Chapter 20: Green Blade, White Blade

Before they started the duel, they both dulled their blades.

"Gëuloth du knífr!" said Link, touching each of his blades. They were both dulled at once, and Vanir had already dulled his. It was time.

Link stared Vanir down, who was seething with anger. Link knew that his opponent's anger would cause him to attack first, so he waited. He waited for Vanir to make the first move, which he eventually did. With a snarl, Vanir lunged forth in Link's direction with incredible speed.

Link expertly dodged around him and sliced at his waist with Edoc'sil. Vanir parried with ease, but was surprised at Link's skill. In an instant, both of them were a whirlwind of blades. Link had taken training in dual wielding after defeating Ganondorf and was now as good with two swords as he was with one. Vanir seemed surprised at this also, but made no effort to comment that it was unfair.

The spectators were in awe. Never before had they seen such a spectacular duel. Both exchanged blow for blow, neither of them making contact with anything but metal. Link hammered down on Vanir's defense, who was having trouble keeping up. At the same time, Link was having trouble keeping up with Vanir. They were evenly matched. It was a duel destined to never end until one or the other faints.

Link hacked down with Edoc'sil and spun around into another swing with the Master Sword, both parried by Vanir. Vanir countered with a quick offensive, aiming low then high. Link jumped over the first swing and barely had time to cross his swords in an overhead parry for the second one. He slid his swords across each other forcefully, forcing Vanir and his sword backward and vulnerable to an attack, which Link took advantage of.

Vanir was getting frustrated. Link could see it in his eyes and in the angry snarl on his lips. Link enjoyed seeing Vanir like this, and did everything to make him more frustrated. He did feints and constantly had a cocky grin on his face. Vanir gritted his teeth angrily and began to swing like a madman. This was what Link wanted.

Link waited for Vanir to swing for Link's head. Even with the blades dulled, if it hit his neck it would break. If he hit his head, he would probably die.

Vanir swung straight for Link's right temple. He dodged underneath the swing and tackled Vanir to the ground, something he clearly did not expect. The air whooshed out of Vanir's lungs and he hit the ground hard. Link got on top of him and held the Master Sword to his throat.

"Yield," said Link. Vanir held his hands up to show that he surrendered. With the same cocky grin, Link got up off Vanir's chest and sheathed both his swords. The surrounding elves applauded. Link smiled at them, not sure if he should bow or not.

"Give us a bow, Argetlam!" cried one of them. Link complied, and they applauded louder.

Suddenly Link spun around. "Thrysta vindr!" he cried. Both the dagger that had been thrown at him and Vanir were thrown backward.

"Vanir, you coward!" cried an elf.

Vanir scrambled to his feet and ran in the opposite direction, not even looking back.

"He won't be able to show his face here again for a while," said the same elf, satisfied.

Link decided to spend most of his day at the sparring field. He made friends with an elf close to his age named Jhönen. Jhönen seemed very interested in Link's travels before and after he became a Rider. Link told him things that he had not even told Eragon, such as his adventures in Termina and his defeat of Majora. Jhönen was fascinated.

"Majora lived inside the moon?" he said, enthralled.

"Yes, that very same moon that is in the sky now," said Link. "You do remember when it came dangerously close to the earth, do you not?"

"Yes, but I was very young. Of course, you remember it because you saved them from it. How did you manage to put it back in its rightful place?"

"I called upon the Four Giants of north, south, east, and west. While I was fighting Majora, the Giants were holding the moon with all their might. When Majora was defeated, there was nothing motivating the moon to destroy the earth. The Giants easily pushed it back into the sky, where it remains today."

"That's incredible," said Jhönen. "I can't imagine a ten-year-old facing so many dangers. You must have been very brave."

"It's not something that I can really control," said Link. "You see, the three goddesses chose me as one of their servants. I am the chosen wielder of both the Master Sword and the Triforce of Courage. So yes, I was very brave, but I was born with it. I've never been very afraid of anything."

"There's got to be something that's scared you, at least a little bit," said Jhönen.

