Hello everyone,
Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me so far, it means a lot and keeps me motivated to write!
As always there is an authors note at the bottom. On to the next chapter!
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"GET UP! GET UP! YOUR BURNING DAYLIGHT, AHHH HAHAHAHA!"
The drill sergeant is having too much fun. I thought as I took in the sight of the soldiers running around trying to get dressed and ready for their daily routine. Plus the sun isn't even out yet.
Carn and Vanir stood beside me. The rest of Du Gata Vrangr was, no doubt, still asleep. I was not allowed that luxury as I wanted to see the update of the soldiers. In this particular camp there were ten tents that I knew eighty men would share together.
A Century. I concluded.
"Stronghammer, what brings you to my Century?" The man I falsely recognized as the drill sergeant asked me. He is the Centurion. I deduced.
"I wanted to see an update on the soldiers." I told him simply.
"Have we pleased you, my lord." He said suddenly becoming formal, his whole body locking rigidly.
"Call me anything besides 'my lord' will you? Roran or Stronghammer suits me fine." I told him becoming slightly uncomfortable.
"As you say, Stronghammer." He replied.
"Yes, they seem much more disciplined than when we left. What is the training for the day?" I asked.
"We will complete our twenty mile march on the road, after that they will be still march to protect the people but we will be much less strict. They are still encouraged to practice but the days on the road has beat the proper formations into them. After the march we will let them unload their pack onto the mules to decrease the weight they have to carry." He paused but I knew he would continue.
"When we stop for the day, they will feed, then we will do weapons training."
I interrupted before he could go farther. "Have they all been outfitted with the proper weapons?" I asked him.
"No my lo ...Stronghammer." He corrected himself. "Nearly everyone has the short swords, but we do not have shields, nor the javelin's." He answered.
"Have your superiors given you a reason as to why?" I asked him curiously, I have been kept in the loop for the most part but Jormundur has been handling most of the details.
"No Stronghammer."
"Any guesses." I asked trying to get an answer.
"No Stronghammer."
"How have you been handling the weapons training?" I asked curiously.
"With wooden representations, heavier than the actual weapon. As you instructed." He added that last part in.
So the people do know that these are my tactics, interesting.
"Carry on." I said as I turned around and started walking with purpose.
"Something I can help you with Stronghammer?" Nasuada asked me as I rode up beside her.
"I just have a few questions, not sure if I should ask you or Jormundur." I told her honestly.
"You want to know why all the soldiers aren't properly outfitted yet?"
"Aye." I said not even wanting to know how she knew the information.
"Money, and time. There are not many forges that can be constructed along the way to Surda." She answered immediately. "In fact, money seems to be our main problem nowadays."
"Well I have a few solutions." I told her.
She finally looked towards me then, and we locked eyes. She's definitely interested now.
"Magicians have a very unique situation, we can break economies fairly easily. We can summon gold from the ground, we can create materials that are fairly rare, without much energy expended. Those are just a few examples." I told her trying to lead her to an answer.
She looked ahead then, and I could tell she was wracking her brain trying to use this to our advantage.
"I would recommend…" I told her before she could answer. "Compiling a list of what our allies lack or value the most, and then we can decide how Du Gata Vrangr can best be used."
Now she was really thinking about the possibilities, her face beamed with a bright smile.
"You will have it soon."
Three taps on my thigh ended the spar. I let go of the arm I was torquing and I heard a sigh of relief from the body beneath me.
"Still can't beat you on the ground." Vanir said as he stood up, dusting himself off.
I did the same and slapped him on the back. "And I will never beat you with a sword." I told him.
We turned back to our only charge that bothered to watch us spar. Carn's jaw was on the floor at our display of unarmed combat.
"How?" Carn spoke up from the crowd.
"How what?"
"How can you compete with an elf in raw strength and speed!?" He continued throwing his hands in the air.
I looked to Vanir. "Should I tell him." I asked him in the Ancient Language.
He thought for a moment before responding. We made it back over to the campfire and sat down by the time he responded. "It is your secret to tell." He finally said.
I thought for a long time, Carn didn't say anything the whole time, he could tell I was thinking about something.
"I altered my body with magic."
Carn looked up at the stick he was whiddling on then. He seemed interested.
"I knew that the other races outstrip humans in some way, Urgals are much stronger and even faster than us. Elves are the fastest of all and their strength still surpasses humans. Dwarves are smaller in stature but are also stronger on average. I thought I needed something to even the playing field. So I constructed a spell that did that, and the results ...well they speak for themselves." I told him honestly.
"Could you cast that spell on me?" Carn asked me as he took in the information.
