Chapter 3 (Rewritten)
Alex was silently observing Therinsford and its inhabitants, leaning against a wall and his arms crossed, while Brom and Eragon were negotiating with the owner of the local stable. The villagers were looking at him suspiciously and curiously… without a doubt because of his clothes and his equipment but the young man wasn't here to go unnoticed. It would be useless because the Ra'zac or the Empire weren't aware of his presence in Alagaësia for the moment. A sigh escaped his mouth and he tapped his foot against the ground as a sign of impatience while he let his gaze drift over the town and its surroundings. Minutes passed by before the duo came out with two horses, a white stallion and a bay horse. Brom handed the reins of the stallion to the ex-farmer.
"Here, wait for me at the edge of Therinsford. I won't be long."
Before Eragon and Alex could have said anything, the storyteller was already gone. The two young men looked at each other and decided there was nothing else they could do but obey, so they crossed Therinsford and stationed themselves along the road. In the distance to the south, stood Mount Utgard. Its appearance made Eragon shudder instinctively, but he couldn't say why his body reacted that way when the young adult asked if he was alright. Brom reappeared a few minutes later and the trio followed the path, walking wordlessly until Therinsford was far enough behind them.
"The Ra'zac were here. They stopped at the village to buy horses. A man told me that they had left like demons fleeing the holy man as if they were scared of something… or someone."
"Or maybe give a report to Galbatorix on what happened at Carvahall." suggested the Rider in training.
Brom hummed in agreement, considering this supposition being more realistic than his idea considering the situation. The group continued forward for a while until the old man broke the silence.
"Put your things in the saddlebags and then, attach your bag on your horse." he ordered to Eragon.
"And how am I supposed to follow you? If I have to walk by your side, it poses no concern to me but I'd like to know.
The storyteller turned to Alex.
"You'll ride with Eragon. Taking a third horse would have cost us too much and we would not have been short on money to sleep at the inn or buy supplies."
At these words, the boy's face lost all colors, whitening and he swallowed nervously. If there was one thing he hated more than everything, it was to be on a horse's back even with a saddle. His former experience in this field had left painful memories, particularly for his hindquarters. Dropping a heavy sigh, he resigned.
"Fine. But it's out of question to do anything more than trotting."
A thin smile stretched on the old man's face.
"Given the state of Eragon's legs, it will take a while before galloping but I can't promise anything."
"I see."
The landscape began to change. The traces of civilization gave way to great wilderness. Soon the road tightened, as well as at the foot of Utgard, it was only a meager way.
Brom pointed out the crumbling tower atop the peak and explained the two boys what this outpost used to be during the Palancar Crisis, the story of how the evil King killed a wounded Vrael, the last of the Riders there. Different names were given to the place, in memory of the fall of the Dragons Riders.
The hours passed by as they continued to round the base of Utgard. The Rider let out a cry of surprise and the swordsman sighed. On either side of the path were mountains, but before them stretched a great plain that extended to the horizon until it met the sky. It was now clear why they needed horses. Far above, they could see the outline of Saphira flying overhead, far and high away enough to be taken for a big bird.
"We will make the descent tomorrow." said Brom. "It will take most of the day."
"Few trees, a wide plain and a river. The perfect place against an ambush or to spot any hostiles group coming to us." whispered Alex to himself.
They left the trail and dismounted by the Anora River to make camp. At the moment they settled down to make dinner, Saphira landed and curled up next to her Rider. They ate in peace until the moment when Brom jumped on his feet and throw a stick at Eragon who caught it. When they finished their fight, he dropped his makeshift sword, completely disgusted and sat down to nurse his injuries.
A pale sunrise greeted the four members of the group as the night faded into morning. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Eragon wasn't surprised to see Brom and the fighter awake. The horses were already prepared for another day of travel.
"If you keep this up, you're going to batter me into pieces."
"I've enough faith in you to know you can handle it."
Eragon then moved his head toward Alex.
"And you're not going to say a word about this?"
"I endured the same kind of training as the one you're having right now and you've seen yourself the strength and speed it gave me. You can do it, it's just a matter of willpower. I understand it's difficult and it hurts like hell when you go to sleep but you'll see the results of your work soon enough."
