Chapter 8

Eragon felt a single drop of sweat roll down his temple, the stick in his right hand held tight and up in a defensive stance that had become second nature to him in the month or so he had been training with Brom and Arya.

He looked at the older man panting opposite him and took in how Brom was standing as Arya had taught him. Brom was holding his left side probably nursing a stitch thought Eragon and with that he jumped towards the man pushing primarily against Brom's weaker side. Forcing the older man into action.

Eragon ducked the rushed swipe that Brom flung towards him in an attempt to get some distance between the two of them in order to regain some of his breath however this attack was easily readable by the younger male, who ducked nimbly underneath the swipe and bought his own stick down with force on the back of Brom's hand, which in turn led to Brom's 'sword' falling from his grip and landing on the floor.

Eragon lowered his sword under the illusion of having won only to have a foot connect with his jaw knocking him of balance. It seemed that Brom was not quite as exhausted as he seemed.

"A valuable lesson Eragon, when an enemy is exhausted and near defeat they often fight all the more viciously, more predictably aye, but also more fiercely," and with that the older man lunged towards Eragon tackling him to the ground where they began to wrestle for either of the weapons that had both been sent in either direction.

Both feet and fists were thrown towards each other however Eragon's youthful strength and endurance coupled with his recent training were beginning to win over Brom's experience.

Eragon eventually managed to break free from Brom's grip and rolled over to one of the sticks which he then bought quickly to Brom's throat.

With a quick gasp of "Dead," Eragon won his first sparring match with his mentor.

Brom however held nothing but pride for the boy now man that had defeated him, the boy who could never know. His son.

"Brom?" questioned the boy who the thoughts of the older man revolved.

"You have improved boy, however we now take the next step." Brom said quickly his usual harshness mixed with pride.

"What do you mean?" replied Eragon with what seemed to be genuine curiosity although that wasn't a particularly uncommon thing Brom though to himself fighting a smile.

"Well boy, if you were to join a battle using nothing but a stick I assure you it would not end in your favour," Brom explained waiting for Eragon to understand which he did immediately with a gasp.

"Swords! We'll cut each other to ribbons and..."

"That is where our spectator will make herself useful,"

"Spectator?" Eragon again questioned.

"You need to work on your awareness of what is going on around you," came the voice that was as near to perfection as Eragon had ever heard, although the owner could never know of these thoughts.

The owner of the voice chose that exact moment to drop from the branches of the tree in which she had been observing the lesson from.

Eragon could not stop himself from staring. Even an act as simple as falling from a tree was executed with the grace of a swan yet the deadly precision of a descending hawk. Eragon had to snap himself out of the thought that had been causing his ignorance to what Arya had been saying to him. Dammit Eragon stop thinking these things...although she has been a lot nicer since then... Eragon thought remembering the 'incident' as he called it that they had about one week ago.

"I will use magic to block the edges of the sword...Eragon!" a slightly put out looking Arya shouted.

"Well let us start now then," Eragon all but screamed.

"Nay Eragon, I need to rest," Brom breathlessly said showing his true age to Eragon.

"But..."

"I will test him," Arya interrupted "It will do him well not to take this victory to the head as you are a very good swordsman Brom," she elaborated in response to Brom's raised eyebrow at her first statement.

"Aye it will do him good," Brom smirked casting a sideways glance at Eragon who was jumping on the balls of his feet rubbing his hands together.

O.O.O.O.O

Everything seemed to go silence for Eragon as he stood staring into the depths of emerald that were Arya's eyes. The staring competition seemed to go on forever although Eragon was beginning to lose himself in the eyes of his opponent and at that exact moment he decided despite her cold attitude and her having much more proficiency in combat than him he wanted to protect her.

He had no doubt however that he was going to get utterly annihilated in the oncoming sparring session if not because it was his first time using a real sword because, if Arya's grace carried over into her fighting, which Eragon had no doubt it did, he was outmatched in nearly every way.

Maybe I can use strength to outmatch her Eragon thought as he slowly began to circle and edge his way over to the raven haired beauty considering he athletic yet slim form. At the last second Eragon jumped and bought the sword down hard with a slash that would have surely caused damage regardless of the edge being blocked by magic.

