Hello everyone!
Thank you all for the views and reviews, it means a lot! If I am honest I didn't expect this many favorites and follows, it's very humbling and also motivating.
For the longest I have felt as if the Inheritance Cycle has been dead on this site. Does anyone feel the same? There are a lot of amazing stories but the interest doesn't seem to be there. Enough rambling, on to the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
'How do you feel?' was getting to be an annoying thing to hear every 15 minutes. Brom and Oromis worried over him constantly for the next few days after the changes. They were insistent that I not strain myself to let my body adjust, that meant no training at all. At least Shadowhunter seemed to know when to leave me alone to myself, having disappeared a few days ago, no doubt to go do some mysterious werecat things. I carried a book or two with me pretty much wherever I went for a week.
Luckily something good came out of this, access to Oromis' personal library. I was reading mainly on the subject of enchanting. I am fascinated with the possibilities of enchanting things to do what my previous people had used science to achieve. Lighting, plumbing, crafting, the possibilities were endless.
Currently I was reading about enchanting for weapons, more specifically a warhammer. Speaking of the subject, today was the day that I visited Rhunon to ask her to forge a weapon for me. I fully expected her to deny my request but I wanted to at least buy the materials to sing the weapon into being. I already had a very simple design drawn out on some parchment I borrowed from Oromis. There wasn't really anything special about it.
It wasn't hard to find the ancient elf's house that doubled as her smithy, it was well known where she lived amongst the community. When I arrived she was bent over an anvil hammering away at a piece of metal, no doubt to help prepare for the coming war, Islanzadi was getting everyone prepared.
She looked towards me once she noticed that someone was watching her and then promptly ignored me and continued hammering away, softly whispering what I assumed to be spells at the metal. Deciding that my book was more important than interrupting her, I sat down in the shade of a tree outside of her house.
Close to two hours after arriving she walked outside. "It's not often that someone visits, even rarer a human." Her voice was a mix between the melodic voice of an elf and a chainsmoker from my world. Thousands of years in a forge tended to do that to you I suppose. "The last human tried to start a fight when I refused his request. What do you want?" She asked getting to the point.
"A warhammer." I replied deciding not to beat around the bush.
"Such an ungraceful weapon, why?"
"I have learned that I have some talent with them, swords do not suit me." I told her.
Her face morphed into something akin to annoyance, "No boy, why should I grant your request?"
"I don't have much I can trade you. What do you require in return?" I replied honestly.
"I want for nothing, bring me something of interest. If you have nothing then leave." her reply was quick, rehearsed even. She must have used that line many times. She turned to walk back inside when I replied.
"I thought you would deny me, so instead I'll ask for the materials to do it myself." I told her closing my book and standing up.
"You are a blacksmith?" she said as she turned back around to face me.
"No, I will use magic."
"Hmph, I doubt you have the knowledge or skill to forge such a complex weapon with words. What should I call you? 'Foolish'?" Rhunon replied stepping out of the shop again.
"I go by Roran."
"And what is the best metal to use for a warhammer Roran?" Her voice rose slightly as if I had insulted her. I suppose I have, insinuating that I could do what she can with no knowledge on the subject at all. I should have known before I came that she wouldn't like this, as dedicated to her craft as she is.
"I do not know." My reply was almost a whisper.
"Then what makes you think that I would give you the material? So that you can waste it? Do you even know the process of forging?" I definitely pissed her off.
"Roughly." Youtube videos may walk you step by step as to how the masters do it but I would never claim to be able to actually do it. "Remove the impurities and increase the carbon slightly in the metal to make it stronger while also adding some sulfur and phosphorus, then shape it to my will. I have a rough plan but it will no doubt take me a few tries." I finally replied after a few seconds of thought.
She seemed surprised at my knowledge. "So you're not completely foolish it seems, even if that wouldn't get you very far." Her mood seemed to do a complete 180, now she seemed curious.
"I will not give you the ingots either, I have my orders from my Queen. I need all the time and materials I have." I visibly deflated as she said that.
Before I could respond she continued. "You may have one I made many years ago, it's enchantments are nothing special but it is well made and perfectly balance. Warhammers are the one thing I will admit that the dwarves forge better than I, it suits very few elves."
I think she was getting off on my reactions to her sudden changes in mood. She turned around to go into her shop leaving me standing outside.
What she brought outside was not what I would describe as 'nothing special'. Its handle was the same metal as the rest of the hammer, a dull grey in color. It had a black dyed leather wrapped in an intricate pattern on the handle enough for two and a half hand lengths, the dull grey metal had vines wrapped up to the head, which was designed exactly like the elven warhammer from Skyrim. Summed up: it was gorgeous and I was in heaven as I took it from her.
"This is a gorgeous weapon, what made you change your mind? Why give it to me?" I said deciding to call her out on her changing moods.
She seemed to contemplate on revealing her reasons before answering. "A few days ago I heard tale of a young elf antagonizing a couple of humans on the sparring fields. No doubt to embarrass them and exert his supremacy over them. Imagine my surprise when he was beaten soundly with only a dagger, by what appeared to be a human barely matured."
I felt my face flush at the story not realizing how far it would spread. "I do not see how this is relevant to the situation."
"There is something else, it clings to you like a shadow, guiding you…..maybe guarding you, something tells me you will need it. Consider it an apology for my niece's son, and thank you for the lesson he learned. Vanir has long disliked humans for the damage Galbatorix has done. Regrettably, his family hasn't sought to correct his behavior, take this as payment, you owe me nothing." She said with finality.
