Hi, the first four chapters of this story was written by Foxfires Fighter. But I will be continuing on from chapter 4. So please enjoy.
-A/N : Okay so i know it's been awhile from my last update and for those of you who are still with me *thumbs ups* to you. I want to thank everyonee who reviewed and i'm still trying to figure out how to reply to people haha. Anywho i'm going to try and update every two weeks from know on, my school days are over so it should be a lot easier to meet that deadline. And i must say thanks to my beta for reading over this for me. Your the best :p. Alright on to the chapter, i hope you like it.
Arya groaned as she flipped over onto her stomach, keeling and rubbing at her sand coated eyes. Slowly she opened them feeling rather strange, she wondered if what she had just done would be anything like bonding to a dragon. Pulling herself to her feet her gaze first met her mother's, who seemed to actually look concerned about her for once. Then Morzan's, who had a sneer on his face, looking slightly past her left shoulder. Turning her eyes searched for the creature, she found him standing off to her left, shifting his feet underneath him.
"Alright, Morzan," Arya questioned, "Now what am I suppose to do with him?"
Heaving a sigh Morzan looked anywhere but at her or her mother. "He's yours now, he cannot transform without a command. I have a sort of manual for him that I am having brought over at the moment. The manual will explain in great detail what spells and other things have been used on him so if he does not do something when you ask you'll know why. As for anything else about him, I'll give you a warning. Do not under any circumstances take the bands off him, that's the only way you or anyone else will be able to control him." Their eyes met and Arya was disturbed to find a kind of sick pleasure reflected behind them, whether it was for her or for the creature she wasn't sure. Breaking eye contact with him she turned her gaze back to the boy. His gaze was now shifting from Morzan to her nervously, body tense and quivering while blood still streamed lazily down his body. She was surprised to find that some of the wounds had already healed, leaving faint scars. Her mother, it seemed, had noticed the same thing.
"How did his wounds heal so quickly?"
Morzan sighed and ran a hand over his eyes. "One of our tests that he participated in was on the rejuvenation of skin and muscle after it's been injured. It worked beautifully with all the subjects." A young man ran up to him and handed him a stuffed folder of paper. Flipping through it silently Morzan's eyes remained glued to the pages, stopping to read occasionally. The creature slowly rounded behind Arya to settle himself on her right. Turning to him Arya viewed him once again. "What's your name?" she questioned. She couldn't just keep calling him the boy or the creature, her mother and herself wanted to keep this transaction as civil as possible.
Tilting his head to the side the creature didn't answer her, he simply held her in his unwavering gaze. He seemed to be studying her, but Arya couldn't tell for sure. His eyes would be glassy one moment and clear the next. For all she knew about him, he could have several types of drugs racing through his system. Then Arya heard Morzan mumble behind her, "He can't speak. Well, he can if you take the spell off of him, I'm assuming, but until you do that he will be unable to talk." Opening her mouth to ask him to recite the spell that would release this creature form silence Morzan held up his hand to stop her. "I know you must want me to remove the spell, but while he is in Labinia I would ask you to refrain from doing so due to special reasons that I do not wish to disclose to you. However, to answer the question you had asked him, you may call him whatever you wish, his given name disgraces your race and I'm sure you don't want that."
"How would his name disgrace our race exactly?" Islanzadi asked, raising her eyebrow at Morzan.
Bowing low, Morzan replied, "In no way did I mean any disrespect if that's the way it presented itself. I simply meant that he is named after the first Dragon Rider, Eragon. His mother gave him that name, although we've never used it. I thought you might want to call him something else that's all."
Arya turned her gaze back to the creature whose name was Eragon. The only thing that crossed her mind was how strange it was for someone who had presumably never been down to Algasia before to name someone after one of the elves most honored heroes. At least now she had something better to call him. Turning back towards Morzan, Arya asked, "Is there anything else I need to know that would be life threatening to myself or Eragon before we depart?"
Sighing Morzan lowered his head, "No, the only thing I could think of you wanting to know before you leave here is that he cannot come within five feet of you without the proper spell to release him. We put that spell on him for safety reasons."
With a curt nod Arya started towards the exit that was located at the back of the arena, knowing her mother had paid Morzan. As she passed him she took the manual from his loose grip and continued on her way, Eragon struggling slightly behind her, trying to put more distance between them. Islanzadi followed suit. Soon the party of three stood out on the steps that they had used to come in, with no sight of the masked man around. Arya looked behind her to make sure Eragon was following like he was suppose to, she was surprised by how quietly he was coming with them. Besides the slight struggle coming out of the arena he was following silently now. Flicking her eyes towards his she caught his stare once again and the slightest hint of a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, so fast she thought she had imagined it. Faster than Arya remembered all three of them were passing the ruins of houses and inns in the old village before the palace. If they kept up this pace she thought, they could make it down to the outskirts of Algasia by morning where they could rest. Although resting wasn't the only thing she wanted to do, she wanted to take off the spells set in place by Morzan so Eragon could speak with them.
