Chapter nine – Tutelage
Disclaimer – I do not own or am affiliated with the Inheritance Cycle in any way nor do I own any of the characters. They belong to Christopher Paolini.
The hour was early when Aris woke. After the strange dream he had retained a semi-conscious state in which he flitted in and out of being awake and asleep making it difficult for him to rest properly. He stared out into the forest simply gazing into its fern coated depths whilst Arelía stretched as she woke beside her rider.
Good morning Aris.
Morning Arelía; did you sleep well?
I did thank you little one. I shan't ask you the same question for I already know the answer.
Aris continued staring into the trees, Yes. Turning his worried thoughts away he instead sat and observed the surroundings for a while, admiring the beauty of the rider's sanctuary.
Someone approaches. Arelía said getting up from the shelter and snaking her head round the edge to see whom it was that was coming. Eragon stood with his arms folded in evident annoyance outside; however, he did retain some of his politeness for he greeted the dragon and rider.
"Good morning Aris, Arelía. I take it you slept well?"
"That we did." Aris said, lying, "May I ask why you are here?"
"I am here to teach you, what else?"
The dark haired boy perked up with excitement, No more waiting around being bored, He thought to himself, "Great! What will we be learning?"
Instead of answering the question directly Eragon instead skirted around the proposed topic, "A rider's training is a long and arduous process. It will be enjoyable I assure you and you will, eventually, become a rider in full and join our order; however, you will equally face trails not so enjoyable and ones that will push your physical and mental abilities to the limit. So, are you ready to begin?"
"Erm I suppose so…" Aris said with slight doubt and awe at the small speech the elder rider had just performed.
"Good; I knew that little impromptu speech would pay off. Shall we begin now then? If that is well with you and Arelía of course."
We both believe that would be best. Arelía said answering for the pair of them.
"Excellent. I note that you are both working together which is essential if you are to be rider and dragon; for without communicating you would be useless both in battle and in daily life you would struggle to cope. I'm sure you know this already though."
"In part; more tutelage would be welcome on such things. I'm sure you know what to teach us, after all you are the teacher, and it is not my place to say what is to be taught."
"You can ask for specific things if you want but in general you are correct. I thought we'd begin with some simple reading and writing exercises to get you up to scratch on those two things before moving onto the history of the riders, how does that sound?"
"Great!" The youth said with keenness in his tone.
"It is gratifying to know you are so keen to learn; this is a good start indeed." Eragon muttered into the air again, as if talking to some distant entity, before returning his attention to Arelía and her rider. "We shall have our first lesson outside; I have a table set up for you so if you would care to follow me Aris I shall instruct you in the ways of reading and writing in the runes of your human language. As for you Arelía I thought you may enjoy some time practicing flying with Saphira."
I would love the opportunity to take to the skies; for that I thank you Ebrithil. See you later Aris.
Bye! He called mentally after her as the dragon wandered over to where Saphira was sat on the opposite side of the clearing in front of Eragon's home.
The pair of dragons took off as the two riders sat down to begin the day's study.
"I assume you know the basic runes of reading and writing; am I correct in assuming this?"
"You are; Finwë taught me their meanings on the journey here." Aris answered politely, for as Eragon was now his teacher the youth believed he should respect the elder rider as a teacher.
"Good." The brown haired elf said jovially and with a pleased look upon his visage, "That will save us some time… Hmm what to begin with."
Aris waited patiently whilst his new tutor decided upon which subject to choose for his student's studies. After a minute or so his elder had decided upon a choice for the day; one that Aris knew he would certainly enjoy. Although I would enjoy anything more than being stuck down in the mines…
Do not worry Aris; that is in the past now. Arelía said reassuring her rider.
Yes I know but I can't help feeling that I shouldn't have left my family behind, I should be caring for them.
That is the past like I said, there is nothing you can do to reverse your decision now little one.