Then, Saphira took off, leaving the three humans and two horses to begin their descent. The ground was treacherous and rocky, making the task even more challenging. By the time they reached the bottom, they were all hot and slightly irritable, despite the brisk wind and cold air. Brom examined the trail for a trace of the Ra'zac. Eventually, he straightened and announced. "It seems they've headed east toward Yazuac."
When they were ready, they set out across the plains. The wind had picked up since dawn and kept gaining in intensity as the hours passed by. The trio was forced to camp in the open and to top it all, they could not light the fire.
Angry to not be able to use the tinderbox correctly because of the weather, he tossed it to the storyteller. "Try your luck if you want."
"Brisingr!" swore the storyteller, striking the flint again. Flames jumped to life and a pleased expression crossed their faces.
They quickly ate and the sparring was kept short today due to fatigue but it appeared that the farmer was starting to get better at it. At the beginning of the third day, the wind had died down but the temperature was still a little fresh.
"I don't like this. It feels like there's electricity in the air." commented the swordsman.
Eragon looked at him.
"How can you know that?"
He pointed the dark thunderclouds in from of them.
"Look how dense they are. There's only one thing they want to do: it's to give us a very good and cold shower or release some lightning, maybe even both of them if we're lucky. I bet fifty crown it's the latter."
As they were walking until the storm was on them, Alex raised his head while thinking of something and paled.
«With the storm we're going to confront, it would be better if Saphira continue on the ground with us»
Fortunately, Eragon was thinking the same thing because he stood up from the saddle and yelled:
"Saphira! Land now!"
Unfortunately, to escape the powerful wind that kept her from landing, the dragoness was obliged to fly back in direction of Utgard. Acting quickly, Alex jumped from the saddle and ordered the adolescent to go after his dragon. After a few but tense minutes, the duo joined the other two travelers. The young man with light brown hair felt something on his nose and looked at the sky to see the first raindrops falling from the sky, drenching the group in a manner of minutes. During the following hours, the elements went wild, strong enough to prevent the travelers from covering a lot of ground. But finally, the lightning and clouds left their place to a beautiful blue sky and at the end of the day, the group settled for the night. They made a fire as soon as the camp was set up to warm up their bodies and dry their clothes.
The coming day, as hours flew by, Yazuac slowly became visible. Soon, houses were distinguishable from the background and the village fully presented itself to the trio. They entered between two houses and began to make their way through. They saw smoke above the houses but no one in the streets.
Brom pulled out his blade and Eragon strung his bow. For safety purposes, and because the three men thought that something was wrong, they decided to take a side entrance instead of the front one. The houses were dark, many with broken windows and doors that hung half-open. Alex decided to walk at Cadoc's side, on the lookout for everything out of ordinary. When they arrived in the downtown, a massacre was waiting for them. The ground was imbued with a dark red color, indelible. Corpses and even parts of bodies were scattered everywhere; men, women and children alike. A wicked spear rose out of the pile, skewering the white body of a baby. A foul odor, giving a vicious desire to throw up, assaulted the nostrils of the group. The ex-farmer's mind and stomach couldn't handle the spectacle as he emptied his breakfast, too disgusted by all this. Alex let out a small sigh and patted his left leg as support, while whispering words of comfort.
Brom's eyes flicked over the spear. "This is of Urgal make – the Ra'zac didn't do this. That's not good, they only gather in such large number when…" At this moment, something caught his attention and he ran back to Snowfire before jumping on his saddle.
"Run! There are still Urgals here!"
Eragon saw a blur of movement to his right and he received a beautiful punch which unhorsed him. The horse continued to run, revealing four Urgals and one of them was running to the storyteller. Alex made a few steps back, waiting for the adolescent to stand up. The monsters were tall, robust and wide as a wardrobe.
"Move Eragon! Get away and don't look back, I'm going to take care of them." said Alex, unsheathing his broadsword.
The Rider nodded and began to run away. One of the Urgals tried to follow him but was interrupted in his course by a combat knife which hit the back of his head, killing him on the spot. The young man smiled and took his fighting position, the same one as the other night, when he trained with the old man.