I thought about that question. "Yes I could, but I'm not sure if I will. I have been torn on whether or not to give it to others, it's a lot of power to have. How about this, you become fluent in the Ancient Language, and then ask me again." I told him.
His eyes brightened with a fire in them, the same fire one gets when they get particularly motivated.
"Deal."
A stick hit him in the head from behind him, courtesy of Vanir, and then another stick was thrown on the ground in front of him.
"Good, now defend yourself."
I rode in front of my group of cute little soon to be magicians.
Today we will discuss elemental transformation. Does anyone know what an element is? I started as we begin the lesson.
I learned that a great way for them to get used to using their minds and feeling others would be to do the lessons in our minds. It also helped me not having to yell to all of them.
Element as in wind, fire, earth, water? A mind I recognized as one of the youngest members of Du Gata Vrangr asked.
In a sense, it is fairly simple. Elemental transformation is just changing one thing to another. It is also mostly impossible for anyone without massive amounts of energy. I told them showing them images in my mind of what I meant.
But if we can't use it then why bring it up? Carn asked, the dutiful student.
Simple, eventually you will find yourself in a bad situation. Say for example, you are lost in the desert and you are out of water, what do you do? I asked them, thinking of the exact scenario Eragon found himself in during the books, which also led to the lesson I am about to tell them.
No one answered for a while but they knew I wouldn't continue until someone spoke up and at least offered some insight.
I assume you cannot just create water? The same young boy from earlier sounded out, he's never afraid to talk, as most teenagers are.
You can try, but you would most likely kill yourself before you could taste a drop. I am bringing this subject up to change the way you think about the world around you. I paused so that it could sink in.
Instead of wanting to create the water, would it not cost less energy to draw the water out of the ground? Instead of creating glass, would it not be easier to heat sand to create the glass? I asked sending them images of the processes and how it would work.
Now obviously not everyone understands the process of glassmaking, or smithing, or any other trade that requires knowledge. But that is why magicians are considered learned, knowledgeable people. We have to be constantly thinking, constantly learning. I told them and let them think about the information.
I took the time to reach into my saddle bag on the back of my faithful steed and pulled out one of my shirts from my time in Du Weldenvarden.
Here is another lesson for today, this is a shirt made of lace. With a few words, or word if you are disciplined enough and you can unravel the shirt, to go back to a raw material. For example.
I set my mind to focusing on the thread and spoke. "Losna."
The shirt suddenly started to unravel and I could barely feel the energy leaving my body, so cheap was the task. The shirt started at the bottom as the thread unravelled and soon enough I had a bundle of lace.
The word itself means to release, or loosen. But my will and my mind guided what I wanted to accomplish. Does everyone understand this lesson? I asked them honestly trying to get the lesson across to them.
I dove a little bit deeper in their minds and I could tell that they were all pondering the information. Most connecting the dots, the others well on the way.
Good! Now another important lesson, it's infinitely easier to create more of something, when you have that material readily available. I won't go into why just yet, but know it is important.
"Kverst." I spoke cutting off a small strand of lace. I then lifted the strand up and once again focused my magic.
"More." I spoke in the Ancient Language.
Everyone watched as the strand I held in my fingers started to grow and lengthen. I cut the spell off, knowing that I got my point across.
Now the reason I have brought all of this up today is because it is time for all of us to earn our keep in the Varden. We will now be funding the Varden by making lace, after we have made a significant amount, the Varden will trade these goods off to pay for the expenses of war. I told them waiting for an outrage, instead all I got was contemplative silence.
I agreed for many reasons. One, the Varden needs money, simple. Two, this provides you all a very unique opportunity to make us invaluable to the cause, in other words, it gives us a lot of power. Three, this is a great way for you to get your bodies used to channeling magic through it. I once again paused to wait for someone to say anything, to protest.
In the end, it was once again the youngest member of our group that said something.
So when do we start.
"You summoned me, Nasuada?" I asked as politely as I entered into the tent Shadowcat hot on my tail.
"Yes, I wanted to speak to you before we arrive in Surda next month." She told me as I sat down in her tent, with Shadowcat jumping into my lap and pawing at my hand until I pet her, she'd been needy since I was giving a lot of people's attention besides her. A purring soon filled the room as I relented.
In Nasuada's left hand she held a cup of wine, the other had a quill in it, writing constantly. I sat there for a while and I was reminded of how Tywin Lannister did the same thing to everyone around him to remind them that they were on his time, he was in control. Most of the time, someone would try to take power back and force the issue, others waited patiently.
"I sent a letter to King Orrin. Here is his response." She said as she handed me the letter.