But if I'm a dragon rider surely… A flash of inspiration came to him, Surely our duty is to protect the innocent? I remember the tales of how the riders stopped slavery and saved the people all the time. If I am now one of those legends I can get my revenge upon General Adulphus!
Worry now came into Arelía's mind causing the dragon to panic slightly, Aris! Don't let revenge cloud your mind this early!
The youth regressed slightly at the concern of his dragon, You are right I suppose. But if-
His mind flashed back to the vision that he had the night previous and the one before that, If that was… Nah it can't have been.
It can't have been what? Arelía enquired with great interest.
Nothing. The rider said dismissively causing his dragon to snort in annoyance.
Be secretive then; I'm going to concentrate on flying now. The dragon closed the link between them and instead went ahead flying far away from the sanctuary so Aris couldn't even contact her if she did have her mind open.
Hmm, I wonder what's up with her? He thought to himself.
The dark haired boy was interrupted by Eragon who, he assumed, had now chosen something to do, "I have decided we shall start with some writing and reading, as I previously stated, then study some of the history of the riders; it's best to know what you are before you try to learn anything more. Let us begin then."
Firstly the elder rider instructed Aris on the runes of the human language, confirming that he knew them, before moving onto some basic reading in which the youth learned about the original purpose of the dragon riders. He only read and wrote slowly now but he knew speed would come with time and practice.
Eragon then went on to explain about how the riders were formed, when Queen Dellanir formed the pact with dragons after 'Du Fyrn Skulblaka' as the elder rider called it; although Aris did not understand the language that he spoke but he assumed it was the ancient language; also the rider said of the peace that came from one boy named Eragon and his dragon Bid'daum. Aris noted the elf seemed to take great pride in his namesake, as if he had retained that pride from when he had first heard of who he had been named after.
The youth soaked in the information, taking every ounce of detail into account when listening to the entrancing tale of how the riders were formed. Aris even contemplated writing it down but discarded the idea as his writing speed would never keep up with the pace at which Eragon was talking.
"Now onto the part which I'm sure you will be most interested in, the rider's abilities."
Aris perked up at the mention of this topic, he had always wanted to know the truth behind the tales of which he had heard many back home. Back then he had believed the stories for he didn't know any better, as he was a simple slave-boy, but now he was about to find out the reality.
"Firstly I have a question for you."
"Ask away." Aris said, prompting Eragon to continue.
"What do you know of the riders? I am curious as to your current knowledge on the subject."
"Well… I've heard that they have magical powers, as Finwë demonstrated to me, and that the dragons were also incredibly powerful, more so than a whole army. Erm… Also they stop slavery and save them from their rulers. That is all I know to be honest."
Eragon chuckled, "You are partially correct; although I can see that your knowledge of us is clouded and I am not surprised it is so. It has been many centuries since riders roamed your land. Yes, dragons are incredibly powerful. Yes, we can use magic, although I would rather that you hadn't discovered that but nothing can be done about that now. There is one thing that the riders had which mere mortals did not."
Aris was confused as to what Eragon was talking about until he contemplated the meaning of the last sentence,
Mere mortals.
His mouth formed an 'o' shape in amazement at what the elder rider was proposing; then did he realise that he was an elder rider indeed, "Dragon riders are immortal?"
Eragon nodded.
The dark boy's head sunk in thought an acceptance; now did he realise that he would outlive his family, his friends and all other humans. To see them die before him… That would be a rather traumatising experience to say the least. But that means you can see Elena more. Came the thought again from the back of his head.
Why do I keep on getting these strange thoughts which are not my own? It's as if there are two people inside my mind.
You could say that. A female voice said.
Arelía! Did you say that?
Say what? The silver scaled dragon enquired.
About me wanting to see Elena?
No I did not Aris; why do you ask? She said with concern.
Oh… Never mind. Aris began pondering what this weird entity could be but he could not decipher it or its purpose. Instead he returned his attention to Eragon's lesson.
"Is all well Aris? Your mind seemed to wander for a second there; what happened?"
