Chapter 5

Sorry for not updating for a while. I went on holiday for a while. I could have taken my laptop but I decided to just spend time entertaining myself with things other than my favourite hobby. Anyway, I'm back now so I will be continuing to update every day.

Whenever I receive a review I will reply in a private message or I will address the review before the chapter.

Zion- Thanks. I realised a problem with my characters after the first chapter but I couldn't be bothered to write another chapter 1 just because of a few characters being out of place.

Akracces- I will relieve you of my cruelty in this chapter. And thank you for the advice. I appreciate it.

Anyway…

(Arya)

Everything will be fine Arya, Fírnen consoled her, albeit his thoughts were flooded with grief too.

She looked back at Eragon leaving on the ship they were using to sail down the Edda River. Tears welled up in her eyes.

'Fírnen-'but she couldn't bring herself to continue.

Arya… we will see them again. This isn't the end. From what I know, Saphira will eventually force him to return. Fírnens assumption made sense to her.

Too distressed to speak, she used her thoughts to communicate with her dragon.

Fírnen… how long will that be? In fact, I don't understand what I feel for him. His leaving has left a large hole inside me, just like all the times we had been separated during the war. Fírnen, I don't know what he does to me but I feel… I feel… exuberant around him. He filled a hole that disappeared with…

With what?

Arya knew the answer but she wouldn't admit it to herself, let alone Fírnen. She sighed before continuing.

He filled a hole in me that disappeared with my father and then with… Faolin.

So what does that mean? Arya suddenly understood what Fírnen was trying to do.

No! I don't love him! You are trying to make me admit something that can't be admitted. Fírnen, what would you understand about what goes on between me and him?

Everything. For the year we spent in Du Weldenvarden, you continuously brooded over him. For a whole year, he was more or less the only thing on your mind. He was the first person outside Du Weldenvarden to find out about me. You chose him to be the first to know. For you to say you don't love him is like me saying I'm black.

Fírnen, just- just- be quiet.

Little did she know the true extent of what she would do for him…

Arya awoke with a start. Eragon lay next to her, in his forced sleep. She would need to use his true name to wake him up. But that time hadn't come yet. He looked peaceful. It seemed as though he hadn't slept so well for a while. Arya decided to loosen the restriction she had put on his sleep. She said his true name and then told him to sleep as much as he needed so he wouldn't be too tired after he woke up. She then moved closer to him, laid her head down on his chest with her right arm going around his waist and falling asleep again.

(Rya)

Rya left Carvahall at dawn. She said farewell to a few people before heading out of town, towards Therinsford. She decided to buy a horse there and then continue onwards to Yazuac, then leave for Daret after buying supplies. She intended on arriving there before the sun set. She had a long way to go and was being somewhat ambitious with the time limit she had set herself. As long as she could buy a decent horse then she would be in Yazuac a little after noon.

She arrived at Therinsford later that morning. She looked around and saw that this village had also been attacked by the dragons. She could barely see through the fog that had covered the village. She looked around before seeing a horse and running after it. The horse saw her and was about to run, but it was too slow. Rya had jumped onto it. It wasn't tied and had no saddle. She assumed it was a stray and decided to take it. The horse was fast, but the ride was ridiculously uncomfortable. Without a saddle, the journey left her sore from the leagues they crossed from between Therinsford and Yazuac. She arrived at Yazuac a little later than she hoped.

'Hey! You are beautiful milady!' a man in front of her horse exclaimed. He seemed drunk. Rya ignored him. She felt a hand on her foot begin to tug at her. She had been caught unaware and so fell before she could react. A few hatchets fell from her belt and she quickly began to pick them up until an arm grabbed her and pulled her up. She was light so it had been easy for the drunk man to lift her.

'Come with me. I want you to do something for me,' he said groggily.

'And what might that be good sir?' she asked politely.

'Come to my home.'

Rya immediately pulled her arm out of the man's grip before using her left foot to kick up the last throwing hatchet into her hands.

The man reached for her again.

'I said I want you to come to my house,' the man repeated angrily.

Rya didn't want to attract unwanted attention. She turned back to her horse. She felt a strong hand pull her from her right shoulder. She had limited choices now and she needed to think quickly. Running would cause people to think of her as a thief. Calling out for help would get help but then that man would seek her attention. She needed to fight her way out of it. She grabbed the hand and began to squeeze it as hard as she could. Rya heard the man scream in pain. Using her left elbow, she hit him in the stomach. She released his hand and turned around to face him. He was bending over in pain. She was aware of the people watching her but couldn't care less. Her modesty was being violated by a lust-filled drunk animal. She used this moment to knee him in the face, causing him to stumble backwards in pain before falling on his back. The man clutched his bleeding face. She quickly glanced around and saw a crowd of people watching her.

