Chapter Twenty One: Training
Eragon couldn't slepp, his mind filled with the new information that he had gained that day but what really worried him was the way Aria acted around him. While they had made peace, after Aria kicked his ass, - with her, she distanced herself from him even more. The others didn't notice it but he did, before she talked with him, gave him advice, laughed with him but now she all she talked about their duties, warfare, diplomacy, politics and magic but never since he had kissed her,- had they once talked about personal matters. After staying in his bed for a while he stood up and got out of his room and headed for Aria's room decided to resolve this matter right then and there. Upon entering in Aria's room he saw her writing on a piece of parchment and she rose her head from where she was writing as soon as she heard his footsteps.
"Aria we need to talk right now" said Eragon softly but his tone didn't leave room for argument.
"Of course, please sit" said Aria gesturing to one of the chairs in the room "whats the matter?"
"You, the way you act around me more exactly" said Eragon sitting in a chair right across where she was sitting.
"What disturbs you about it?" asked Aria in a neutral tone.
"There's it, right now, you have distanced yourself from me" said Eragon.
"It is only logical, you must focus on your training and so must I" replied Aria.
"Why?" asked Eragon "why are you so afraid to get close to people?"
"I'm not afraid it's simply that…" said Aria before Eragon cut her off.
"You are, initially I thought it was just the torture making you less inclined to getting closer to people but I know it isn't that or else you would have started to get closer to people especially Brom who you have known for quite some time now" said Harry cutting her off.
"You wouldn't understand" said Aria her shoulders slumping down, her posture gone.
"Try me" said Eragon.
"I lost my mate, his name was Faolin, and he had been my mate for twenty years, you have no idea what it feels like" said the elf on the brink of tears.
"And now it feels like everyone you get close to is going to leave you?" asked Eragon.
"We are at war now, anyone of us can die at any time" replied Aria.
"True but that is no excuse for not having friends, if we went by that line of thinking I shouldn't have bothered to make any human or dwarven friends seeing as they will die before me anyways or they will die in the war I caused" said Harry.
"You don't want me to be your friend" replied Aria.
"I'll have to make do with that" said Eragon chuckling bitterly.
"Are you sure you'll be content with just being my friend?" asked Aria.
"I will be your friend if that is what you desire" said Eragon in the Ancient Language.
"It is" replied Aria "if you can excuse me, I still have a lot of paperwork to finish"
"Of course" said Eragon, knowing she needed time to think about this new development.
Once Eragon was in the hallway, trekking down toward his room, he couldn't help but feel angry at himself, for not realizing sooner that pressuring Aria would only lead to this, him being stuck in the friend zone. In his anger he punched the wall of the tree house… very hard, seeing his now bleeding knuckles he muttered the word for "Heal" and as he saw his knuckles heal, he heard the sound of footsteps and locked up to find Harry staring at him.
"What?" asked Eragon.
"You should clean the wood, I doubt the elves will appreciate you staining their precious trees with blood, even if it is your own" said Harry calmly.
"I though you would give me some wise advice that would resolve all my problems" said Eragon chuckling bitterly.
"In this situation, I can't give advice, I'm not that good with this whole sentimental stuff so I am as qualified as you are to give advice on this" replied Harry with a shrug.
"Wow, something the great Harry doesn't know" said Eragon laughing.
"Yes and you might want to go out and speak to Saphira, unless you want her to caw her way in here, again"said Harry.
"Yes, mom" said Eragon smiling as he wnet downstairs to meet Saphira.
"Good luck boy you'll need it" said Harry as he disappeared while saying "and finally nap time"
Harry found himself staring at the entrance of Rhunon's workplace for lack of a better word to describe it,- as the rest of the party had gone to some rock to meet Oromis, whom he wasn't supposed to know even existed,- and start their training in being Dragon Riders. He entered the workplace and saw hundreds of different tools, all of them made to do different task and created through millennia's of forging objects out of metal and magic. Standing upon a pile of burning coal,with a pincher which hed a small ring, which Harry reckonized to be a part of a chain mails rings,- stood an elf whose face showed immense age through delicate wrinkles, such expression of age wasn't something he expected from elves unless she was well beyond he three thousand years and had already been nearing her old age when the blood oath had been created. Upon seeing him the Old elf turned around with inhuman speed,- and stuck the ring in its place in the armor and with a hit of a hammer upon the anvil where the chain mail was placed,- she melded the ring with the rest of them.