He was reluctant to pursue the issue but he knew that Eragon was concerned and wished to know about the problem; therefore, the young boy said, "I've been having these strange voices in my head, coming from the back of my mind almost. I don't know who or what they are but Arelía says that it is not her."
Slight shock came across Eragon's face at the mention of this strange entity, "When did you start hearing this 'voice'?" He enquired.
"Before I became a rider."
"Hmm… I shall consult some books as to any other cases of this and try my best to help you Aris. This does seem a serious matter indeed. Anyway! Let is not disrupt our lesson, shall we continue?"
"Yes, I think that would be best."
So Eragon further instructed Aris on the history of the riders, speaking of the addition of humans to the rider's pact among many other things, until Aris' mind was sated for the day and they both decided it would be best to retire before he got a headache.
Returning to his room inside Eragon's abode the dark haired boy threw himself down on the bed and closed his eyes, simply relaxing after the long day whilst waiting for Arelía to return from her full-day flight.
She returned ten minutes after Aris had arrived, for he heard a great chorus outside as the two dragons landed in the clearing outside. Deciding that it would be rude to neglect his dragon the youth decided to go and greet her.
Good afternoon Arelía. He called just as he left the building and saw his dragon sitting peacefully outside, silver hide gleaming in the late afternoon light.
Good afternoon to you too little one. How was your lesson?
It was good. He replied, reluctant to talk about a certain aspect of it.
That is good to hear. I thoroughly enjoyed flying with Saphira, she's a very good teacher.
So is Eragon, Aris admitted, They both seem to have much experience in these things.
Yes. That is good if you are being taught something is it not?
The dark haired boy chuckled, Well I suppose so; otherwise they wouldn't know much. Anyway, I'm tired and need some rest, do you mind if I go back to my room?
Not at all; I'll see you tomorrow Aris. Arelía said before padding off to her small shelter round the side of the building. Just as the dark haired boy was about to go inside however he heard a voice calling him from behind, "Aris wait a second!" It was Eragon. Turning around he saw that there was a hooded figure standing next to him, they were definitely female, that Aris could tell, but he could not decipher whom was under the hood.
"There's someone here who wants to see you." The elder rider continued, struggling to supress a grin, "I think you know her."
The strange figure removed their hood to be revealed as none-other than Elena, causing Aris to exclaim, "Elena!" In a rather high pitched voice which resulted in everyone laughing.
"Yes Aris, it is I." She walked over to the boy so that they could talk in private, so, whispering, she said, "I wanted to apologise for what I did the other day, it was rash and I should've have done it."
"It's fine." Aris replied with understanding.
"Good, good. Well… I'd best be off now, see you around Aris."
"Wait."
"What is it?" The female youth enquired.
"I just wanted to say that, well… Could we still be friends? I don't want what happened to ruin our friendship."
"I don't know why I'd decline that offer. We can still be friends Aris, I was just slightly embarrassed that is all."
He laughed, "By slightly you mean very?"
"Yes." She admitted. "Anyway, see you around then."
"See you. If you're ever without anything to do you can stop by for a chat."
"I'd enjoy that!" She called back whilst walking away and back into the forest.
Well that went well.
Yes, I'm glad you're friends again. You two suit each other.
Aris sighed, I meant in a friendship sense, not in a relationship sense. I just want to be friends for now.
If you insist Aris. Arelía replied chuckling.
The dark haired boy ignored the last comment and instead went and settled down in his bed, settling down for the night and thinking about all that had happened that day.
Author's note: Not much to say really except that I am going on holiday in a week or so; therefore, there will be no chapters whilst I am away (of course). To reply to the guest review the reason Eragon was rather stern is because it has been several hundred years and he has matured a lot over that time, with his role as head rider, and also he is unsure of Aris' power as of now and is being cautious – not treating him too friendly. Thanks for reading, don't forget to rate and review and the next chapter shall be out soon.