Chapter 5: Do all Reunions End With a Bruised Face?
Hey guys, I'm alive, yes. Surprising, I know. I know it's been a LONG time and I apologize for that, but it's been really tough for me to get together and write this out. I'll give a short summary: went to Tampa, had exams, went to New Orleans, baseball season started and then my best friend passed away. Anyways, here's the chapter—please show support cause it means everything to me :)
As always, like, comment and subscribe—and enjoy the chapter
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THWACK. Eragon jumped up, the side of his head stinging from the blow he just received. His sensitive eyes cried at the sensation of sudden light filtering through the trees. Once he adjusted, he saw his father standing at the other side of the clearing, holding a stick in one hand and an elven-made sword in the other.
"God, what the hell was that for?" Eragon questioned, his voice husky from sleep. Brom only smiled at him and motioned for him to pick up Zar'roc.
"No gods here, Eragon. Just a father and son with two swords, and the father is gonna kick his son's ass." Eragon chuckled and stretched, cracking a couple bones in his back. If he wants a sword fight…I guess I'll have to show him one. Didn't fight a literal elven deity a couple hundred years back just to lose to some old man. (He never said he won the fight, but it was a learning experience). He picked up the mighty sword from where it leaned next to the tree he was on previously. With a simple spell, he guarded the blade's edge and swung it around a few times to test its balance. It wasn't his Brisingr, but a weapon was a weapon. With a nod, he stepped toward his father and gave him a smile. "Let's see if you kept some of your skills with that brain of yours," Brom added and started with a wide sweep of his sword, one which Eragon simply side-stepped.
"I hope you know I'm not going easy on you," Eragon fired back. He engaged first this time, feigning right before coming left with a thundering downwards arc. Brom's eyes flashed in surprise, but he quickly recovered enough to deflect his blow and quickly come in with a counter-jab of his own. It was Eragon's turn to be surprised, and his feet skidded against the dirt as he jumped out of his range. He's much quicker than I remember. It does make sense that he was always holding back. He looked back to his opponent's face and saw Brom smirking, his eyes glinting with happiness. He couldn't help it when a smile crept upon his own face. It had been a while since he was able to spar against someone so close to him, and it was truly liberating.
He decided to humor Brom and drag out the fight for the next couple of minutes. He wasn't necessarily taking it easy on Brom, but rather not taking advantage of the slight mistakes he would see every so often. By the time he saw it fit to end the fight, they were both shining with sweat, Brom's breath coming out in short bursts. When his father came again with a jab to his left side, slightly slower than the previous one, Eragon stepped into his guard, the sharp tip of the sword passing his torso by a finger's length. With the opportunity, he brought his sword up in a thundering uppercut, sending the smaller blade spinning away and out of Brom's hands. Now that the fight was over, Eragon's sword leveled at Brom's chest, and the smaller man collapsed, sitting on the ground and heaving in long breaths. Eragon smiled and sat next to him, his fingers toying with some blades of grass.
"That was a good fight, lad." Brom said, thoroughly exhausted. He flashed Eragon a smile. "Best I've had in a while." Eragon nodded, still smiling as his memory went back to the days he remembered sparring with Arya, and the happiness it brought him.
"Mine too."
…
It had been a tradition for them since then to spar each morning before their hastily cooked "breakfast." Today was any other day: they had fought again, and although Brom had recognized by now that Eragon was the much better swordsman, it didn't stop the smiles that crossed their faces whenever they crossed their blades. Afterward, they ate some of the leftover meat from last night's catch. Eragon wasn't exactly thrilled to be eating meat so often again, but he recognized it was important for his bodily growth at this point in time. They packed up camp once again and set off. The travel was boring, being so slow and on foot, but it was liberating for Eragon. Of course, he knew the time restraints, but he couldn't but appreciate the nature around him; he often found himself walking with his eyes closed and his mind in complete unity with the essence of the perfect wildlife around him. It was comfortable, as he often did much of the same thing for the past couple hundred years.