She had to clear her name quickly before the empire guards clocked onto her. She would be able to take them but it wouldn't help her when she faced the king to ask him for help for her town.

'I was only trying to save myself from this lust driven man. I mean no harm to anybody else. Now, would someone kindly show me where I can buy saddles and saddlebags?'

A small child pointed towards a narrow alley.

'That way my lady.' Everyone seemed scared but this child didn't.

'Thank you,' she said before tossing him a coin.

She went quickly to the shop and bought a saddle with a bag, some large water skins to attach to the saddle bags and a lead.

Rya left Yazuac as soon as she could. She saw soldiers around the scene where the man had tried to seduce her and hastened even more.

When she was about to leave the village, she saw a shop with interesting artifacts inside. She jumped down from her saddle and made her way towards the shop. Nothing necessarily caught her attention except for a gold stick with strange markings on it. It was about seven feet long, one and a half feet taller than her.

'How much does this cost?' she asked the man behind the counter.

'I don't exactly know its worth but I guess it's around two hundred crowns, considering it is made of gold. It tried to melt it down to sell as gold bars but it doesn't melt. Whether it's magic or not, I don't know.'

Rya began taking coins out of her small bag.

'Forgive me my lady but, judging by the size of the bag, I doubt you have that many coins with you.'

'Oh don't worry, I have more than enough,' she said before smiling in amusement at the judgement of the shopkeeper.

'There, two hundred crowns,' she said, holding her hand out.

The bag still had around fifty to seventy coins inside.

'Ok. Thank you for your business.'

She dipped her head in an appreciative nod and left the shop.

I can use this as a staff, she thought to herself.

She then left for Daret. On the way, she decided to name the horse Zenith, in remembrance of her uncle.

They arrived at Daret an hour after the sun set. She found a tavern and spent the night in a rented room.

Rya left for Gil'ead early next morning. She would take the travelling easier from now. There was nothing between Gil'ead and Daret except for plains.

For the next day, she travelled. She only stopped to water Zenith and to sleep.

Rya woke up on the third morning of her journey and took some bread out from the saddlebags.

'Another day of travelling,' she said to herself.

Zenith stood up and waited patiently for Rya to climb on. She packed away the blankets she slept on and jumped onto Zenith. The horse reared before setting off at a steady run. Zenith was a fast horse and due to him, she hoped to get to Gil'ead the next day. Rya felt lonely. There was nobody to talk to, apart from Zenith who wasn't exactly the best company a person could get.

An hour later, they stopped to drink in a small stream. Zenith was beginning to tire but they continued.

After about half an hour, a large Shadow passed over them. Rya looked up and to her horror, saw a dragon with a Rider on top of it. The dragon was a blood red and was larger than the ones that had attacked Carvahall.

She immediately took out her crossbow. A normal bow wouldn't reach it. She needed range. She put five bolts inside the chamber before pulling the nut back. The chamber inserted a bolt into the gap between the nut and the stirrup. She aimed and pulled on the trigger. The bolt hit its mark and the dragon started bleeding. Rya saw the Rider stand up in his saddle and check the damage. He pulled it out with magic and healed the wound. The dragon turned around and started to descend. The Rider jumped off and looked around for Rya. She pulled the nut back before aiming the crossbow at the Riders head. She walked towards him while he turned his head to her direction.

'Who are you?' the Rider asked. He had a deep voice but she couldn't see his face because of the cloak he wore.

'Who are you?' Rya retorted. This was the first time she was speaking to a Rider.

'I will not answer any questions from you until you answer mine,' The Rider said simply.

'Fine,' Rya said before releasing the bolt. The Riders eyes widened in surprise. He quickly rolled to the side and drew his sword. It was the same colour as his dragon: red.

'I don't want to do this. Just tell me who you are and I will tell you the same. You are but a girl,' the Rider pleaded.

'I'll force it out of you then,' Rya said through clenched teeth.

She fired another bolt, then put the crossbow away and drew her swords. The Rider had been distracted by the bolt and had needed to roll to the side again. She engaged him in a duel. She tried to hit him with a strike to the side but he blocked the blow. A shower of sparks erupted from the contact of the swords. She used her left sword to strike his other side. He parried the attack and was about to land a blow of his own but needed to parry a vertical swing towards his bulky chest. She used her left sword and aimed a strike towards his head. He parried it again. In this manner, she continued to bombard the Rider with attacks. Sparks flew out every time their swords contacted with one another. The Rider was having trouble. Her dual wielding was giving her a heavy advantage.