What he might say she wasn't sure but at least then they would be able to know for sure if he understood what they were going to ask of him. The papers in the folder rustled as she picked up the pace even more, eager to leave Labinia behind. Glancing back Arya saw that Eragon was having no problem at all keeping up with them, a few times she had even caught him with his eyes closed and his tongue hanging out much like a dog. Running her hands along the folder she wondered about how many spells this boy was under for his file to be this thick. Running over the spells she knew he had on him she wondered why Morzan had not wanted them to remove the spell containing his voice until they had left. Perhaps it was that Eragon knew secrets about the king he did not want discussed in front of his subjects.
It seemed that only a short time after they had left the palace; they were descending a steep mountain, which would lead them to the outskirts of Algasia. Arya slowed her pace and her mother came to walk beside her as they navigated the rocky outcroppings on the mountain, the forest floor still about two-hundred feet away.
"Well, that was certainly interesting, don't you think?" Islanzadi said, seeming to ponder the events in Labinia out loud. "Morzan certainly was antsy when you finally bonded with the boy. I wonder why that is? Oh well, what's done is done, let's just hope for the sake of Algasia that this boy can do the job required of him."
Arya nodded, letting her mother prattle on about the strange ways she thought Labinia people to follow, while she was counting the feet towards the bottom when she could take the spell off of Eragon so he could finally talk. Meanwhile Eragon trailed behind them, watching the two strange women get lost in their own thoughts. The younger one hadn't looked back at him for awhile, starting to trust he was following he guessed. Well, it's not like he actually had a choice he thought, the spells and potions after years and years of testing and research had made him into a creature like the rest of him. Pitiful bastards wallowing in their cells day after day dreaming about owners to please.
Snorting quietly, Eragon tested the five foot distance again, no closer to the women and no father back from them. How he hated magic, and why did they have to pick him anyways? Now he was irritated beyond belief at them, especially the younger one, Arya. The older one wasn't much of a problem; he wasn't bonded to her which was something to be thankful for. For all he knew about what they wanted him for he might be a sex slave. He studied them again taking into account every slight movement.
Then again Eragon thought being a sex slave would be better than a slave slave. But he doubted he was a sex slave. Once again he trailed behind them thoughtlessly only noticing an occasional shrub or piece of grass on their way to the bottom. Enjoying his uncommon silence, but all good things had to come to an end. A sharp pain all of a sudden shot up his ankle into his leg causing him to hiss in surprise and then an onslaught of curses accosting his mind from Arya. Shaking his head he looked at her and found she had sprained her ankle and then fallen to her leg cutting it up badly, but she had started to work a spell to heal herself. Eragon felt the pain starting to fade in his own leg but her mind had fully connected to his now. Every thought and feeling was now an open book for him to read, before her very startling injury he could only hear the occasional thing from her. Now though he could hear everything and he had to fight twice as hard as before to keep the smirk off his face. Poor girl, he thought, I bet she doesn't know that with our bonding that I can know, hear, and feel everything that goes on with her. He was very tempted to start chuckling to himself, but refrained when she cast him a glare.
The glare she had sent him was well earned in her opinion, for she had looked over at him to find him struggling to hide a smile. Asshole, she thought, finishing with her leg and ankle and continuing down the mountain. Soon after her little stumble they came upon the final hill that led towards the mossy floor below. Picking up her pace Arya finished the remaining distance, jogged a little ways into the trees and gracefully lowered herself onto a fallen log. Her mother started a fire in front of her, and Eragon stood off to her left seeming mesmerized by the trees.
Opening the folder she scanned for the spell that enabled him to speak, after about five pages of spells a potions she found what she was looking for. She muttered the spell to release him. Watching him she knew when it took effect, the expression on his face guarded but curious all at the same time. Now Arya thought communication might not be that hard. Turing to face him directly she slowly said, "Hello, my name is Arya."
Eragon cocked his head at her, listening to see if he had heard her right. Not her words but her thoughts, anyone who knew how to speak could understand what she had said because of how agonizingly slow she said it. No her thoughts are what he wanted to see if her had heard right. He waited a couple moments until he heard her sigh, and there was the thought again. Dang, he thought, he was hoping he had been wrong, but oh well time to blow her mind. Clearing his throat, Eragon replied, "No I am not stupid as you may think and please stop talking like that it's rather irritating." All Arya did was gap at him like a fish causing him to shake his head and flop down on the moss. "Are all Elves that condescending or just you?"