Chapter two.
"How do we know that you aren't with the enemy? How can we know you aren't under his direct control? I say we kick them all out of town and let the Urgals have 'em!" This brought an uproar with the rest of the town.
"He isn't part of the enemy. He wouldn't have let us see his dragon." The words came from a little gilr who had her arm wraped around her stuffed bear. "He isn't lieing either." She was so young she still had the touch of an innocent.
"Perhaps you sir, would like to leave the city? You obviously wont do much within the maner of protection, nor will you allow any other to do the previously mentioned job in your place. When a child knows they can help before you can points out that you have serious issues to deal with. If your willing to stake the entire towns safety on a petty maner such as honor, then perhaps we have more to worry about." An aged woman stood outside the circle the crowd had made. "You may have more work to deal with than you may want, but hopefully when this is all over you will come to see things in the correct maner. As for the rest of you, it does not seem to be that all of you are required to stand about and listen to an argument. I am most certain there is an army of deranged creatures headed this way." She barked the last words seemingly as an order. More than half of the crowd dispersed and hurried to follow the orders they were never given.
Eragon sliped to her side without any one watching. "Thank you."
"No need for formality. There is a battle that will lay it's self at our door step. Since you may not have been here for quite some time there are many renovations since your last vist. Such as the change to the outer wall? Please follow me."As she led him to the area she wished to show him she corrected peoples mistakes. She moved here and there forcing the laggers to get to work. She was quick and to the point. When someone attempted an arguement she would use a few short words to convince them they were being foolish. Out of respect or how well she could run a town in a crisis Eragon followed her in scilence.
"How silly of me. Perhaps you wish to unpack? Meet me back in the center square in an hour. Go along now." She said all of that absently as she went off to help so people.
Eragon shook his head and found the others. He told them about the woman and then they all agreed to go back to the stables they had left their mounts. Once there they met the owner who seemed to wonder where their horses had materialized from.
"Excuse me sir," Angela inturupted. "I think I can help. These are our horses, we need a place to leave them." The stable man looked up and noded.
"We have a few tooms available for you to use if you need 'em. It wont cost you much. Since your helpin' our town anyways. If you need anything just ask." He tiped his hat to them and went off into his inn.
"Well that was nice. Lets get to work." All of them set to work on getting their weapons ready.
Once they had all suited them selvs properly they left the stables, giving 4 gold pieces to the owner for letting them use it, and wandered about correcting somethings here and there. Arya went to the other woman who's name seemed to be Alymay, Murtagh went to find the smith to help sharpen weapons, Angela went to find the alchemist's shop, saphira was still in the center playing nicely with children. "In times of such dispair children forget their usual fears to find joy." The old woman spoke to Eragon from behind him.
"It's just different from how the others reacted."
"others?"
"Yeah, err nevermind. What was it you wanted to show me before?"
"Oh yes, right this way sunny boy." The old woman walked off to the front of the town. "About four months ago we had a series of small attacks from Urgals, since then we have built an outer wall for defense, this way we have more of a chance to defend our town from those creatures. There are a few places they hit the most that need strength." The old woman shook her head. "I hope it is kind enough to assume some things at the present? Alymay has related the facts she knows about you. She told me you were a rider, proven fact, she told me you had a habit of being kind one moment and demanding the next, proven fact, and she said you can speak the ancient laungauge. So what hope do you have to give in strength to these walls?"
Eragon smiled slightly,"I hope to add strength to them. About two months ago I was criticaly wounded by the shade known as Durza. Since then I could hardly do anything. My physical strength had left me for a time in shambles. In that time I chose to practice my other skills. I am sure I can manage just enough for a bit of extra protection. I will be sure to return to the inside the city by mid day." and he began to look at the wood for signs of weakness. Then he noticed the scattered soil everywhere. It seemed to be freshly over turned. "Deloi moi" the ground shook and the dirt moved from the ground and packed it's self around the wood. It created a kind of shell around the walls. "stenr reisa" He combined the word for stone, and rise, to have stones rise all around the walls. It seemed more like a mountain than a town when he was done. The decieving look he had hoped for was in place. "Thrysta deloi" With the final words, used to push it all together in one hard shell, he began to head back. He felt tired and week, but at least he had given them more protection. He left three exsits. One to the North, one to the South, and on secret passage that can only be found from the inside, leading to the west.
He gathered his thoughts and began to walk through the city. On his walk back to the stable he saw children being ushered into the center of the city, crying and holding onto their parents. A select few were more reluctant to leave their home. He just kept on walking thinking it was most wise to leave the parents to do the work. On His way through inspecting people he noticed Angela lounging on the steps to what apeared to be the town erbalist's shop.
"Hoping to catch a nap there?" Eragon teased her. She looked almost sad.
"Don't be so silly. How do you catch a nap?" She responded.
"Err, I have no idea. Why are you siting here? Waiting for time to pass or are you just bored?"
"wyrda, yawë" she told him. She got up and left after that.
He wandered on and wondered what that was supposed to mean. "Fate, a bond of trust," he muttered to himself. "What in the world is that supposed to mean?" He just shruged off the strange feeling and went to find the old woman. He found her next to Saphira. The two of them seemed to be almost meditating. He sat down on the woman's right and did the same. After the days events he needed some time to collect his thoughts.
"Eragon, wake up." Murtagh poked him in the shoulder, Eragon in a kind of trance, shot his arm out and used talon like fingers to hold onto his friends arm. He threw Murtagh before he even knew what was happening.
