Sorry about the short chapter yesterday. This one is where the first real big difference between the real Inheritance Cycle and mine.
That night, as he lay in bed, Eragon reached out with his mind to Saphira. They had never been this far apart, and he wanted to see if he could communicate with her. Reaching out, he groped around blindly for Saphira's mind. He was just able to brush her mind, and give her the general feeling that he was alright, before he lost connection.
Eragon smiled. Never before had they been able to communicate this far away from each other. They were a little more than three leagues from each other now. They had barely been able to manage one league before.
Sighing contentedly, Eragon rolled over and went to sleep.
Eragon went to Brom's house again the next day. On his way, he walked by the tavern in time to see a cloaked stranger walk out the doors.
Just the sight of the stranger gave Eragon the creeps. It was about six feet tall. It's face and body were obscured by a long black cloak. It walked with an awkward, stumbling gait.
Eragon darted into a nearby alley and watched the stranger walk past. After a couple of seconds, he poked his head out. Seeing the stranger turn into the blacksmith's, Eragon ran in pursuit.
He leaned in close so he could hear what they were saying. He heard Horst say, "I haven't seen anything like that. No one really hunts in the Spine anyways."
The creature responded in a creepy, scratchy voice. "Tell ussss if your hear anything." Eragon only had a second to move out of the way before the stranger walk out the door. He watched as it walked away.
Taking a deep breath, he rounded the corner and went into the blacksmith's workshop. Horst was pounding on a piece of metal. Eragon waited while he finished pounding and then stuck it into the fire. Turning around, Horst smiled when he saw Eragon.
Smiling in return, Eragon said, "Are Albriech and Baldor coming to the celebration tomorrow?" Albriech and Baldor were Horst's sons. Albriech was Roran's age and Baldor was Eragon's. Baldor was basically Eragon's best friend.
"Aye," responded Horst, "but that's not what you really want to talk to me about, is it?"
Eragon smiled. Horst was smarter than a lot of people gave him credit for. "So what was that man asking about?"
Horst shrugged. "I'm not really sure. He was asking about some sort of stone." Eragon felt the smile drop of of his face. "Apparently it had been lost in the Spine." Horst shrugged again. "They must be pretty fond of this stone."
It took everything Eragon had not to shake. He bid Horst a hasty farewell and went towards Brom's house.
He only got halfway when he realized he was being followed.
Now if Eragon was anything, he was smart. After he looked back the first time and saw the cloaked stranger following him, he didn't look back again. Instead, he darted behind a building and started sprinting towards the forest about 100 yards away. He was halfway to the tree line when he heard the most unearthly screech he had ever heard.
Turning around, he saw the cloaked stranger running towards him. It was running faster than Eragon could imagine. It was already nearly upon him.
Eragon tripped and landed on his face. He rolled over just in time to see the thing jumping at him. It landed on top of him, pushing the air out of his lungs. Even as he struggled for breath, the thing breathed out a putrid breath. Eragon choked, grabbed at it's hood. He flung the hood off, unveiling a face that was truly not human. It had big black eyes that took up most of it's head. Underneath that was a beak that was nipping at him.
The last thing he was aware of before he lost consciousness was a flash of silver, and a sickening screech.
DA DA DA DUUUUUMMMMMM! Guess who the cloaked stranger is. Anyways, probably won't be able to post a new one tomorrow, but maybe the next day? I don't know. Happy New Year!