It was the fifth day of their trip, and at this point, they had skirted Therinsford by a couple miles. It seemed like any other day; the birds chirping around their heads and the grass crunching underneath their feet as they made their way towards Gil'ead. Eragon hummed an elven tune as he basked in the nature around him, ever aware of Brom doing the same next to him. Suddenly he felt a disturbance, a change in the magical composition half a mile away breaking him out of his reverie.
He held out his hand and stopped, startling Brom out of his own pleasant stride. He pointed to his head and murmured, "Half a mile out." Brom nodded and closed his eyes. While Brom did his searching, Eragon extended his mind out again. He carefully made sure to not alert the two beings, but instead observed very closely. A magical aura radiated from their minds, and the signatures immediately pointed towards elven existence. One was considerably more powerful than the other. He could tell they hid their ability well, but Eragon was no normal spellcaster. He knew that this being was ancient. Like he was. It was familiar too, but he couldn't place his finger on it.
Eragon withdrew his presence as Brom opened his eyes again, and he could tell Brom had recognized the elves. His heart heavy, he turned to Brom and looked him in the eyes. "Is it them?" Brom just nodded and resumed walking. Eragon swore, I guess this is going to come sooner than I ever expected. It's only a matter of time before they recognize us as well, no matter how well we hide our magical identity. He trailed Brom, pouting almost like a child. If they were correct, and this was a big if, Eragon felt extremely unprepared for the next events that day.
…
Ten or so minutes later, they came to the clearing where they both decided to wait for the others to appear. It wasn't large, being surrounded by trees, but it had a pretty even grassy area without rocks, so Eragon leaned against one of the outer trees and waited as the elves inevitably burst through the bushes into the clearing. Thus, he wasn't frightened when he watched them trot out of the cover of the trees, one of them holding an elven bow at full draw, Glenwing, he guessed, and the other with one hand on her beautiful sword sheathed at her hip. Beautiful. Arya, that was her name. His heart unconsciously ached at the word, as did his back when he saw the monstrous sword on her other hip come into view. He couldn't help but frown at the weapon as he moved his eyes to her face. Unsurprisingly, her eyes, slightly dimmer than he remembered but somehow ten times as commanding, were piercing into his and her expression was morphed into one of shock and confusion.
Once she had scanned his figure sitting on the ground, her eyes lingering on his slightly pointed ears, she turned to Brom and inclined her head, looking at him in suspicion for a second as well. She took her hand off her sword and dismounted her steed, and her companion did the same. Eragon's eyes flickered to the pouch resting on her horse, and with a sigh of apprehension stood up, picking up Zar'roc and attaching it to his hip. He walked up to the pair of elves, every step feeling like a mile, and time seeming to slow down around him as he approached. His feet stuttered to a stop, and his eyes roamed her face, the familiar features making the moment feel like forever. He steeled himself and looked into her eyes, the green almost making him break his composure, but he still brought his fingers up to lips and spoke, "Atra esterni ono thelduin." Arya's eyes again flickered with surprise, her facial expression still echoing her suspicion.
Her fingers hesitantly rose to her own lips, responding, "Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr." Eragon took a shaky breath in and prepared his next words, here it goes.
"Un du evarinya ono varda, Arya Dröttning." An audible gasp was heard from the two bystanders, Brom looking just as surprised he said that as Glenwing. He heard Brom mutter something to Glenwing, but it was drowned out as he stared at the elf across from him. A sharp ringing noise was heard as a sword was drawn from its scabbard and Eragon looked down to see an elven sword leveled at his throat. When he met her eyes again, they were shining with some unknown emotion. Without wavering, she unbuckled Durza's sword that was hanging at her side and threw it at his feet.