"I'm sorry." He jumped up to help him.
"No problem. I didn't need that feeling in my bum anyways.
The old woman cackled and opended her eyes. "No one told you never to mess with one who's mind is on vacation eh?" She cackled as she went back into town leaving Eragon and Murtagh alone.
"She worries me." Murtagh whispered in an almost respectful tone. "Oh well want to spar with me?" Murtagh lifted his blade in ready position.
"Right now, right here? All right." with that Eragon removed Zar'roc from his side and replaced it into his hand. "Gëuloth du knífr." he dulled the two blades and then he stood in ready postion also.
Murtagh took the first move. He attempted to send a slash to Eragons side and in the final seconds he pulled a reverse butterfly movement. Eragon managed to block, however, just in time. He moved in a complex pattern that seemed random at first but combined the movements such as: slash to the left, pull back half stab to the head and drop quickly to aim at his stomach. He moved slow at first but soon enough the two of them were a blur of each other. Every blow was as quick and sharp as the previous. While they had been sparing a large crowd gathered around them.
After twenty minutes of the flying patterns, trick moves, ducks and dives, they both managed to dissarm each other with the same move in the same second, they burst into tear renching laughter. They laughed until their sides hurt and their eyes leaked. The others didn't understand what the two of them thought was so funny, they just stared.
The next day the town was so tense you could feel it in your very bones. The army was expected to arive somewhere around midnight. Eragon slept until 10 a.m. without meaning to. Without regret he left the room he had been allowed to use and went out into the town. He walked around checking on all of the people. He walked to the front gate and saw a few children gathered there. "What are the four of you doing?" He asked them full of curiosity. They all apeared to be around seven or eight.
"The mean things are comming. They are there, just out side. fifty feet away. None of you adults see them." It was the young girl from before. Her dark haunted eyes were centered on the road. Eragon instantly looked where she had pointed. His own gaze centered on the area of air that rippled as heat would when you looked in the desert. He then realised how dangerous things had just become. They could have entered the city any time they had wanted, could have killed so many of them and they never would have seen it comming.
"Quick shut the gate!" He ordered to the two men who stood infront of their wooden/stone walls. With the comand the rippled view was closed from ebntering. They only reached about 17 feet high. You could still see the tops of the largest houses from the out side. He turned to the little girl. "How can you see them?"
"They were standing right there. You would have to be blind to not have." She spoke as if they had been as plain to see as the light of day was.
"Will you do me a favor?" He asked her kindly, and she nodded. "I want you to go and ask Saphira to come here. Can you do that?" Again she noded. She ran in the direction Saphira had been five minutes before. He knew he could just ask Saphira to come him self, and that this was no time to be checking the abilities of the child, but sometimes people performed better under pressure. So five minutes later Saphira was seen walking to him.
"She asked me why you hadn't come to get her instead, I told her you wanted a favor, and then I told her about the five guys that no one else had looked for." The little girl spoke as if talking to dragons was a regular day to day thing.
"Do you talk to animals all the time?" She noded. "Well I need your friends to go back into towm. However, I would like you to go to the other gate and make sure it's closed all right? Tell them Eragon told you to bring the message, if they don't close it call Saphira and she will tell me." Again she nodded and off they all went. He spoke to Saphira, 'How can she see them, and speak to you? I just doesn't add up.' 'not everything will little one. I will take care of these spies and tell you of any others that are around. If there are too many for me to handle I will come back. Good luck.' With that Saphira lept into the sky and killed the two right out side the gate. He did not stay to listen to the rest of it.
He ran down the streets in search of everyone. He found Murtagh and Arya arguing. "Whats wrong with the color?" Arya questioned amused.
"It's too depresing. Look at it. All one color and so blue like. It reminds me of sad things."
"What are you two talking about?" Eragon had just entered the conversation.
"The color of her armor. It's a dull grey sad blue."
Eragon rolled his eyes and told them to prepare for the fight. "I guess it begins early. Find everyone and alert them, make it fast."
With that he ran to the other gate to make sure everything was fine, but it wasn't. He came just in time to catch the blade that had swung down to kill the little girl. He moved in a quick feint, then an inverse butterfly killng the creature. He closed the gates himself seeing as how the Urgal had killed the other two. He hid the little girl in one of the houses lining the street he was on. "Don't move and don't make a sound." With that he left the houses and killed the other three that had entered. He turned and was facing twenty-three more.
"Oh this is pleasently fair." He checked his stance by twisting his left foot in a small arch to give him a more secure sense of balance. While he had done this he sent an image to saphira. The image contained him hiding a small blonde child under a bed. With her dark eyes staring with calm anticipation.
The urgals took the time to creat a half circle around him. He kept his back to the house and waited for them. Five plunged to attack him. He blocked the first three quickly and killed them. In a quick swing of his blade he beheaded the fourth. The fifth was quick. It swung its blade aiming for his head. He parried it and ran the urgal through. When the urgal fell the rest fell over all sporting arrow heads.
"I couldn't let you have all the fun." The old woman stood there with Alymay and Arya. The three of them had shot all of the urgals in the few seconds it had taken him to defeat the one.
"Plenty of urgals for all. I'm sure I can find a few to share."
With that they all turned and climbed the house Eragon had used to give him cover. They lay down on the top to survey the outer wall. Whay they saw made them sick. There were some where around one thousand of them comming.
"Joy, a thousand of them, and four of us. This makes things interesting huh?"
"It could be worse sunny boy, it could be down right fascinating."