Only to have the sword embed itself in the cold, hard earth. Eragon heard a soft chuckle from behind him before he saw stars as the hilt of Arya's sword struck straight between his exposed shoulder blades.

Unfortunately for Eragon the sword was obviously embedded far enough into the ground to be able to hold his weight as he flipped over it completely head over heels and landed on the ground with a soft 'oomph' hands still firmly on the handle of the sword.

Eragon kept his eyes closed waiting for the cold bite of steel and the embarrassing statement of "Dead" however the word nor feeling came.

Eragon cracked an eye open and saw Arya standing with a small smile on her face about ten feet from where he had landed.

So strength is out of the question Eragon thought with a grimace as pain lanced up his back from his tumble onto the ground.

"Get up Eragon, had we been truly fighting you would have lost already," came Arya's advice.

"I would have regardless, I am completely defenceless," Eragon snarled.

"You are never completely defenceless Eragon," Arya replied in a softer voice that could almost be called caring, 'Almost' being the key word thought Eragon.

He stood with a groan and yanked the sword from the dirt.

"Now Eragon, listen carefully to what I say," Arya began " When you reach for Saphira in order to exchange images you feel a connection within the deepest parts of your mind, correct,"

"Aye,"

"Well do as you do then however do not aim specifically at Saphira, then when you are ready attack" and with that she fell back into silence.

Eragon sighed, closed his eyes and began to do as Arya said. After what seemed an eternity Eragon began to 'feel' his surroundings. Arya was a vivid green that seemed to blend almost perfectly with the trees behind her whereas Brom was a Dark sapphire blue. Eragon felt a gasp leave his lips and he lunged at Arya eyes still closed shocking all three people in the farm. Not only due to his eyes being closed but due to the speed that he seemed to have acquired from nowhere.

Eragon could feel every movement and ripple of every muscle in his body as he and Arya fought, although it felt like more of a dance than a fight. Despite his new found strength Arya still managed to deflect every single one of his blows flawlessly with no difficulty.

Despite the energy and skill that seemed to come from an external source Eragon knew he was going to lose. Arya was barely putting in effort into her movements.

It was at that precise moment that Eragon's eyes snapped open and all concentration was lost and it was due to the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Arya's laughter rang throughout the farm, although the fight seemed to have started to bore her as it was then that she flung herself at Eragon sword, nothing more than a flash as it disarmed him jabbed each of his limbs and whipped up to his neck.

"Very good," Arya praised Eragon laughter still evident in her voice. Although Eragon was still in a daze at hearing the glorious sound of her laughter.

When he finally gathered his wits and stood up to face Arya he saw her standing with a gentle smile on her face. Although it was quickly replaced with a stoic look at Brom's clapping.

"You know boy, you have just given me hope. Now that is enough for today go and clean yourself you have to go to buy some meat and ask Horst to repair Garrow's plough, although I am hesitant to let you go alone."

"It is fine Brom I need a word with Eragon anyway," Arya said walking quickly into the house.

"I don't know what you have done to annoy her so Eragon, but I pity you, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. That applies doubly so to elven women." Brom warned.

Eragon cringed, worried about the biting words that would definitely be leaving Arya's lips on the walk to the Village.

O.O.O.O.O

Saphira was hunting inside the house while heart partner-of-mind was clashing sticks with the other two-legs.

Saphira then spotted what she had been hunting for and pounced on the big-furry-four-leg-squeaker.

The creature weren't really large enough to satisfy her appetite now and she often had to have Arya fetched her one of the larger furry-long-ear-runners, however catching the squeakers had benefits as well as Nest-master of her partner-of-mind would often scratch her behind her ears if he saw her catch normally while saying 'better than any damn cat I've seen' and the nest-master knew just how to scratch so she made it her job to catch the little appetisers as regularly as possible.

Life was good, her partner-of-mind was happy and she was warm and full although the scales on her underside began to itch in a way that could not be scratched and she felt worry for her partner-of-mind.

A feeling of helplessness overcame her and she did something she did not know she was capable and shouted 'Eragon'.

O.O.O.O.O

A/N: Cliffhanger? Yes, Yes it was : ) Still in the market for a Beta if you're interested. See you all in the next chapter and don't forget to review.