Chapter 11: Where Is He?

He handed Riley the stick, its knobs broken smooth; another phony sword.

"You want me to fight?"

The wind blew through the thicket of trees, making the weak leaves fall around their camp. Eragon watched next to Saphira, smiling that it wasn't him tonight.

"If you want to stay with us, you'll need to learn the skills, especially if we meet up with the king's soldiers." Brom lifted up his stick sword. "Now, let's begin."

Brom lunged forward, no circling examination like he did with Eragon the other night. Riley dodged to the left, bringing her stick up automatically, knowing he would slice at her side. The sticks thwapped against each other. Riley's mind flung into a speeding frenzy as she reviewed the steps Brom taught Eragon. Step out with your right foot, switch up the direction of the blows, don't take your eyes off of your opponent, yet be aware of your surroundings. She stepped left and right—avoiding the fire and jumping over her bags— swung high and low, and always kept moving. But no matter how much force she put forth, Riley only got a good hit at Brom once. It was his right arm; the one wielding the sword. If the battle was real, the fight would be over. Riley had grinned. "I won," she had said, about to throw down her stick. Brom growled, "I still have another arm." He switched the scraped stick to his left hand and continued at Riley with swifter movements and harder blows than before.

Riley wanted to give up, she hurt so much, but she wanted to prove that she could last as long as he did. She made a goal to get in one more hit before the fight ended. As Brom brought his stick around, intending to get at her ribs, Riley dropped to her side, rolling, and popped up on her knees. In a continual motion, she smacked her stick against Brom's legs, at the bend in the back. He fell to his knees beside her. "Now did I win?" Riley asked, panting. Her fingers tingled as she let go of the stick.

He laughed.

"Did Cori practice with you?" Brom asked after a moment.

"Well, we played as kids. But before he left on this past trip, it didn't feel like play anymore." Riley said, her breathing returning normal. She frowned. "What does that have to do with it? What does Cori—"

Brom held up his hand. "It has everything and nothing to do with this now."

Eragon grunted, picking up the two sticks and throwing them in the fire. "Another riddle. Why can't you answer our questions properly?"

"It will be revealed in time. Please keep your patience. We have a long journey and plenty of time to discuss such matters. It's late now." Brom said calmly and lay down to sleep.

Eragon went to sit by Saphira and Riley sat gently on her bed roll, groaning softly. The darkness overwhelmed them as the fire ate up its last fuel. "Now you know how I feel. You'll have to make some of that tea for yourself." Riley only nodded, she felt exhausted. "Where do you think your brother is?"

Riley looked up at the sparkling stars as she answered, "I don't know. I hope I can find him. We were close, but he never told me. He just said he wanted to travel the world and help those poorer than he. I always had a feeling that there was more to his intentions. And now I have some letters I found to confirm something unusual is going on." Riley paused, wishing she could decipher those papers now. "I think my mother knows exactly what he's doing and I think she thinks I'm too young to find out." She said almost bitterly.

Eragon shook his head. "Or maybe she was afraid; afraid that you would want to go with and leave her alone in Carvahall." He tucked his head near Saphira's belly and the remaining light evaporated in the night.