"I must admit," said Link. "When I saw the Ra'zac for the first time, I was quite frightened. But it was quickly replaced by determination. It wasn't too long after that I was knocked unconscious.

"Also, the first time I saw Ganondorf was a frightening time for me as well. He held out his hand and a ball of energy exploded and hit me in the head. I was knocked down and dizzied quite badly."

"Ganondorf sounds as bad as Galbatorix," said Jhönen bitterly.

"From what I can tell, Galbatorix isn't as bad as Ganondorf was. I don't even think he's as powerful," said Link.

"Don't judge him by what stories you've heard," said Jhönen. "He's much more powerful than you'd think. Just because he never leaves Urû'baen doesn't mean he's a coward. He's got all his soldiers and used to have the Ra'zac to deal with problems without his city. Also, rumors say that he's got another Rider on his side."

"They are true," Link said bluntly.

"How do you know?" Jhönen asked.

"Eragon has fought him," said Link. "He knows him personally."

"How personally?" Jhönen asked.

"That I cannot reveal," said Link. "It's a rather private subject that I don't think he'd appreciate me revealing."

"That makes sense," Jhönen replied. "I've heard other rumors, as well. I've heard things of a new servant, besides the other Rider."

"I don't think I've heard that," said Link.

"They say that while Galbatorix and Morzan were studying forgotten magic, they happened upon a way to travel to another realm. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but they say Galbatorix took someone from this realm and offered them a deal in exchange for their assistance."

"Sounds like nothing more than a rumor to me," said Link.

"Well, that's what it is, but the Rider rumor was thought to be no more than that either," said Jhönen.

"Good point," said Link.

It was getting late. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon. Link said goodbye to Jhönen and left with Vanilor to their suite.

I like him, said Vanilor. He seems trustworthy, and fun to converse with.

I like him too, said Link. Here comes someone I don't like, however…

Arya was headed in Link's direction, toward the sparring field.

"Well hello, Link," said Arya, stopping him. Link groaned inwardly.

"Greetings, Arya Svit-kona," said Link as pleasantly as he could.

"Oh, please, there's no need for that," she said playfully.

Link stood stiffly. He wasn't enjoying this. He smiled briefly.

"Were you just at the sparring field?" Arya asked. Link nodded awkwardly.

"That's where I'm headed now. Did you spar with anyone?" she asked.

"Vanir," he said.

Arya's face grew sour. "He's a very jealous person. I've never enjoyed his company. I'm sorry if he rubbed it in."

"Rubbed what in?" Link asked, confused.

"Well, he must have—"

"Beaten me?" Link finished. "No. He didn't."

Arya seemed taken aback. "Oh. Well I figured since he's such a skilled fighter…. I thought he…. I'm sorry, Link. I underestimated your skill. I forgot how close you came to beating me."

Link hated how she said that. It sounded like she was superior to him.

"Well, I'd best be going," she said. "I'm meeting someone over at the sparring field."

"Goodbye," Link said.

"We'll talk another time," said Arya, then turning to walk back to the sparring field.

Why don't you like her? Vanilor asked, sounding puzzled.

She's so arrogant! She thinks she's superior over me and everyone else she meets. She's awful! Link cried bitterly.

She doesn't seem that way to me. She's awfully nice to you, said Vanilor.

But she's rude to everyone else! She doesn't care for anyone's feelings!

I think you are misjudging her. She seems to have some inner conflicts that cause trouble with her socially.

How would you know that? Link asked skeptically.

By looking into her eyes, said Vanilor. They're full of stress and conflict, like there's something inside of her that's disagreeing with her. Her mother isn't very supportive of her, from what I've seen.

Link had nothing to say to that. Vanilor could be right. In fact, he most likely was. Such was the wisdom of dragons. Link ignored the subject. He didn't want to admit that Arya might be an okay person.

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A/N: Sorry for the kind of long wait. I've been really busy with homework and stuff lately. Not a whole lot to say, so just R&R pretty please!