"Pick it up." She motioned her hand at the sword, and Eragon shakily bent to pick up the sword, drawing it out of his scabbard, and then unbuckled his own, throwing Zar'roc to the side. He couldn't help but frown again as his hand made contact with the sinister blade, something that did not go unnoticed by the elf across from him. As soon as he stood back up, he had barely enough time to block the first overheard strike at him, deflecting the blow to his side where he could quickly take a few steps back and reevaluate his position. He twirled the blade a few times around in his hand, adjusting to its build. No matter how much it pained him to say so, it was a pretty well-balanced one-and-a-half-handed sword and would do well against the elegant make of his opponent's.
Speaking of his opponent, Arya stood across from him, her eyes still unreadable but her expression fierce and determined. Her black locks cascaded down her back, looking as soft as ev–his meandering thoughts were cut short as she attacked again, sliding forward and cutting towards his sword arm, only for the jab to be intercepted by Eragon's blade, who again took the opportunity to back away and create space. And again, Arya went on the offensive, slashing, striking, and doing everything she could to batter down his defenses. Eragon masterfully parried and deflected her blows, sending some warning counterstrikes every now and then, but after a while, it became abundantly clear her plan was working; his muscles, while incredibly strong by human standards, still couldn't keep up with Arya's elven build. He felt the slight tremble in his arms every time he caught her sword with his, and he knew he had to find some way to finish this off quickly. She would win easily if this fight dragged on any longer, but finding a way to beat her was easier said than done–she was possibly just as good as he was.
No, that won't work, not enough time for that either. Eragon rapidly sifted through his arsenal of finishing moves, but he knew that they were all too standard to catch Arya off guard. He needed something random, something possibly very stupid and very Eragon. Unfortunately, his mind came up with something that fit the requirements extremely quickly. It was risky, it probably would end up with him impaling himself in some way, and he had only ever done it once as a joke. Screw it, I have no other chances. Eragon caught her next swing on the flat of his blade, the tremors resonating through his body, and shoved, creating distance between the two. This time, he took a deep breath and ran at her. He could see Arya was tensed up, preparing for whatever he had planned. As soon as he was within striking distance, she struck, her sword arcing towards his legs—but he had anticipated this and planted the tip of his sword in the ground, and with a huge burst of power vaulted himself up and above her head. Twisting in the air, he brought the pommel of his sword down onto hers, sending her blade clattering to the earthen floor. He landed in a roll on the other side, immediately springing up and bringing his sword to her throat. She was close; closer than he expected but the corners of his mouth still tilted up triumphantly. Yet, as he looked into her eyes he could see them swirl mischievously, and his attention was drawn to the dagger that was leveled at his heart, the tip mere centimeters from his tunic. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly into a smirk, but she quickly schooled her emotions again, something Eragon noted. She brought her dagger down quickly, sheathing it once again.
"Well fought, Shadeslayer." Arya all but spat out. Eragon lowered his sword as well, throwing it on the ground. She turned slightly away and he opened his mouth to respond.
"You as w—" A sickening crunch was heard as her fist made contact with Eragon's face, the force behind it throwing him to the ground. He blinked a couple times, regaining his bearings before he slowly rose again, spitting out blood onto the grass. "That was…" Eragon paused, his hand coming to tenderly poke at the newly bruised area, "probably deserved." He conceded. Arya just looked at him, bent down to pick up Durza's sword, and walked away. He watched as she attached the sword to her steed, and pulled out a blue egg from the pouch on the back. She walked over to him, carefully putting the egg by his feet, and his heart ached at the sight of the glittering blue stone. So close and yet so far.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Eragon." Arya muttered, rising to face him once again. He only smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'm just going with the flow." This did cause her to roll her eyes and walk away. If he heard correctly, she was muttering something like, 'Never changes, the idiot.' In reality he was telling the truth, but he did have a little more of a plan than that—something that involved a certain red rider, somewhere in between Dras-Leona and Uru'baen.
…
How'd you guys like it? I thought I did a pretty good job and the fight scene was fun to write like always. Please keep the support up so that I have motivation to write! Probably won't be too soon since baseball and I have an MRI this week, along with some other personal stuff.
