"A new rider you say?"
"Yes my lord."
"Interesting, it confounds me how an egg could have gone unnoticed for so long..."
"They say the boy found it in a cave, in the desert"
"How old is this new dragon, and tell me of its rider."
"The dragon is said to be of the age of four, and his rider is young. He was said to have lost his control over magic however, suffering from injury, but..."
"But what."
"They say..."
"Spit it out you fool, before I have your words torn from your mind."
"They say that, he has gained some sort of control over the elements."
"What has made them think this?"
"Apparently, in the skirmish by the river, he slowed time and slew at least a dozen men before collapsing. Then, he slaughtered an entire battalion as they crossed the river farther downstream by drowning them and setting them on fire!"
"Where was his dragon?"
"Nasuada has been keeping them apart; she doesn't want to risk you learning of the new rider's existence."
"Well, her attempts have failed. Tell me, what is the name of this young rider?"
"My lord, they he is called Exire, Avenger of the Sands, and his dragon is known as Darad."
"Ah, you have done well my spy. Send me word when you learn more of this Exire, and his strange new, gift."
"Yes my lord."
"Go."
"Long Live Galbatorix!"
Forward slash, left hand, back hand, twirl. Again and again, Exire repeated the series until Fredric said, with a grunt,
"You can stop now. It's obvious that you aren't the best at swords, but I wonder how you handle a spear."
"Don't have one anymore." Exire said with a grimace, sheathing his sword and turning to pick up his water skin from where he had set it, tipping back his head to catch the precious liquid in his mouth.
Fredric shrugged.
"You can use one of the ones from the weapons stash. Wait here, I'll go get one. What length do you prefer?"
"Six feet if you have one, double pointed." Exire called out as Fredric walked off, his boots thudding in the dust. When Fredric signaled that he had heard him, Exire turned back to his practice, unbuckling the sword from his belt and setting it aside. Then he swung off his cloak, standing in his black hauberk and cowl, which he lowered. After stepping into the middle of the arena, Exire turned to Darad, who was resting to one side and watching his rider.
"Ready to practice?" He asked teasingly. "Or all you all tired out from napping." Darad growled playfully before lashing out at Exire with his tail. Exire had been waiting for this, and he easily jumped over the passing tail, ducking swiftly as it was followed by clawing talons. Then he rolled to one side, avoiding Darad's snapping jaws, and grabbed a spike protruding from the side of Darad's neck. Pushing off hard, Exire swung himself over Darad's neck, landing with a slight wince between the dragon's spines.
Snarling and bucking, Darad swung his neck about, dislodging Exire and causing him to tumble to the ground where he then attempted to pin him down with his talons. But Exire was ready for this. Not bothering to look first, he leapt to his feet, slipping one leg free of the ivory talons that had grasped it, and then-
"Exire!" He slipped as he placed one foot on the silver scales and fell to the dusty earth. Growling triumphantly, Darad placed a claw to his chest.
Dinner He said with a fanged grin. Exire glared at him as he got to his feet, dusting off his clothes and turning to see Fredric approaching, a spear in his hand.
"Sorry to interrupt your bonding," He said with a grin. Then he tossed the spear to Exire, who deftly caught it. "But try this and tell me what you think. It's not the standard spear, it's about six feet. Not double headed but it has a metal weight at one end so it's decently balanced." he then watched admirably as Exire danced about with the spear, testing its balance, speed, and accuracy. Finally, he came to stop before Fredric, a gleam in his eyes.
"I like it." He said, grinning.
"God, then that means we can practice." Exire, Darad, and Fredric all turned to see Eragon and Saphira approaching. Eragon had Brisingir, the legendary blue sword in his hands.
"Ever fought spear men before?" Asked Exire, turning to meet Eragon, twirling the spear about with ease, not even looking at the weapon. "And I don't mean the ones who carry a spear; I mean the ones who actually know what a spear is and how to use it." Eragon took up a ready stance and said in reply,
"Well, there's always a first." he shrugged Exire nodded.
"Right. Just like in this case, you'll be the first-" he struck, catching Eragon off guard, but only for a moment.
