Chapter 21: Lone Rider
Link awoke of his own accord now, not willing to wake up to Vanilor's roar. He dressed in his blue tunic and exited his suite, which led right to the pine tree-root stairway that descended into Islanzadí's throne room. He waited for Eragon to come down, which wasn't a long wait.
Eragon came down the stairs with a rather proud smile on his face. Link knew it was because his training was completely finished. Eragon strode up to Link, who shook his hand firmly.
"Congratulations, Eragon," said Link with a broad smile.
"I must admit, it feels very good to know that I won't be going over to the gorge every morning," said Eragon with a deep sigh.
"So will you be going back to Aberon?" Link asked.
"I think I'll stay in Ellesméra for a while," said Eragon. "I'll go back to Aberon in a while. Right now I think I'll just wind down for a bit, allow myself some time for rest."
Link nodded. "Well, I'd best be off to Oromis's. If you want a good place to spend spare time, I recommend the sparring field."
"So long as Vanir's not there," Eragon said bitterly.
"Don't worry," Link said with a huge smile. "I don't think he'll be showing his face there for a long time."
Eragon cocked his head to one side a bit. "Why's that?"
"Let's just say, he finally met his match," said Link. Eragon didn't seem to get it at first, and then realization dawned on him.
"You're joking," said Eragon with a small smile.
"I don't think I am," said Link, chuckling slightly.
They both laughed for a bit, and then they stopped. The silence grew slightly uncomfortable.
"Well, I'll talk to you later," said Link. "Oromis won't be happy if I'm late."
"All right," said Eragon. "I'll be at the sparring field."
Link waved as Eragon turned and headed in the direction of the sparring field.
Vanilor, said Link.
I'm coming, he said. Link exited Islanzadí's throne room and stood in the rich soil. He heard a great whoosh of air and saw Vanilor rise into the air out of his roost. He plummeted downward and in Link's direction. His emerald scales glinted in the sunlight as he steadily gained speed. He landed next to Link with a great thud. Link climbed up Vanilor's back and positioned himself on his saddle. Vanilor was on the ground no longer than five seconds before they were in the air again.
The flight was pleasant. The wind rushed through Link's hair as they soared above Ellesméra. The view was beautiful, as always. It seemed slightly lonelier this time around, however. Although he had Vanilor to talk to, Eragon was usually there to provide conversation as well.
They arrived at the bottom of the gorge, where Glaedr was curled up in a ball next to Oromis's hovel, sleeping.
Link dismounted from Vanilor's back and entered Oromis's hovel. Oromis was sitting on a chair made of tangled tree roots. Big surprise.
"Greetings, Link," said Oromis. "How are you this morning?"
"I feel well, Ebrithil," said Link.
A/N: Just a quick note, I believe I said sometime earlier that I would not spend a lot of time on Oromis's lessons. The reason is that the only ancient language I know of is in the books, and I wouldn't be able to put anything original in here because no additional ancient language has been revealed. Maybe there will be an ancient language translator in the third book, but until then, I have no way of creating new words. Okay, back to the story. Sorry.
Do you feel you learned much today? Vanilor asked.
Not really, said Link, rather disappointed. But hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Shall we go to the sparring field now, Link? Vanilor inquired.
Yes, please, Link replied. Vanilor was already heading in the direction of the field anyway.
After a minute, they arrived at the field and could see Saphira already. Vanilor hummed slightly.
Link smiled to himself. He could tell Vanilor had taken a liking to Saphira.
Vanilor began to slow down with a steady flap of his wings toward the ground. Elves cleared the area so as not to be knocked to the ground by Vanilor's mighty gusts. He finally landed with a light thud and surveyed the area. Link then dismounted and strode over to Eragon, who was standing next to Saphira.
"Hello, Link," said Eragon with a broad smile. They clasped hands.
"How are things, Eragon?"
"They go well. I've been sparring almost all day," said Eragon. "It's good fun."
"I think I shall spar with someone as well," said Link.
"Who did you have in mind?" Eragon asked mischievously.
Link turned to him. Eragon had another broad smile on his face.
Vanilor? Link said.
It's just a friendly sparring match, said Vanilor. I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by it. Go ahead.
"I was thinking the two Riders should treat everyone to a show," said Link.
"That's what I was thinking," Eragon replied, his grin now broadened even more.
They both strode out to the field. It was a moment before everyone who was sparring noticed that both Riders were about to spar with each other. Everyone stopped sparring and left the field to watch, giving Link and Eragon as much room as they needed.
Link began to unbuckle Edoc'sil from his waist.
"Do you think you should use that one?" said Eragon as Link removed the sword and dropped it near Vanilor's feet.
"No," said Link. "The Hero of Time is, first and foremost, my most important title."
Eragon seemed disturbed by this statement, but he let it go. Link thought of going back over to Vanilor and getting his Hylian Shield, but he decided that it would be unfair since Eragon was using only Wyrda and nothing else.
Link drew the Master Sword from his back, and Eragon drew Wyrda from his waist. The surrounding viewers were silent as the grave. They all watched intently as Shadeslayer and the Hero of Time prepared to fight in a friendly duel.
"Gëuloth du knífr," said Eragon, a finger on his blue blade. Link did the same to the Master Sword, which only obeyed him.
It was dead silent. No one moved. Link watched Eragon intently to be sure when he was about to make his move.
There it was. A flicker in his right wrist, the one that held Wyrda. He was going to make a move to Link's left.
Eragon did just that. He stabbed at Link's left hip. Link rolled away and struck out at Eragon's waist. The duel had begun.
A/N: First off, I would like to apologize for the really long wait. You see, I finally got a hold of Twilight Princess and that's all I've been doing all week. It's kind of pathetic, but I beat it in five days. I beat it yesterday on the third. But it was probably the best Zelda game I've played, including Ocarina of Time, which is a pretty bold thing to say because Ocarina is boss. I will eventually write a TP-based fic, probably after I've finished the Dark trilogy. Anyways, R&R! That's a painful cliffhanger!