Until next time,
Drit :)
EvandarTheGreat said: ah! the legend returns just in time! i'm glad you put school first over this story my friend. as much as i love the story, there's more important things in life.
now, review time … sé onr sverdar sitja hvass! until the next chapter my friend
Looking forward to your reviews as always! You have such good questions and predictions lol. Your daughter's a badass and thanks for the understanding words- means a lot from my biggest supporter. Keep up the support please!
BeeeTeee said: Hopefully the lengthy time since the last update is just you being busy with rl stuff and not the fic being abandoned. Really looking forward to what seems to be coming next!
Yep, things have been crazy, thanks for the review!
Inhaled Atoms said: There is certainly … respond to reviews.
Hope to see more soon,
-Atom
Thanks for the support! Working on trying to cut down reviews so they don't take up as much space :) still responding though because it's fun for me
FayaWizard said: It's been a while since I've checked on the Inheritence fandom … figure it out
Hope this chap answered some questions lol
OkBoomer147 said: Their meetup will be epic … Keep on writing!
Thanks for the support! All your hopes will be answered :)
Walkmanapprenticewordsmith said: yeah I can def get behind this story
you're writing is nice and clean
got a nice story line so far going.
for sure excited for next chapter
Thanks for the support! I pride myself on cleanish writing
ManOfSteel said: Seeing the thousand year old Eragon be called a lad was too funny.
Will be plenty of fun once they meet the elves and realize that the other kept their memories.
Keep it up!
Thanks for the support as always—agreed that was really funny lol
Realmirror71 said: So, first things first, glad to see the update … PEACE OUT.
Love the review! Felt a little aggressive for what's just a way to provide feedback, but thankful here anyway. I don't know how to put this kindly, so know I mean it lightly: I don't owe you anything. You post such a long review that I want to respond but not to every single point you make, and since most of them are predictions idk what to do. Anyways thanks for the support! :)
Lorfaul chapter said: I really like how the story's going so far! Interesting idea - I can see the "Rider Reborn" and "Millenial Eternity" influence as well as your own twist on it … Speaking of, are there any other fics that inspired you? … Even if they're old this would probably impact them greatly, but maybe knowing that they're alive within their eggs would help.
Thanks for the support! It's hard to dredge up all the fanfics ive loved over the years, but one I always loved and followed was Of Poems and Maps. Other than that, there aren't many good time-travelish fanfics ive read, specially ones that are finished. I'll try to keep the chars non-OP and dont worry, the dragon interactions will come and ive got an interesting idea for that!
Winsome248 said: Too be honest I kind of got a thrill … I wouldn't wait a week to try and find his future heart and soul partner… I look forward to your next chapter
Sorry about the review length, i just love responding and letting you guys know you are loved :) I love the points you bring up as well, and i like how Brom turned out too
merendinoemiliano said: Simple, but very good dialogue beetween Eragon and Brom, quite touching\
Thanks! Loved writing the dialouge
IDK said: Nice Chapter!
Even though other people think Brom is acting OC I feel like this is actually how he would react … Cant wait for the confrontation of two Over powered Millenial beings.I tried to make that sound cool. Anyway Love your work and ideas. This fandom is almost abandoned now so I sm really happy to see someone continue it.
Loved the review and the support-so detailed! I like this Brom OC, so imma keep him this way, and yes i feel bad for Faolin too but it worked out better with him gone :) the arya and eragon interaction was written how i thought it would be from his perspective, as she is one badass queen and wont take shit from any millenial lol so hoped you liked it
Madhatter said: I liked the new chapter but wish you didn't leave Roran and Garrow so quickly. … Anyway nice job and I can't wait to see Eragon and Arya meet for the first time. Until next time and good luck with school!
Thanks for the support! I agree, the characters could have used a little more time and if/when i go back to revise im going to add a chapter there and some more furthering Eragon's character. We'll see :)
abuseb1xe said: Nice update … updates are great but you always gotta take care of you first
Yeah, I thought it would be cool if Brom was super understanding and helpful as a father—seemed like the kind of guy yk. Thanks for the kind words
