Chapter 6
Alena stared down at her hands in silence, deep in thought.
"Do not be afraid, Alena. If Galbatorix or Murtagh was to learn that another Rider is on our side, why, they would tremble in fear! All we must do is train," he said comfortingly.
"My Dragon grows quickly," she said quietly.
"Yes… yes… they grow at a much quicker rate than humans do," replied Eragon, cocking his head. "Will I ever learn to ride her?"
"Of course! The moment your Dragon can support your weight, we will start with flight. Before that, however, we need to work on swordsmanship and magic. You are tired? We will start magic today," he said, picking up a stone from the ground.
He placed the smooth stone in her palm, and smiled.
"Focus on this rock, and say the word, 'Reisa'."
Cheryl focused on the small pebble on her palm and stared at it, exploring it with her mind. It was nothing more than a black lump—no life, nothing.
"Reisa!" she gasped, feeling an immediate drain of energy as the pebble wobbled into the air.
"Excellent!" cried Eragon. "I spent much longer mastering that! Looks like you are fast at magic."
She was absolutely exhausted.
"How can I perform more complex spells when I get so exhausted by this simple spell?" she asked, gasping for air.
"Your strength will increase. Now, let us work on the art of guarding one's mind."
"How?" she asked, not having the energy to say more.
"Focus on one thing. For example, a steel wall. If you focus your mind entirely on a steel wall, that is all your opponent will see in your mind. You must learn to do this without any thinking, for you cannot fight well if you are thinking too deeply about guarding your mind. Do not let other senses confuse you. The opponent will be looking for tiny slips, mistakes in the mental barrier, which they will pry open and dive in for information. Now, let's try. You come into my mind, and try to break in," he said with a smile.
"O-okay."
She expanded her mind, narrowing her focus to only Eragon. As she entered the Rider's mind, she noticed that it too, was foreign. Not like Skyla's mind, but so knowledgeable. Focusing her thoughts on breaking through his mental barrier, she enveloped herself in his mind. She saw a single eye, looking at her from above. She cried out with surprise, immediately withdrawing her mind.
"ERAGON!" she screamed.
"Sorry, sorry," he said with a laugh. "I often use that trick to scare off magicians."
"Oh, that was absolutely terrifying!" she cried, clutching her chest.
"Now, now. I'm sorry. Let's do that again."
She looked uneasily, but reached out towards his mind. Again, he entered Eragon's mind. Instead of the horrid eye that had stared at her so terrifyingly before, there was a solid brick wall. She attacked it, crashing her whole, frail body upon the hard surface. Every mental dagger she could muster, she drove repeatedly into the wall. At last, she withdrew from his mind, gasping.
"It's useless," she said, stopping to catch her breath.
"Your turn!" he cried, suddenly diving into her mind.
Bewildered, she forced herself to think of only one thing. Inside her mind, Eragon was suddenly surrounded by laughing children. They circled around him, giggling and chirping happily; not caring for the world. Their laughter was like the peals of glass bells, the clear sound bouncing all around her mind. Eragon was absolutely bewildered—never had he attacked a mind that blocked him with children.
"I give up!" he cried, withdrawing from her mind. "I could probably fight past the thoughts of children… you surprise me again!"
"Thank you," she said, smiling.
"You are not so afraid, Alena," he said, a bit more solemnly.
"Nature isn't so bad after all," she said, shrugging. "In fact, I enjoy sitting outside on a sunny day."
"It's practically impossibly for one to change so quickly!"
"Skyla changed me," she whispered. "She… told me that… nature wouldn't harm me. She told me that there was nothing to be afraid of. She said, soon, I would more powerful than nature… maybe one of the most powerful in the world."
"Not maybe one of the most powerful. You will be one of the most powerful. After Galbatorix is gone…"
She laughed.
"Of course," she said. "Now, may I rest? That little bit of magic exausts me."
*****
Skyla grew quickly. In no time, she was already half the size of Alena. Alena, Eragon was surprised to find, excelled in magic. Her fighting skills, on the other hand, were quite shabby. However, she had grown much plumper during her months with the Varden, fed richly for the fear that she would perish. She gradually improved in the art of swordsmanship, along with magic.
"Waíse heill," said Alena, her hand over a small cut.
She watched as the cut repaired itself, and smiled with satisfaction.
"You're a very good magician," said Eragon, nodding proudly. "Not to mention that your energy reserves grow each day!"
"Yes," she said proudly. "It is hard to believe that I struggled to just lift a pebble!"
"Yes, yes. I remember," he said, laughing heartily. "Soon, you will become as powerful as I am."
"I have much to learn," she said, shaking her head. "But one day, perhaps, we can spar. Without you pinning me to the ground every 5 seconds."
"I began sparring at an young age," he scoffed. "Looks like you will be stronger at me in magic, however."
"Perhaps," she said slowly.
"Do not ponder too long on the subject. You must concentrate on your training," advised Eragon. "Come, and spar."
Alena groaned audibly, and stood up.
"Again?" she asked weakly. "I'm tired of losing!"