"To Nasuada,
I hope the road treats you and your subjects well. I also look forward to seeing you once again, it has been a very long time. Things were much different then, weren't they? What I wouldn't give to go back to those times where we only had a few skirmishes with the empire a year. But Alas, we must endure as leaders.
I will keep it short, I have instructed our blacksmiths to begin making the short swords, they assured me that the designs are simple, and are well within their ability to make, cheap also. The Javelin's, we already have most of, because of their popularity amongst the cavalry, but they are also in production. The shield is an interesting design, we will have to start from scratch with them, but it will be an enjoyable challenge.
I look forward to your arrival and delivery of your end of the trade agreements. Hrothgar has been especially lively lately, I'm not sure if that is because of the Rider, or the man they call Stronghammer, the riders cousin? We have much to discuss once you arrive.
Orrin King of Surda."
I set the letter back down on the desk, my mind wondering why the Surda's ruler would name drop me in a letter to Nasuada.
You have been making a lot of waves in this world. Shadowcat told me inside my mind. How long will it be until those waves are felt? She continued ominously.
What is that supposed to mean? I asked her. Will my future knowledge be useless?
She didn't answer. I broke out my thoughts to listen to Nasuada.
"Even our allies have spies amongst us. He is crafty isn't he?" She said noticing that I was done. She stopped writing and looked at me for the first time since I walked in.
"To be fair, most of this is fairly common knowledge, Hrothgar's gift to you was not without its witnesses. But that doesn't explain why he would mention you. No offense but he never met the Twins, nor did he mention them in conversation." She continued after I didn't answer her initial question.
"None taken. So it's safe to assume that he knows it is me that came up with the changes in the soldiers too?" I asked.
Nasuada nodded her head. "He will want to recruit you."
"Well you don't have to worry about that." I told her truthfully.
"Really? He could grant you money, influence, power, ...women." She continued holding my eye. "Most men are susceptible to all of those."
"And I am no different, but I don't need him to acquire any of those. Nor will I shackle myself to him just to get them." I replied honestly.
Her eyes bore into mine. "I can't figure you out. I am a very good judge of character, and I can typically find out what people want fairly easily. For example, your cousin, do you know what he wants?"
"Eragon? I've never really thought about it to be honest. To be the best Rider he can be I suppose." I answered truthfully.
"It's as plain to anyone that he wants to be you, or at least equivalent to you. Did you think Hrothgar gave you that masterpiece of a weapon because of your defense of the Tronjheim? No, why didn't he give everyone a warhammer then? After all, there were many heroes that day."
I had never really stopped to think about it that way. I thought to myself. Do you agree? I said patting my companion in my lap.
Surely you can't be that dense. Shadowcat asked. Of course she's correct, she is female, we are always correct.
I laughed a bit at that. "I hoped I was just special." I told Nasuada in response to her comments.
"What is it that you want?" She finally asked me what the wanted to ask.
I really thought about it this time, did I want to be King? No, influence? Yes but not enough to shackle myself and my children to a throne.
"I told you that I would think about it." I told her knowing that she was about to propose to me again.
She wants to do it before we win, she wants to tie herself to me. She thinks that I could take the throne and have no need for her. I realized as I saw underneath the conversation we were having.
She's right. Shadowcat sounded out from my mind. I am surprised you are just now realizing this.
"You'll have to make a choice soon." Nasuada told me, her voice gained an edge that wasn't there before.
"Is that a threat?" I asked her, my voice gaining a similar edge. She wouldn't try to remove me from the equation would she?
"Of course not." She answered, her voice lighter like before.
My face was set in a frown as I continued to think. She said she wanted the throne more than anything. Power does things to people.
"Fine, then I don't want the throne. I will have to deny your proposal." I answered truthfully.
If this is what life would be like as king, they can have it. I am tired of all these plots and schemes between her, Hrothgar, and Orrin. I broadcasted to Shadowcat.
They haven't even started yet, young one. Shadowcat told me, amusement laced her tone.
Nasuada seemed pleased at my declaration, she obviously believed me. "It may not be that easy Stronghammer."
I only groaned in response.
A/N: Boom. Another one.
I've been enjoying writing the time spent in transient. With the training of the army, the training of Du Gata Vrangr, and the byplay with Nasuada and Roran.
I have decided on the pairings. It was not what I had planned in the beginning but the story has demanded it as it has gone on.
I am afraid my version of Eldest will not be very long, which makes sense I suppose. It was mainly just a training arc for Eragon. Maybe I'll drag it along but I think we'll reach Surda next chapter.
What does everyone think about the chapter? Let's talk in the reviews!