Chapter 10: Contests

When Eragon woke up he was actually sore; it was one of the first times since his transformation he was not just tired but sore. The feeling was good, and it reminded him of long days spent on the farm in Carvahall. Today Saphira was competing in the riddle competition and Arya in the hand-to-hand combat. They were also holding the writing contest today, for that the competitors would be given an hour to write anything they wanted.

Eragon washed his face and then put on some of his nicer clothes since it was a formal occasion. When he was presentable he strapped the Belt of Beloth the Wise and his sword Brisingr. He walked out of his tent and the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. Arya met him and talked to him while they walked toward the place where the contests would be held. Almost all of the elves were already waiting there.

Islanzadć motioned for Arya to come to her. She said that she would have to stand next to her during the contests. He looked around the crowd of elves and went to stand next to Rhünon. The master smith greeted him and he said that the sword she had made for him was wonderful. She smiled and told him that it was her favorite of all the swords she had made. Not only was the sword extremely beautiful, but it was powerful and was being wielded by a powerful Rider as well.

Soon all the elves were in the clearing, the queen then walked to the center and said, "We have gathered here today to celebrate the lives and mourn the loss of Oromis and Glaedr. The contests will begin with hand-to-hand combat, then the writing contest, and then the riddle contest. Tomorrow we will continue with the archery, dueling, and magic contests. Then on the day after we will conclude with the art forms, whether they be a sculpture or a painting. The funeral will be held after that and Eragon Shadeslayer and I will give short speeches. Let us begin the competitions."

She then drew a large circle roughly five hundred foot in diameter in the sand. All of the competitors then gathered around. The queen drew a bracket out of her pocket and announced that the first match was between Vanir and Lord Dathëdr. Both of them stepped forward and met in the middle of the circle. They bowed to each other and the queen then stepped to the side of the circle. "We will begin on the count of three. One, two, three."

The elvish lord launched himself forward at full speed. Arya stepped lightly to the left and went behind him. Quickly regaining his balance, he jumped up to avoid her punch aimed at his back. Before he landed Arya jumped into the air and did a flip kick. Surprised, her foot was about to connect with his head when he caught her calf. Confused by the incredible catch, Arya and Dathëdr crashed to the ground without exchanging blows. Thinking that he was a tad slower than him Arya danced away from him.

The elf chased after her without thinking and fell into her trap. She kept dancing away from him whenever he was about to make contact and his attacks gradually slowed while Arya was hardly winded at all. Then the princess attacked, he blocked five of her charges before she broke through his defenses. With a feint to the right and a sweep kick Dathëdr fell on the ground.

She put her hands around her neck. The rules were that if one of them could deal a death blow or incapacitate the other the fight ended. Islanzadć yelled, "Stop! The clear winner of this match is Arya Shadeslayer." All of the elves gathered erupted into applause. Arya stepped out of the ring and Saphira let loose a roar in celebration of the excellent fight.

Just as the next match was about to begin they heard a roar in the distance. The sound was distant and the elves could only hear it because of their enhanced hearing, the dragon was much closer than it should have been able to get. Issuing orders to her army, the queen quickly ordered the army to their positions. Gil'ead was defendable, but they were not in the city and had no time.

As soon as he heard the roar Eragon got on top of Saphira. They took to the air and before the elves knew what was happening they saw the red dragon in the sky. From this height they could also see that there was a group of roughly two thousand of the giant men without pain heading this way. There were also a group of humans slightly in front of them with siege weapons ready. There were catapults and rams in case they had needed to storm Gil'ead.

"Eragon, I don't like the looks of this. They know that we can easily defeat Murtagh with the elves help. There must be some powerful spellcasters among them unless they wouldn't attack." Saphira said to him. Eragon contacted the queen and told her of what he suspected. She agreed that they needed to concentrate on the giants if he could concentrate on Murtagh. Arya then contacted him and asked him to come down and get her. He could use as much help if he wouldn't have thirteen elves assisting him against Murtagh. She would be more helpful the closer she was.

When they took flight again Murtagh and Thorn were roughly one thousand feet away and closing fast. Saphira flew away as she picked up speed and height. They reached the same height and Saphira turned to see Thorn release a jet of flame. It was easily deflected off of Eragon's wards and his eyes met Murtagh's for the first time today. His eyes were filled with even more pain than the last time he had seen him and his face was haggard. Clearly Murtagh had endured a tremendous amount of pain recently or he wouldn't be so horrible looking.

He enhanced his voice's volume with a spell and asked what had happened. Murtagh explained that he had been able to change his true name, and that he had not been able to escape. The red rider who had known nothing but pain and misery from the day he was born explained the torture he had endured. There was an edge to his voice that had never been there before. Nothing could have made Murtagh so different except the torture and a change in his character.

The talking paused and Eragon asked if Galbatorix knew his new true name yet. Murtagh explained that he had not, but that he was being forced to fight because Galbatorix had Thorn's eldunarí which he threatened to break if he went against his wishes. There was nothing left to say between them, Eragon understood the pain that Murtagh had endured. Pain was not unfamiliar to him and he knew what it felt to be helpless.

Saphira then let loose a roar and a stream of fire. She surged forward directly at Thorn so she could get close enough to do some damage. When they were roughly two feet away from crashing into each other she let the wind catch her wings and got above the red dragon. His tail was almost fully healed but Saphira was still the more talented flyer by a good margin.

The sapphire dragon was just about to swing her tail down into the unprotected back of the dragon when she was stopped by a tremendous force. Eragon didn't know what had hit them before he too was hit by what felt like the hand of god smashing into him. The Shadeslayer was knocked out of the saddle and was falling towards the earth with nobody to catch him.

Seconds before he slammed into the ground Saphira skimmed the ground and caught him. Arya grabbed him and dragged him down into the saddle. Only when he was strapped in did she let go of his waist. Before they were prepared Thorn and Murtagh were bearing down upon them. Also coming at them was a small green dragon, just large enough to carry the skinny Rider who could be no older than twelve. Realization hit them and they knew what they were looking at. The final dragon egg had hatched for the king. Now Saphira and Eragon were truly the Varden's and elves' only hope of survival. No more Riders or unsuspected help would come to his aid. It was just him, Saphira and the other races against the largest and most powerful force Alagäesia had ever known…