Chapter 14
"Bid'Daum!" Eragon called. "Bid'Daum!"
Over an hour earlier, Eragon and Bid'Daum had left to go hunting. Bid'Daum had dove after a prey out of Eragon's sight. Eragon had waited and waited, but Bid'Daum had not yet returned. A ravenous hunger was stirring in Eragon's stomach. His patience was dwindling. Bid'Daum hadn't brought anything back.
"Bid'Daum!" An anger rose within Eragon towards the white dragon. He wanted food too.
Eragon walked forward into the dense forest in search of the little dragon. After searching for a long time, Eragon stumbled upon Bid'Daum, devouring a small prey. Hunger twisted Eragon's stomach.
"Bid'Daum!" he chided. "I send you to hunt for the both of us, and you keep it all for yourself!"
The dragon turned and growled. The growl was rather menacing. Bid'Daum now reached the height of Eragon's chest. If Eragon hadn't been so hungry, he may have felt very intimidated. For some strange reason, Eragon was sure he could actually, palpably feel the anger seething from the dragon, as though the anger was his own. In the back of his mind, Eragon told himself that he was being irrational. But the rest of him did not care. And his stomach cared the least. Eragon was hungry.
"You selfish animal!" he growled back.
Faster than a flash of lightning, Bid'Daum swiped his claw across Eragon's chest. Eragon jumped back, a startled cry escaping his lips, and fell to the ground. Blood gushed from three long scratches, soaking the front of his already dirty and soiled shirt.
As Bid'Daum glared at Eragon, a jolt of fear shot through him. After all, Bid'Daum was already a dragon. Weren't all dragons wild and unpredictable? He was a fool to think otherwise, to think that this was different.
Something strange reflected in Bid'Daum's eyes. But before Eragon could identify what it was, Bid'Daum's muscles bunched, and he sprang into the air. In merely seconds, he soared out of sight.
Eragon felt the sudden loss. Bid'Daum was his only companion, though a wild dragon, a dumb and vicious creature of the wild. A fierce loneliness crept over Eragon.
Leaping to his feet, he cried, "Bid'Daum! Come back! Please!" Eragon pleaded. "I'm sorry! Come back—"
He choked the last words out. What if Bid'Daum refused to come back? A friend—an only friend—would be lost and another enemy made. Eragon fell to his knees, weeping for his lost friend.
Soon, however, hunger drove him on to hunt. Suddenly, he realized just how much he had come to rely on Bid'Duam. Eragon had no claws, no sharp teeth, no weapons save for a poorly made bow. Bid'Daum had everything—even flight.
Stumbling through the woods, Eragon felt much like he had that first day of his banishment. Lonely. Helpless. Afraid. His thoughts drifted back to Lilathnia. Feverishly, he pushed the thoughts away. The images of her bloody, lifeless face was too much, especially in the wake of his new loss of Bid'Daum. Could he hold on to nothing good?
Without realizing where he was, Eragon pushed through a veil of branches and brush. Amongst a group of brushes, a huge wild boar lay lazily. Catching the scent of the young Elf, the boar snorted and rolled to its feet. Eragon's eyes widened in fear. The wild boar could easily skewer him on one of its large, sharp tusks.
Eragon! he heard a deep, rumbling voice call.
The wild boar stomped its hoof. Then, without further warning, it charged. Eragon turned and ran. Being skewered to death by a wild boar wasn't exactly his idea of a romantic death.
Eragon tripped and stumbled. Taking advantage of the moment, the boar slammed into Eragon with the side of its boy, causing the young Elf to fall to the ground, rolling into the dense ferns. The boar ran past, stopped, and turned to charge again.
Eragon couldn't act fast enough. He starred in mute horror as the wild boar barreled down on him.
Eragon! the same deep voice yelled, frantic.
A loud roar stopped the boar in its tracks. It snorted in fear. A brilliant flash of white hit into the boar. Frantic squeals of fear and pain filled the air.
"Bid'Daum!" Eragon recognized, an overwhelming feeling of relief, gratitude, and… love… all mixed into one.
In a moment, Bid'Daum stood over the dead body of the boar.
Eragon crept forward. "Bid'Daum?"
Eragon, a deep, resounding voice answered. Eragon spun around. Where had the voice come from? Eragon, the voice said again.
The young Elf spun back around.
"Bid'Daum?" he breathed in disbelief.
A strong sense of amusement flowed from the white dragon.
"You came back," Eragon smiled. It had been so long since he had smiled.
Bid'Daum hummed in reply, a deep rumbling issuing from his chest.
Hunger once again gnawed in Eragon' stomach. The wild boar meat suddenly seemed so amazingly appealing. The Elves had always abhorred boar meat. They hated the taste. But Eragon's own hunger, combined with a feeling of hunger emanating from the young dragon, made him creep forward to gut the boar.