"Thank you Rhunon-elda. I don't know what else to say." I managed to reply to her after processing what she told me. "I will treasure it."
"Good. Now leave, I have work to do." Rhunon said as she turned back to her forge.
As I turned around to leave I couldn't help but think to myself. All my knowledge of the books and it seems I am surprised at every turn.
It was another week after receiving my new warhammer that Brom and Oromis finally let me test out my new physical abilities. We planned on doing a long distance test to see if my muscles held up, a sprint to see how much faster I was, and a strength test, then we were going to spar until we couldn't stand, at least that was the plan.
"Are you ready?" Brom asked as we finished our warm-up rimgar session.
"As I'll ever be." I replied ready to test out my new body.
I got down in a typical ready to go stance as I planned on running the full length of the sparring field and back as fast as I could to test my raw speed first.
"Go"
As I pushed off and raced down the sparring fields the most obvious thing I noticed was how there was no wasted movements, I was in complete control of where my limbs were at all times. The second thing I noticed was that I was already almost back at Brom.
"Holy shit." Was the only thing I could say after I stopped, barely winded at all.
"Well it's safe to say that you've gotten faster." Brom commented after picking his jaw off the floor. "That was at least as fast as an elf." He continued.
"That felt great. What's next?" I asked.
"Why don't we spar before we tire you out with a long distance run." He said as he went to retrieve Zar'roc and my unnamed war hammer from the shade tree they were under.
After we blunted the weapons with magic I started doing some test swings with Rhunon's gift. It was extremely light as I ran through some of the more common stances and swings. Maybe it's the material, maybe it's the changes, maybe it's both.
We started to circle each other and after some unspoken signal we met with a clash of weapons.
As we kept going through the motions I could tell that I had absolutely no trouble at all swinging the heavier weapon around. Soon our weapons became a clash of sparks, Zar'roc easily holding up to the beating I was giving it.
We continued dancing around each other, our faces splitting into smiles after another 10 minutes of sparring. The weapon seemed to get easier and easier to maneuver as I swung it around. Brom had lost the speed advantage he normally had and was loving every minute of it. I am starting to think he just loves to fight.
We spar for another 10 minutes before we both decided to call it off, neither getting the upper hand of the other. I noticed that he was breathing heavily with sweat pouring off of his frame while I was breathing a little harder than normal but not strained at all like he was.
"I am afraid that you will have to find another sparring partner to test your limits Roran. This old body can not keep up, or even push you it seems." Brom said after sitting down and catching his breath.
"I might have a solution to that." A voice sounded out behind us.
"Vanir." I said as I recognized the young elf walking towards us, our altercation on my mind.
He said nothing, instead he touched two fingers to his lips and said, "Atra esterní ono thelduin."
Surprised I reciprocate the gesture and replied with, "Atra du evarínya ono arda."
"I apologize for interrupting, I was coming to apologize for my behavior from before and overheard you speaking." He said while bowing his head.
"It's alright, humans don't have the best reputation amongst your people, we understand." I said in response.
"Sparring is the least I can do to make it up to you, I am quite talented with the sword. My earlier performance was because of my arrogance, I can assure you it won't be so easy next time." He said with a glint in his eye that showed he had something to prove.
"I look forward to it. When do you normally train during the days?"
"We can meet here in the mornings as you normally do." Vanir said as
"Works for me."
"I would also request we spar without weapons also, I have found a glaring weakness in my fighting style." He said with a grin.
I laughed before replying "Of course, I need to keep my hand to hand skills sharp."
Before I knew it 9 months had passed. Vanir became a very close companion of mine, nothing like fighting to bring people together. I always enjoyed his progression throughout the books, it seems that my presence seemed to kick start his mental growth. He even asked to journey with my party once we eventually decided to move on, I accepted after I told him what he would be committing himself to. He seemed shocked at first but claimed that it would only make the adventure that much better. He quickly found his way into my inner circle, it was an odd friendship for sure.
We continued to spar almost everyday, we drank together, we even talked about the elven women together. After sometime sparring and testing the limits of my new body, we found that I matched an elf in terms of physical prowess. The normal elf seemed to be more agile and faster but they lacked the strength that I possessed, we seemed to even in terms of coordination and gracefulness. I still had to sleep and eat more than a normal human but that was easy to accomplish.
Brom and Oromis saw each other almost everyday, seemingly taking advantage of the time that they had gained. I saw them frequently over the first few months and then less and less as Brom decided he had nothing more to teach me. If we sparred, neither could get the upper hand on the other and usually ended in a draw. Eventually it got to a point that there was nothing to do but go through the motions and wait for Arya to show up. I was trying to have as much fun as possible because I knew that as soon as she made first contact, things were going to start moving at a rapid pace.
My appearance hasn't changed much, I haven't grown anymore. I still kept my hair in a well kept man bun, but I added a braid to the left side above my temple. A female elf friend of Vanir's did it one night while we were drinking too much and I decided that I liked it. My beard has grown out a little but is still maintained well. I was learning more and more everyday that this is no longer a book series, it is my life. I started thinking about what I would do after the war, I still had no answer.
One morning I awoke to a banging on my door.
"The queen has received word, Arya will arrive before the sun sets tonight."
A/N: We got to see Rhunon, one of my favorite characters in the Inheritance Cycle. Do you think I got her character down? I thought it wouldn't be too bad to play with the story a little and make them related. The warhammer is not made out of Brightsteel, all of this and the fact that it was collecting dust in her forge seemed motivation enough for her to gift it to Roran. Review everyone, let me know if you loved it or thought it was stupid, I would appreciate either!