Ten minutes into the fight, Rya cut his thigh. He recoiled and she took this opportunity to cut through his hauberk. Her sword sliced through the links and cut his hip. The Rider stumbled backwards, but didn't make the mistake of letting his guard down. Her two swords were rendering him incapable of even attempting to land a blow on her. After a few more parried strikes at him, Rya had an idea. She attached the two swords together to create a double bladed sword. She span it in her hands in circles and then attempted a blow on the Rider. He parried it but that caused his downfall. The parry allowed Rya to use the momentum to spin the sword and use the other side of the blade. She hit the red sword again and moved it out of the way, leaving his chest unguarded. She span to her left in a complete circle and drove one of the blades into the right side of his chest. The Rider groaned involuntarily and stumbled backwards.

To her left, the red dragon roared. She saw it start to run towards her. Rya did the first thing that came to her mind. She sheathed one sword, picked the man up from the ground and threw his red sword to the ground. She lifted her other sword up to his neck and decided to use him as a bait. She turned back towards the dragon, who had, by now, stopped in its tracks after seeing its Rider being used as a hostage.

He groaned in pain. Rya felt pity well up for him inside her but had to do this first.

'Tell it to back down,' she whispered into his ear.

The Rider remained silent.

'Do it!' she forced.

The dragon moved backwards and sat down.

Rya released the Rider and lay him down on his back. She then pulled his tunic off and began to heal the wounds she had inflicted on him. Rya sagged against the Rider as her strength left her.

'Now will you tell me? Or will I really have to force it out of you?' she threatened.

'Ok… I'll tell you.' He sat up.

'My name is Murtagh. I'm a Rider, half-brother of Eragon Bromsson, Shadeslayer, and Kingkiller. I-'

'Eragon?' Rya interrupted. 'He exists?'

'Obviously! How else do you think Galbatorix died? What do you think, he fell off a cliff or something?

'No, I'm sorry. It's just that… he is the only family I am aware of that I have left. I have no cousins, uncles, aunties, parents, nothing. I don't even have a mate of any sort. My only uncle died in an attack on our town.'

'You're… a descendant of Roran Stronghammer?'

'Yes. Why? Did you know him?'

'Not too well. However, he is my cousin. How are you so good with a sword? Eragon has trouble subduing me. How did you do it so flawlessly? I didn't even get a chance to attempt a blow.'

'Well… I had two swords. I was also driven by anger,' she replied.

'Anger?' he asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Rya sighed before explaining, 'Riders attacked our town. I set out for Ilirea to report it to the king.'

'Which town?' Murtagh asked.

'Carvahall,' Rya told him.

'How many Riders came?' Murtagh inquired.

'Twenty two. I killed two before they retreated,' Rya explained.

Understanding seemed to dawn on Murtagh.

'Oh. Well that makes sense then. The townspeople at Carvahall said twenty two while the people at Ceunon said twenty. I didn't know how because of how bad the skill of the empire army is. Now I see that it was you who killed them.'

Murtagh stayed silent for a time before asking, would you like to come with me to Ilirea? I will arrive there tomorrow. It will be much faster than horseback. Don't worry about your horse. He can live in these plains. There are a few herds of horses around and there is plenty of for him.'

Rya thought for a bit. She would get to Ilirea faster if she went with Murtagh. She would also be able to eventually meet Eragon, wherever he was…

'Ok. I'll accompany you to Ilirea,' she decided.

'Good. We'll leave for Gil'ead now and leave the city for Ilirea tomorrow morning.'

(Eragon)

Eragon woke up and felt amazing. He had just had the best sleep in his entire life. He had used the best mattress in Alagaesia to sleep on.

Wait… whose mattress?

Alarm coursed through him as he remembered the events of last night. He felt movement on his waist. He looked down and froze as he saw Arya with her head on his chest and her arm around his waist. Arya had put him to sleep with his true name. He tried to relax but with the beautiful elf on him made it seem like a joke. He tried to breathe to calm himself but nothing was working. He looked down at the elf and saw that her right leg was draped over the lower part of his torso, and her other leg was covering the fork of his legs.

He also abruptly realised that her chest was pressed against the left side of his own. His face became filled with heat and he unexpectedly felt his length begin to prod her through their attire.

He froze in apprehension of what may happen when Arya woke up. He shivered in distress as Arya began to laugh without any form or sort of warning.

His felt leggings were now shaped like a tent. Eragon felt immobilised as Arya began to reach out towards it. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He tried to stop her with his hands but he couldn't move.

Arya giggled and he forced his body to suppress a moan as Arya's hand stroked his member through the clothes. He couldn't and instead, he sounded like a donkey. This caused Arya to laugh harder than he had ever seen her do so.

He strained his body to allow him to speak.

'Arya… please don't…' each word was taking a ludicrous amount of effort. His length was beginning to hurt because of the leggings. It threatened to tear through his clothes.

'Arya… please. Please don't.'

Arya didn't seem to hear him but she let go after a moment.

She sighed before simply saying, 'Wiol ono.'

Got somewhat carried away at the end and I just managed to realise that this chapter has been pretty long.

Anyway, as per usual, I will appreciate it a lot if you leave a review.