Exire had stabbed forward with the barbed spear head, testing Eragon's reflexes were which lightning quick, thanks to the elves and the dragons. Eragon then knocked aside the spear haft and struck at Exire's legs, but Exire jumped up, using the same move he had when fighting with Darad. Then he leaned back, avoiding the hungry blue blade, and, changing his grip on the hard wood haft, dived forward, rolling and coming up directly in front of Eragon. Then he thrust forward with the spear haft, hitting Eragon in the chest and driving him backward.
Fredric raised an eyebrow as he watched the fight. It seemed as if Exire's tactic was to get in to close for Eragon to us his sword, but he also somehow managed to still use the spear as a staff. There was a resounding snap as Eragon's sword slashed through the spear dead center.
"Hey, watch the rentals!" Fredric said, but then he realized that was what Exire had been aiming for. Now, the youth was fighting using both halves of the spear as short staffs, blocking, parrying, stabbing, and hitting. Then Eragon went on the offensive, begin an intricate pattern of blinding movement, his sword a blur. Exire was hard pressed to keep the rider at bay, having not only to block with the spear halves, but also having to move. Then, in the center of the arena, Exire caught Brisingir in the center of an X formation with his spear halves. Eragon then began to cut through the shafts of wood, but stopped when there was a sudden burst from Exire.
It started as a hissing, and then burst into a raging spitting blaze of white fire. It burned along Exire's left arm, but he didn't seem to notice. The flames only appeared for a moment, before it vanished, leaving a glow on Exire's arms and a blast of wind. Eragon was pushed backwards, then was knocked to the ground by Exire, who set one foot on Eragon's chest. But before Exire could say anything, Eragon pushed him off with a surge of strength, preparing to strike again and trying to ignore the increasing wind that for some reason, seemed to be centered on him.
Exire! Stop! Bellowed Darad. Exire blinked, dropping the shafts and staggering a step back. Staring about him, he saw Eragon coughing as he brushed dust off himself. Fredric was cursing as he tried to get the dirt out of his beard and mustache. The dragons were shaking themselves.
"Did I do it again." Murmured Exire, looking at Eragon. Eragon looked up at him, sheathing his sword.
"Yeah, you did." he said softly "Exire, I think your magic s like and instinct..."
"It's a pretty annoying one." Muttered Exire, looking down at the wooden shards at his feet.
"It seems to come to rise, whenever you are put under stress or in danger." Arya announced herself as she walked towards the two riders.
"Have people just stopped saying hello, or I'm here?" Said Exire with exasperation. "And I wasn't in danger there, so why would the magic have attacked Eragon?"
"As I said, danger or stress." Arya replied with a raised eyebrow as she stopped. "You were obviously having difficulty."
"But I wasn't stressed!" Exire protested, holding up his hands. "I swear, sometimes a fight just gets intense, maybe intensity calls it up to?"
"It's possible." Admitted the elf. Then she turned to Eragon. "Nasuada wishes to speak with you while Saphira tests Darad." Eragon nodded.
"Very well." He nodded, turning to Saphira to share some private words while Arya turned back to Exire.
"And you, Nasuada wishes to see how Darad's skills are against another dragon."
"Yes, I heard." Exire nodded, walking over to stand by Fredric as Saphira entered the arena, looking Darad up and down, who was now standing with his wings folded and pressed to his side.
"There's a traitor amongst us." Nasuada murmured. Eragon blinked in surprise.
"I thought that we had slain the last of the Black Hand!" he said, but Nasuada shook her head.
""Yes, we did, but somehow, Galbatorix knows about Darad and Exire." She held up a hand to keep Eragon quiet as she continued. "I know he would eventually discover their existence, but I had hoped it would take him a bit longer to do so. It's only been a few days since they arrived, and there's know way he could have found out about them, unless someone told him."
"But who?"
"That's what worries me." Nasuada sighed, rubbing her forehead. "If it was a common soldier, they would have been discovered or killed by the spells Trinnian and the rest have set, and we haven't seen anyone leaving the camps, the sentries would have told us. No, I think it's someone among the more respectable class."
"You mean among our sponsors?" Eragon said in alarm. Nasuada nodded.