"You won't be sparring with me, I'm afraid. I got another man to train with you. I don't have the time to spar these days," he said, leading her out of the tent.
"Who?" she asked. "Won't he be really good?"
"You'll have to see," he said simply.
Eragon walked with her at a fairly brisk pace, talking nonstop.
"Where's Skyla? I haven't seen her the whole day, and I'm getting worried," she said, coming to an abrupt halt.
"Ah," said Eragon. "I almost forgot to talk to you about that," he said mysteriously. "Meet me at Saphira's landing sight at midnight. Make sure nobody follows or sees you."
Confused, she cocked her head thoughtfully before nodding cheerfully. She looked towards the sparring fields before running off, leaving Eragon to his own business.
"Are you Lady Alena?" asked a polite male voice with a pronounced accent.
"I am," she said, slightly surprised.
She turned around and saw a very handsome young man with chestnut hair and caramel eyes rimmed with gold. He had a sword belted at his waist with a black sheath. He dressed grandly—a purple tunic and silver breeches with black traveling boots.
"The name's Piar Rolinsworth," he said pleasantly. "Eragon Shadeslayer requested that I taught you swordsmanship. Not many women attempt such jobs. May I ask, why you wish to learn the art of swords?"
"I have no family; no father nor brother to defend me. I wish to protect myself, without the help of others. I am no archer, nor am I a magician," she answered clearly, her voice slightly trembling. "I tried to find a teacher that was willing to teach me, but there were none. I went to Eragon, confident he could find a willing teacher."
"I see. Well, let us start! Have you ever handled a sword before?" he asked, fingering his own.
"Never before."
"Well, we will have to find you a sword," he said. "Before that, however, we must master the technique first. I will not use swords, for obvious reasons, but just normal sticks," he said.
He walked over to a rack of sticks, carved for training soldiers. He picked one out and lifted it to his eye, measuring it.
"Too long," he muttered, picking up another one and doing the same.
At last, he chose two sticks and threw them to the ground for later use. He then chose a sword from another rack and tossed it onto the ground as well.
"Let's start with unsheathing your sword quickly. During a surprise attack, you must unsheathe without thought. Wrenching it out may cause in you dropping your weapon. You can use my sword and sheath for now," he said, belting it onto her side. "Now, this may look useless, but my friend caught off his foot because he dropped his sword when unsheathing it during a surprise attack."
She grasped the hilt of the sword and pulled out, flinging it halfway across the sparring field. Piar gasped and ducked as the blade spun to the ground.
"Well, we don't want that happening, do we?" he asked with a chuckle. "Let's be glad you didn't drop it. If you did, I would have had to tackle you so that you didn't chop your foot off."
She jogged to the sword and pulled it out, amused. She stuck it back in its sheath and pulled it out again. She did it so that the sword would not get wrenched out like last time and fly half way across the field.
"Great. We'll do the most simplest of attacks, the jab. Just take out your sword, and jab forward quickly. During a real battle, your aim is for their heart or stomach. It must be quick when you move it forward. If you get it embedded deep enough, it will be hard to pull out," he said, demonstrating.
She took the sword from his hands and imitated him.
"Good, good," he said, smiling. "Next, another simple move, slashing. Move your sword from top to bottom in a quick stroke. We use these two basic moves, the jab and slash, just with many more complicated twists. In a battle, you'll notice that the actual time the sword enters the body is through a jab and slash."
She nodded and brought the sword down in a quick, slashing motion.
"Good, good," he said again. "Those two moves are very simple, and do not require much effort. However, consistency is extremely important. You must be able to do one hundred jabs and one hundred slashes at once. We will start with just ten."
He handed a sword from the ground to her and did the exercise with her.
"Easy enough for you?" he asked, stopping.
"I can do at least 20 more," she said confidently.
"All right then, let's do them."
For almost an hour they stood and jabbed and slashed at the air. At the end of this, Alena was extremely sweaty and tired.
"We didn't add any maneuvers or anything, yet that was so difficult! How can I add anything else when I can only do the basic moves?" she cried, discouraged.
Piar shook his head.
"We will increase your strength and muscles gradually," he said. "Do not be discouraged. You never did physical work for extended periods of time, therefore it is only to be expected that you cannot hold for long. To make sure that you get stronger, we will start with some exercises. Today, you are too tired for more."
Alena nodded gratefully and stood up.
"Thank you, Piar," she said.
He bowed with a flourish. "At your service, Lady Alena."
*****
Alena stumbled back to her tent, absolutely exhausted. She dropped onto her bed and closed her eyes, hoping to get some rest before dinner. Sleep came easily after an hour of repetitive use of her sore muscles.
"Alena… Alena…" said a musical voice.
"Arya?" she mumbled sleepily.
"Eragon."
She suddenly bolted up. She had forgotten about her promise!
"I'm so sorry! I totally forgot… I was just so exhausted, I…" she stammered, scrambling up.
"Hush. No matter. I'm a little bit early for the promise. Come with me," he whispered, helping her out of the bed.
"Where are we going?" she whispered in the dark.
"Somewhere extremely important."
Very boring.
Next chapter, there will be much more about the Dragon:)