AUTHORS NOTE: Hey everyone! Well I'm glad all of you seem to like the story so far. I want to thank all the reviewers individually (I always like when fanfiction authors do that):
ExileRules- Yay! You were my first reviewer! Thanks soo much!
teenchic2004- I'm glad you like it…and I'll try to keep it 'different' :p. I like your review about me only writing what I want to write (I intend to do that). Thanks for the reviews!
DragonObsessed- I'll keep updating! Thanks for reviewing.
Spirit Mornea- There's more to come and you'll be SOO surprised by Julia's secret :p. Thanks!
Chan-chan-hyper- Just don't log on for a while and I swear within a couple weeks I'll have MANY chapters posted :-p. Thanks for the review.
Adi Sagestar- You're right that Julia is a typical 'Mary Sue' so far…and I'll do my best to make her more 'human' (she is a bit TOO perfect, isn't she?). Thanks soo much for reviewing!
To ALL my reviewers/readers: Adi Sagestar made a GREAT point about Julia being the daughter of Galbatorix…unfortunately that is NOT the case. (Although I WISH I would have thought of that). There's more to the 'attacks' that Julia has... (It's going to be good :p). It'll be something NONE of you are expecting. And, yes, Julia and Murtagh will end up falling in love…but an event will happen that will change it all (go read 'Eldest' and you'll have a slight idea :p). Happy reading!
The sun had set when Julia went to a nearby stream to clean herself up. She washed herself off best she could, but weeks of dirt and grime still clung to her dress as she walked back to camp.
She went to the fire and sat down on a log next to Murtagh. Eragon was kneeling down by to the unconscious elf.
Still watching Eragon, Julia whispered to Murtagh, "What did the Empire do to her?"
Murtagh's gaze also rested on Eragon, "They tortured her to get information. From what Eragon has told me, she had something to do with Saphira's egg."
"Yes, but who tortured her? I mean, she's an elf. Elves are extremely powerful…what kind of creature can overpower an elf?"
"A Shade," stated Murtagh 'matter-of-factly,' "I saw it when I rescued Eragon. I shot it…but a Shade can't be killed unless its heart is pierced. Unfortunately my arrow didn't hit its heart. I fear instead of hurting it…I just made it angry."
Julia was awestruck by both the fact that a Shade was parading through the Empire, and that Murtagh was brave enough to fight one.
"I want to thank you for saving Eragon and for helping me with those Urgals. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come."
Murtagh remained silent and kept his eyes on Eragon and Arya.
After a couple minutes of silence, Julia was getting a bit frustrated with being ignored so she asked, "Why did you risk your life for us? Are you part of the Varden?"
Murtagh chuckled and proceeded to polish his sword, "The Varden would never have me. I'm simply a man rebelling against the Empire."
Julia was tempted to question Murtagh further, but Eragon stood up, unsheathed his sword, and pointed it at Julia, "Now my dear sister, we shall see who is the better swordsman."
"Swordswoman!" corrected Julia as she stood up. "As much as I would like to humiliate you in from of Murtagh and Saphira, little brother; you seem to have forgotten that I'm sword-less."
"Not anymore," said Murtagh as he tossed his sword to Julia. She barely caught it and had trouble holding it up due to its weight.
"One more thing," said Eragon as he walked towards Julia. He ran his hands down both of the blades and whispered words Julia didn't understand. When she touched Murtagh's sword she noticed that the blade had been dulled by some invisible barrier.
Eragon took a step back and clutched his sword in his right hand, "Now we can spar."
Julia stood across from him and lifted the sword with both hands. Usually she fought one handed, but due to the weapons weight she had to hold it with two hands.
Eragon gave her a wicked grin and then jumped forward aiming at Julia's right shoulder. Julia quickly parried the blow, but was surprised at the strength of Eragon. She swung back, but Eragon blocked all of her attacks as if they were nothing. Julia realized she wasn't getting anywhere, so she tried a series of complex maneuvers, all of which Eragon blocked with ease.
Murtagh sat back and watched the pair spar. He couldn't help but smile at the clumsy way Julia was fighting with the heavy sword. To the untrained eye it would seem that she was just swinging the sword like a mad-woman, but Murtagh could see that she was attempting some complex attacks. Unfortunately, she could never follow through with her maneuvers because she couldn't move the sword fast enough.
Beads of sweat were gathering on Julia's forehead and her arms felt like lead. She only had one plan left. She knew Eragon would get mad at her for it…but, hey…as long as she beat him, she didn't care.
After she parried another one of Eragon's attacks she dropped her sword, threw herself on the ground, grabbed her ankle, and yelled, "Ow! My ankle…I think I broke it!"
