Chapter 8
"Brom, he's just a child. You can't expect him to know exactly what to do in every situation! It was his first true fight, it's completely normal to mess up in a moment like this one."
"Yes but it was stupid! Soon, Galbatorix will know the face of the person for who Saphira hatched. There'll be posters everywhere with our faces on it. The roads and towns are going to be patrolled by the guards. For now on, we have to be more cautious than ever."
It was at this moment Eragon decided to step in.
"You told me the Urgals spotted Saphira's footprints. So what if they saw me?"
Brom stuck his sword in the ground. "I said there was a possibility they saw her tracks. Anyway, it's too late now."
The storyteller then looked at the swordsman.
"How are you sure it's the king who is leading them?"
"The Urgal I spoke to told me his leader knew who I was and that I could never achieve my objective. The Ra'zac can have shared this information with only one person and it's Galbatorix."
"If it's the case, that's something completely new, especially from the king. It was the Urgals who killed his first dragon, what's the use in having an alliance with them?" asked Brom, more to himself than the others. "Anyway, we'll know sooner or later. In the meantime, we have to keep moving."
The three of them prepared the horses for the day's travel. In less than ten minutes, they were ready. Then, they set off towards the Toark River. During the next days, Brom continued training the young Rider, giving him tips about what to do in situations involving magic, Urgals, Saphira and sometimes a Shade. Alex also listened, thinking he could learn some useful things.
Time passed by and soon, the group was now back on the plains. The temperature was warmer than before, indicating the arrival of spring. After riding a few leagues, Brom pointed his finger in front of him. "We're near the Leona Lake. It's two or three leagues away, not more."
The travelers arrived at their destination a few moments after the moon rose. They decided to eat almost immediately and go to sleep just after.
At dawn, Eragon was the first to wake up and admired the lake in the daylight. The farmer quickly walked back to the camp to convince his dragoness to go for a swim with him. The latter happily accepted and the two of them flew away from the shore.
Awakened by their movements, Alex stood up and decided to gather some wood for a fire. When his task was done, he sat against a tree, watching the duo playing in the water. Slowly, a smile grew on his lips. It reminded him of his childhood with his best friend, Robert. When the summer was around, they used to go to a small river, not far from where Alex lived. Those inseparable friends spent all their afternoon there, talking, fishing or listening to the wild life around them… until that fateful day. Since then, Alex never came back there.
"When all of this is over, I'll go back to our little place, even if it's for the last time." He whispered, while hot tears were falling down his cheeks.
"Something's wrong?"
Turning his head to the left, the man with grey hair saw Brom sitting in front of the fire. The elder was looking at him curiously.
"Huh? Oh, nah, I'm fine." Alex sniffled a few times and dried his cheeks with his jacket. His eyes were slightly puffy and his face red.
Now, the storyteller had a sad expression on his face. "It's about your friend, isn't it?"
He sighed and nodded. "Yes. When we were children, we used to play near a river. It was the good old times. Since the day they killed him, I never found the courage to go back there."
The swordsman then watched the Rider and his lizard swimming.
"They're so young, so innocent. They don't deserve to live this kind of life, always on the roads and afraid to have their throats sliced every night."
"I agree with you." replied Brom. "But this is how the world is. We must live with it."
Alex nodded.
"What's the plan for today?"
"Day off. We'll travel tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me. Excepted when we were at Teirm, we never really had one. I'm going to take a nap."
The old man looked surprised. "No training today?"
"I kept my skills sharp during the last two weeks, one day without a sword in my hand isn't going to kill me!" he laughed.
"Who are you and what did you do to Alex?"
The adolescent with icy eyes smirked and shook his head. "You told me I had to slow down on my training. I'm just following the voice of wisdom, nothing else."
Alex lay on the ground, under the tree, and used his bag as a pillow before closing his eyes. The blue dragon swam in direction of the camp and walked to the swordsman. She stopped less than three meters away from him and lightly touched his right feet with her nose.
«Alex, would you like to swim with us? It's better than staying here, don't you think? »
"Nah, I need to sleep for a few hours after being on watch since the chase."
Saphira lowered her head and looked at the ground, before sighing. «Oh…okay. See you later. » Her voice sounded disappointed. The moment after, she jumped off and flew back to her rider.
"You know, it was a good opportunity to gain her trust, right?" said Brom.
"I already have it. I told her the truth about my purpose here and the fact I saved her life two weeks ago helped too."
"In that case, this was the perfect occasion to be her friend and have some fun. It's better to have a dragon on your side than against you."
The young man opened one eye to look at the storyteller.
"I don't have friends, I don't need friends and the last one I had died in front of me."
"Don't you remember what I said in Jeod's office?"
"I do. But it's useless Brom. Soon, all of this will be over. You'll forget me and I'll forget you, Saphira and Eragon."
Brom shrugged. "I don't know why but, I can feel it's not going to end the way you think."
"We'll see."
Eragon and Brom were standing fifteen feet away from each other. No one moved a muscle and a heavy silence reigned over the camp. Finally, after a few seconds, it was the farmer who did the first move by launching a stick at the old man with his right hand but failed miserably because of his injury. He then ducked under the storyteller's blow before launching himself at him. The two of them fought on the ground before jumping again to their feet. Every time their blades met, there were sparks.
Slowly, the outcome of the battle changed. Brom was losing ground and he was getting slower. Finally, Eragon swung Zar'roc faster than before. In result, the bald man's sword was knocked to the ground.
"You finally surpassed me."
"But we just started," protested the rider.
Brom sat on the ground and sheathed his weapon.
"I taught you everything I know. The only thing you can do is to continue practicing. I think it will be better if you do it with Alex from now on. His fighting style is different from mine and it'll be a good training for both of you." A tiny smile appeared on his lips. "Warriors who travel together learn a lot from each other in a fight. What one lack in a domain can be compensated by the other."
"Do you think we stand a chance against the Ra'zac?"
"It'll be difficult but if we combine our strengths, yes, we have a good chance."
Alex nodded happily. It was exactly what he wanted to hear. "That's good to know, we should go to sleep, tomorrow could be a long day."
The young swordsman was about to lay on the patch of grass he used as a bed when he felt something tugging at the back of his neck. He was suddenly pulled back and found himself against Saphira's belly, with Eragon on his right.
"The heck?" he said, blinking.
The farmer shrugged, not knowing what to say. The blue dragoness was acting oddly these days, maybe she really wanted to be his friend. Alex decided to not question it and accepted the situation for what it was. The two adolescent settled against her warm side for the night and she dropped a wing over them. The sound of crackling fire lulled them to sleep.
The next morning, the trio had the chance to eat lunch in a small village called Fasaloft. Since travelers were becoming more frequent, the big lizard had to fly high all day and join the group at night. After riding for a few days, people confirmed them Dras-Leona was a day's ride ahead.
"There's a possibility of the city being full of spies working for the Ra'zac. We must be careful." informed Brom, in a serious tone.
"I'll leave some of my weapons at the inn during our stay and have only my swords on me. I'll do the same with my jacket, I'm too recognizable with it…and I have to shave my beard."
"A good idea indeed. Do you think they know you're here?"
Alex shook his head. "Possible. They informed Galbatorix of my existence so maybe, those two expect my presence at Dras-Leona but not with you."
Finally, they arrived at their destination. The city was standing in front of them, a few leagues away. A few miles east, a dark mountain speared the sky. Brom pointed out this was Helgrind. He explained the strange worship linked to the mountain.
The swordsman clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
Very soon, all of this will be over.
