Chapter 9: After the Battle

Link and Vanilor landed on Helgrind's summit, as well as Saphira. Katrina dismounted Saphira and ran to Roran. Link untied his legs and approached Eragon.

"You fight well, Eragon," said Link.

"I've been waiting to do that for almost a year now," said Eragon. He wasn't even out of breath. "It was disappointing how easy it was."

"I've had my fair share of vengeance," said Link. "It's never as satisfying as one would hope."

"I agree," said Eragon. "It didn't bring the satisfaction I hoped for."

"Well, we'd better get moving," said Link. "I'm sure the dwellers of Dras-Leona saw this. Saphira's flame must have been like a beacon to the Empire's soldiers. Galbatorix will hear of this for sure."

"How long did you live within the Empire before you went to the Varden?" Eragon asked.

"I never did."

Eragon turned to him, puzzled.

"What do you mean?" Eragon asked.

"I'm not from Alagaësia," said Link. "I come from a land to the north of here, called Hyrule."

"Hyrule?" Eragon asked. "I've always wondered if there were other lands, at least since I traveled to the Varden. How did you get here?"

"I came through Du Weldenvarden, which connects to an area in Hyrule known as the Lost Woods. As you can deduce from its name, I got lost and ended up in Ellesméra," Link explained. "I can tell you more about myself later. Right now we need to get out of Dras-Leona's territory and back to Aberon."

Eragon nodded. Eragon saddled up on Saphira with Roran. Link got atop Vanilor and let Katrina ride behind him. It was night, so they only rode far enough to be out of sight of Dras-Leona so they could rest. Link set up camp while Roran and Eragon went to get firewood. It was uncomfortably silent while Katrina sat on her bedroll and Link rolled out everyone else's.

Link was about to break the silence when Roran and Eragon returned, each with an armful of firewood. Link set up the campfire and lit it with brisingr. Eragon then began to question him, while Roran, Katrina, Saphira, and Vanilor listened. Vanilor had already heard all of this, but he enjoyed the story.

"So, what is Hyrule like?" Eragon started.

Link turned to him with a smile. "Well, it's kind of like Alagaësia, but it has a much larger variety of monsters, at least from what I've seen. Of course, the monsters only appear in areas with great concentration of evil, like the temples. There are seven temples within Hyrule that house evil creatures and also are the homes to the Seven Sages. Each temple has--or used to have a single creature that governed the rest of its underlings within the temple. I defeated each one of them and freed the temples, allowing the Sages to live there again. Each Sage presented me with a medallion that increased my physical and magical strength; of course, my magical strength has been greatly improved here. Then with the help of the Seven Sages I defeated Ganondorf, King of Evil, who reigned over Hyrule for my seven year absence."

"Absence?" said Eragon. "Have you been to Alagaësia before?"

"No, not exactly. See this sword?" Link drew the Master Sword from its sheath. "This is the weapon of the Hero of Time, who is me. I drew it from the Pedestal of Time within the Temple of Time. The Sword deemed that I was not yet ready to become the Hero of Time, so I was instantly put into a deep sleep for seven years. I awoke looking much like I do now; mind you, I was about ten when I drew the sword. I then freed the Seven Sages and defeated Ganondorf. In doing so, I was allowed to return to my ten-year-old state, which through some convincing from the Princess Zelda, I did. So in truth, I've lived seven years longer than my age and appearance say. I should be almost thirty by now, but I'm actually about twenty-three. When I returned to my ten-year-old state, I left Hyrule to search for my childhood friend, a fairy named Navi. I never did locate her, but found myself on an entirely different adventure in Termina, a neighboring country to Hyrule."

Link realized they had no idea what he was talking about, so he ended it there.

"How did you get to Alagaësia? And how did you get a hold of a dragon egg?" Eragon questioned. Vanilor hummed.

"I'm not sure about the latter, but I can tell you the former," said Link. He then explained what had happened from when he spoke with Princess Zelda to when he found Eragon, Roran, and Katrina in cells inside Helgrind.

"That's some story," said Roran. "You've had your fair share of adventures."

"It actually feels good to be away from Hyrule," said Link, "but I don't plan on staying here too long. Hyrule is still my home, and the people are probably wondering where their hero is. I just hope some other tragedy doesn't befall my home country."

"I'm surprised you were able to take on Arya," said Eragon. When he said her name, there was something wistful about it. Speculations instantly began forming in his head.

"I'm lead to the conclusion that Hylians, those native to Hyrule, are just as magically inclined as elves are. Arya, however, is much more experienced than I. Although she had an unfair advantage, and that is that she had the ability to reach into people's minds, while I didn't even know such power existed. I'll bet that next time we fight, if there's a next time, she won't beat me so easily, if at all."

"Arrogant, are we?" said Roran.

"No, confident. I've experienced things that you've never seen in your worst nightmares," he said. "My skill with the sword may be self-taught, but it's kept me alive for thirty years."

There was silence after that. Link was about ready to go to sleep when Eragon asked a question.

"How do you think Vanilor's egg got in the Lost Woods?" Eragon asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Link. "Zelda just summoned me to the castle and showed it to me. When I saw it, I had this longing desire to reach out and grab it. It was almost like it was… calling to me."

"I felt that same feeling when I first saw Saphira's egg," said Eragon. "I'm guessing Vanilor really was calling to you. He knew you were his Rider."

"How does that work?" Link asked, puzzled.

"When a dragon is inside its egg, it's still fully aware of its surroundings. It is the dragon that chooses the Rider, not the other way around," Eragon explained.

Link nodded his head in understanding. It was a while before anyone else spoke, so Link turned to his pillow and fell asleep almost instantly.

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A/N: This is a much shorter chapter than the one before. I hope you all enjoy it; please R&R. On another note, I'd like to thank BlazeStarre for adding this story to her C2. This is now my first official C2 story! The C2 is called Golden Land, in case anyone wants to check it out.