"So you are Rhunon, you certainly live up to Aria's praises" said Harry smiling.
"You don't respect the elfic etiquette" said the old elf after eyeing him for a few moments "I like you"
"Good because I want you to teach me how to make Riders swords" said Harry.
"Why should I do that?" asked the elf.
"Because you have sworn an oath to never make any swords again and there are three new Riders in Elesmera right now, though of the three only one has a fully grown Dragon, Aria's has just hatched yesterday while Murtagh's is going to hatch any time today" explained Harry.
"How do you know when the eggs are going to hatch, Dragons are and like to be unpredictable even when they are but eggs" said the elf.
"The magic of the world, it sings at the birth of a new member of such a noble if a bit arrogant, race as the Dragons, it ripples in anticipation" explained Harry causing Rhunon's eys to go wide.
"Such a connection to magic is impossible uless you are a Dragon yourself" said the elf in eveident shock at the revelation.
"You can ask Gilderien, he can vouch for me" said Harry.
"Ahh my great-great nephew, he was always a good judge of characters" mused out ud Rhunon before turning toward the heap of buring coal "come here, you have a lot to learn about being a blacksmith"
"I already know a lot, maybe a bit more than you but still I just need to know how to make this particular brand of weapons" said Harry.
"Is that right, show me" said the elf gesturing to Harry for him to forge a weapon for her.
For three hours straight Harry proceeded to forge a sword by mixing different metals to create a new alloy that even Rhunon didn't know. When he was fininshed he presented Rhunon a sword a hand and a half, analmost perfect replica of Za'rock, except that the blade was made out of silvery metal alloy instead of crimson Brightsteel and the handle didn't have the red ruby in its pommel. Afterwards Rhunon toke the blade aside and analized it for more that two hours before declaring it as a sword that was even beyond what she herself could make, much to the chargrin of Harry. Rhunon than kept Harry there and began discussing alloys and ways to make swords and in the process she explained how to forge Riders swords.
Harry then excused himself and flew toward where he could sense Murtagh, Eragon, Saphira, the yet to be named green Dragon hatchling and Aria standing besides a unknown elfish presence whom Harry guessed was Oromis and an immensely old and powerful albeit crippled Dragon, whom if he rembered correctly was called Glaedr. After a few minutes of travel he landed in front of Oromis Hut and was stopped by the massive golden Dragon from going there and was instead forced to have a staring match with the golden Dragon. After ten mnutes of staring each other Glaedr broke eye contact and started laughing outloud which drew Oromis and his new students outside.
"A human that can fly, that is a first" said Glaedr.
"A Dragon that can make a joke, oh my, the apocalypse is coming" replied Harry eliciting laughs from everybody in the clearing.
"Ah the mysterious Harry Shade slayer Potter" said Oromis "welcome"
"Not mysterious but since the queen didn't invite me I paid a visit to Rhunon and learned how to make Riders swords" replied Harry casually casuing Oromis to rise his eyebrows in disbelief.
"You want us to believe that you learned how to make Riders sword within a day?" asked Oromis.
"What can I say I'm a fast learner" answered Harry with a shrug "now we need to find some Brightsteel and have you all forge new swords except for you Murtagh, your dads sword is a good fit, since your Dragon is also red"
"I don't want something from that man" said Murtagh angrily.
"I get it, you have daddy issues but grow up, Za'rock is but a sword, a tool, its you who decide to do with it and if you have some spare Brightsteel, give it to me and I'll make you a new sword" replied Harry silencing Murtagh.
"Wise for one so young" said Oromis.
"Okay pleasentries aside, I'm here to propose something to Glaedr and you" said Harry.
"And what might that be?" asked Oromis.
"I'll fix the mental damage that the Renegades caused you and replace Glaedr's missing limb with Hesthius prosthesis' said Harry.
"You can do that?" asked Glaedr.
"What's the catch?" asked Oromis.
"The thre of them are going to sparr with me and me only, I have free reign in their swordsmanship training and you speed up their training because we have five moths at most before Galbatorix strikes" relied Harry "I bet he is already amasing his armies for a strike against Surda"
"What about when you leave to help the Vardens?" asked Aria.
"I'll leave a being that has taugh me, he is trustworthy and an even greater swordsman than myself" reassured Harry.