«Let's see if this blade is as sharp as the smith said it would be. It's made of titanium, after all»
The creatures rushed to him. Alex lightly flexed his legs to go under the horizontal slash aimed to his head from the first Urgal, he broke the kneecap of the second one with a kick and cut in two the shield of the third. Then, he gave him a head butt. His victim fell to the ground with his nose broken.
"Shit man, I shouldn't have done that! That hurt!"
Hearing the whistle of the wind in his back, Alex quickly rolled to the side to escape a sword that would have cut him in two if he had stayed in place. In a clever move, he disarmed his opponent and gave him a right hook. Seeing that the one with the damaged kneecap was about to attack again, he sliced his neck. He then killed the first Urgal by piercing his heart. A sigh escaped his mouth and a single drop of sweat ran down his right cheek. The scraping sound of leather against the ground came up to his ears and he turned around, bringing him face-to-face with the last Urgal, the one with the broken nose, who had some difficulties to concentrate due to the pain. The swordsman shook his head and rolled his eyes. He drew out the weapon tied to his right leg. The moment after, a powerful detonation echoed in the surrounding area and a body fell to the ground with a hole in the skull.
Looking in Brom's direction, he saw that the latter was on his horse, wounded and unconscious, unaware that the last Urgal was going to deliver the killing blow. Instinctively, he raised his arm and a second detonation was heard while light grey smoke escaped from the tip of his Glock 17. Quickly, Alex approached the storyteller and dismounted him from Snowfire. Blood was streaming down his right arm. The young man put his bag on the ground and opened it to search something very useful in this kind of situation. He took the red box out of the bag and tore it open. With a bandage roll and some disinfectant, he expertly cleaned and nursed the injury.
A cry of rage filled his ears and head. He raised his eyes to the sky and saw a big blue lizard landing a little away. The dragoness approached quickly, in the company of the farmer who, fortunately, didn't have any wound but had a tired look on his face.
"Is everything alright?" asked Alex, a little worried.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a few scratches, thank to that Urgal."
The man with brown eyes raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"There was another one who was hidden while the others attacked. He was surely waiting for us to be separated to go into action. I took care of him myself. And you?"
"They didn't give me any major problem. You just need to have some reflexes and be a little fast. Brom has a long cut on his arm but I've took care of it. We should go before more of them come."
The two boys put the storyteller on Saphira's back. Then, they took the horses with them and left the village. Alex was on Snowfire's back while Eragon was guiding Cadoc. They walked along the Ninor until Saphira mentally called her Rider and sent him the image of a little meadow surrounded by trees and along the river.
When they arrived, a small fire was already burning. Brom was in front of it, his right arm put against his torso. The duo sat down at Brom's side.
"Saphira told me you treated my wound. Your bandage is solid and well made."
Alex nodded his head as a thanks before adding:
"It's nothing. I washed your cut so there's almost no chance for it to be infected but I'll remove the bandage tomorrow morning to see if it heals well and if I need to put another one. You're not suffering too much, are you?"
A small rictus of pain flashed on Brom's face.
"Unfortunately, yes."
The young man didn't answer and opened his bag. He fumbled for a moment before extirpating a small yellow box that he opened. A tablet of a diameter of a half centimeter fell on the leather glove that protected his right hand and he handed it to the old man.
"Swallow it with some water but don't chew because it won't take effect if you do it."
"What is it?"
"It's a substitute to the aspirin and a painkiller. You can take it safely, there's no poison in it."
The storyteller took the object between two fingers, analyzing it for a second before putting it in his mouth. Then, he took a few gulps of water from his bottle.
"Now, you just have to wait a few minutes and the pain will slowly fade away. It'll be here tomorrow but not as intense as now. I think we should make dinner, you two looks like you haven't eaten anything since a day or two."
"You're right, thank you for your help."
Alex winked and smiled. "Think nothing of it."
Once their bellies were full, Brom lit up his pipe and the man with almond eyes comfortably lay on the ground, his head on his bag and looking at the sky. He listened to the conversation between the other two people, interested by what happened to the farmer. When the latter explained how he killed the last Urgal, it intrigued Alex: Magic. He did everything to not laugh and keep a serious attitude but it wasn't easy. Dragons were real, sword with colored steel too so…why not?
It was with those thoughts the swordsman quickly fell asleep, also a little tired by the events of the last few days.