Eragon immediately dropped his sword and bent down next to Julia. Murtagh also ran over to her.
"Julia…I'm so sorry, I should have never asked you to spar…I-"
Julia didn't let Eragon finish his sentence. In one fluid motion, Julia grabbed her sword and jumped on top of him, pointing the tip of her sword at his neck.
Julia smiled triumphantly, "I win."
Murtagh burst out laughing, and Saphira lifted her front lip in an odd combination of a snarl and a smile.
"You cheated!" said Eragon as Julia got off of him and brushed herself off.
Julia helped Eragon up, "No, no, little brother. Isn't that the first thing Brom taught you? Never trust a woman…especially in battle."
"She's got a point!" laughed Murtagh.
"Just wait! Next time we spar I won't stop…even if you are hurt!"
Julia raised one eyebrow at Eragon and handed the sword back to Murtagh.
Eragon sulked away and sat down next to Saphira, She cheated…and she knows it!
Little one, using mental power in a physical battle is not necessarily cheating. You could learn something from her.
Eragon let out a mocking laugh, Oh yes, when I'm fighting Galbatorix I'll clutch my ankle mid-battle and yell 'ow'…that will help me beat him!
That's not what I meant Eragon. Brom always wanted you to fight with your head, not only your body. That's exactly what Julia did. She found a mental weakness in her enemy and she used it to her advantage.
Eragon's pride didn't allow him to agree with Saphira, but deep down he knew she had a point.
Saphira nudged Eragon with her snout, Now stop sulking and start planning how we're going to make it to the Beor Mountains.
Eragon smiled and hugged Saphira's head. She let out a quiet hum.
After Eragon checked on Arya, he got up and walked over to the fire.
Julia had a large stick in her hand and was standing in front of Murtagh, who had his sword drawn.
"Alright, let's say an enemy swings his sword like this at your head," Murtagh did the attack in slow-motion at Julia, "What do you do?"
"I parry it, like this" Julia lifted her stick and slowly pushed his sword upward, away from her head.
"Yes, although that's effective, it's best to deflect and enemy's attack downwards; that will give you the range of motion to counter-attack upwards, toward his head or chest."
Julia parried the same attack again, only this time the way Murtagh had explained it.
"Very good! Now let's say an enemy is going for your legs-"
Eragon cleared his throat, "As much as I hate to break up this practice session, we have some planning to do if we're going to make it to the Varden."
Julia smiled at Eragon, "Murtagh is going to train me. Next time we spar you won't last two minutes."
Eragon rolled his eyes and laughed, "Just make sure you don't break your ankle…again."
The group gathered around the fire and discussed what they would need to make it to the Beor Mountains. Eragon could raise water out of the ground using magic, so they didn't need to worry about that. Saphira could hunt for them, but they would need more food.
Murtagh spoke up first, "The small town of Bullridge is just along the Ramr River several leagues from here. I don't think its safe enough for Eragon to enter it without being recognized, but Julia and I could get whatever supplies we need. All we would have to do then is cross the river, and we'll be in the Hadarac Desert…far away from any of the Empire's troop."
Eragon stood up, "So it's settled: I will ride Snowfire, Murtagh and Julia will ride Tornac, and Saphira will carry Arya. We get what supplies we need in Bullridge, and then it's off to the Varden."
Murtagh spoke up again, "First we must get some rest. Tomorrow we leave for Bullridge."
Eragon wasn't fond of wasting time resting, but he was tired from his journey, so he agreed to sleep.
"I'll take the first watch, Eragon can take the second and Saphira can take the third."
Julia stood quickly and looked at Murtagh, "What about me!? I can take a watch! Just because I'm a woman doesn't make me any less capable of watching for enemies!"
Murtagh laughed quietly at Julia's outburst, "I wasn't discriminating against you. I just thought you'd be tired from your travels and your incident with the Urgals. If you like you may have the first watch."
Julia smiled with satisfaction, took the blanket that Eragon handed her, and sat down by a tree a couple feet away from the camp.
Eragon got comfortable next to Saphira and slowly drifted off to sleep.
Murtagh laid down on his blanket by the fire and closed his eyes. He thought about Julia's childish outbursts and he couldn't help but smile. Murtagh wasn't sure what he thought of Julia. She had a very youthful, even childish, nature to her, but he found it refreshing. He fell asleep to the sound of Julia humming a sad, but beautiful melody.
AUTHORS NOTE: I didn't intend to stop Chapter 4 here (since not a whole lot happened –sorry-), but A LOT of stuff happens the next day and all that will be Chapter 5. I already started that, so expect that one to be posted within the next 1-2 days.