbed the imp as it flew through the air, and slammed it on the ground with a sickening crack.
The hellknight roared, before a shadow was cast over it. He looked up, seeing the creature he had spotted before diving at the hellknight. It grabbed the demon in its jaws, before slamming into the ground with a loud 'thump'.
It threw the demon against one of the larger trees, killing it.
The creature, in his eyes, could not possibly be a demon. It had bright blue scales, with four strong legs and two wings, with a spiked tail and a long neck, with a narrow, horned head attached. Its claws were white, and sharp to a point.
He eyed the creature with slight confusion. What would one of these be doing in this world? The last he'd seen of them was in some of the memories of the body he inhabited. And even then, it was only in his homeworlds mythology.
No, this one must be native to this world. Though, why he had not seen more of them he was unsure.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked, his vocal cords laced with an otherworldly tone. A side effect of his possession of the marine.
The creature huffed, before shaking its head. It was odd, as he had asked it a question, and it refused to answer in the fashion that its kind normally did. But before he could ponder further, the creature raised its head and looked deeper into the forest. He turned his own eyes toward where she was looking, and saw nothing. But just because he didn't see anything, didn't mean there was nothing there.
Walking forwards, slowly, he looked deeper into the forest. He soon saw a pair of yellow eyes, watching them, before they vanished, almost the instant he noticed them.
He turned back to the creature, and further noticed the saddle on its back, "May want to find your bond should you not? Can't be that safe out here for one as young as you." He stated.
The beasts eyes narrowed, before it let out a steady hum. He raised his eyebrow at that. He it already lost its bond? He doubted it, as at such a young age creatures like itself commonly went insane, lashing out at anything and everything that moved.
Shrugging, he made his way over to the gore nest, ripping its heart out just like he had the one before it. He then walked back towards the village, satisfied with the work he had done.
[-]
"And he just, showed up?" Brom asked the man in front of him.
"Yep, 'e sure did. Walked right through the gates, armor n' all." The man said with a quite noticeable accent.
Brom nodded and thanked the man, before turning and heading to a different stall. He was curious. He'd been asking around all morning, and yet no one had been able to tell him anything about the giant aside from the obvious.
He was large, had the strength of nearly ten men, used weapons that had never been seen before, wore admire that exposed no skin, and he never once spoke to was that last fact that actually worried Brom.
If he was simply a mute, Brom wouldn't be worried, but until he had seen the man's tongue cut out, or he had further proven himself such, Brom would assume the worst.
The giant was a creature of pure rage, if touching his mind the day before was any indication. And the fact that he seemed to actually notice Broms attempt to access his mind worried him even further.
He would have pondered it further, until he saw Eragon running up to him, "What is it Eragon?" Brom asked once Eragon was within earshot.
Eragon stopped in front of him, gasping for breath, before speaking, "Sapphira! She spotted the giant in the woods… he was fighting more of those creatures. And he noticed her flying above him, before she flew down herself and helped him dispatch more." He explained, "But the strangest part, was that he talked to her, and he knew about dragons and riders." He said the last part in a hushed voice.
Brom frowned. This giant, thus man, had spotted a dragon. And had apparently made contact with her. Not only that, but he seemed knowledgeable about them as well.
"Tell Sapphira yo stay away from him for now. I intend to confront his as soon as possible." Brom ordered.
Elsewhere, the giant felt the need to chuckle, but wasn't totally sure why…
[-]
A/N: well, at least I got it in the month! College Finals… Blegh. Anywho, hope you liked it, especially since this one's a tad bit longer than last chapter. Since I'm currently dealing with finals, next months chapter should be out sooner. Anywho, reviews!
Helkil: no guarantees he'll actually get a dragon, but we'll see
Anonymous412: thanks buddy!
The Mercenary Prime: EXSSSPLOOOOSIONS!
Greer123: well, here's his reaction… underwhelming maybe?