"If that is so, we accept…" said Oromis before stopping mid-sentence.
"But we'll always be in your debt"finished Glaedr mentally.
"Good, it'll take three days for the prosthesis to be finished while your therapy will take bit longer about a week or so, the brain is very fragile" explained Harry before turning around and adding "when you start the mediatation you might want to focus on the inside, instead of outside, much like when you tap into your magic but stop short of accessing it and stay like that, I expect that with this method it'll take a week or two before achieving what Oromis wants"
With those word Harry disappeared, with no warning signs whatsoever,like he never was there to begin with and reappeared in his room in Elesmera deciding to rest seeing as tomorrow he would leave to the Vardens as soon as he finished the kids morning tort… err training session and with that though Harry slipped into his "sleep" mode.
Harry was officially tired of transporting personal belongings and animals, one would figure that with the Varden would have very little in the way of personal belongings and even less in domestic animals. He could have sworn that in the three days that he had been teleporting those to Surda he had seen pretty much every object and domestic animal in Alagaesia. With a tired sigh Harry slumped down in the still warm,- rock blocks that made up the castle of King Orrin, the last batch of personal belongings he had transported belonged to the council, Ajihad and Nasuada, whom as leaders got their belonging transported for last,- something to do with the fact that they as leaders must place the needs and comfort before their own comfort and needs, though Harry suspected Ajihad had done that to piss the council off and by the way they reacted, in private off course though the whole Varden community learned about it,- Ajihad succeded.
As soon as the magician sneaking around the corner left , Harry dropped the illusion that he had cast in the hallway, revealing Harry standing in the middle of the hallway, not tired in the least. He moved quicly through the hallways of King Orrin's castle following the magical signature of the permanently enchanted,- communication ring that he had given to Ajihad, Nasuada and Orrin. It took him a few minutes to get through the castle to the courtyard where Ajihad and Orrin were currently in. When he got there he found the two leaders deep in conversation over maps of Alagaesia, with yellow, blue, green and grey flags representing the Surdan, Varden, elves and dwarf armies respectively. Over various cities of the Empire multiple red flags stood, obviously representing the Empires armies.
As soon as they saw him the two leaders interrupted their talking and got up. Ajihad grasped Harry's forearm as their version of a handshake while King Orrin made a slight bowing of his head, the same gesture used to reckonize the presence of someone of great standing and a polite way to welcome such an influential and helpful person, albeit one that he barely knew himself,- such as Harry. Repeating the gesture of King Orrin, Harry wouldn't bow to anyone not in the least petty human kings, - and sat in a chair that was brought by some servants once the saw him enter the courtyard.
"I'm finished, everything is here" said Harry.
"Incredible, this new ways of transport could revolutionize the way wars are fought" said King Orrin smoking from a clay pipe.
"Still wards mess up with my way of transport and the only reason I even got in here was because your wizards, lowered the wards in the area of your palace for me to come here" said Harry lying to them about the way portkeys and "Slipping" worked "in addition to the fact I must see the place first and only I can use this type of magic, as I have already told you"
"Yes, yes such a shame" replied Orrin "so what do you think Galbatorix is going to do?"
"You already have a council full of generals and commanders, why ask me?" asked Harry.
"Because I have seen your eyes and I have seen the glint in them" replied Orrin "and they have the glint of somebody used to planing and fighting"
"Well if you put it like that, if I were in Galbatoric shoes, I'd attack Surda with all that I have before they could join forces with the Varden but leave enough soldiers to protect the northen and western provinces by any surprise attack by the elves and dwarves respectively" replied Harry.
"We though that too but if he really does what you say he could bring upon us about seventy to eighty thousand soldiers in a matter of two to three month" said Ajihad "and that would be disastrous without the dwarven help"
"If I remember correctly Hrothgar is already mobilizing his armies" said Harry.
"True but he would still need at leat four months before he fully mobilize all the clans" explained Ajihad.
"I think you'll have at least as much" said Harry.
"And what makes you think that?" asked Orrin.
"If he bring the numbers estimated by Ajihad there will be a small chance that his forces can be defeated if the dwaves and Vardens flanked them while dealing with the resistance that Surda will undoubtedly provide" reasoned Harry "If he wants to be sure that Surda will fall he'll bring a hundred thousand, in the least and probably two or three Shades if he doesn't want to ride to the battlefield himself"
"That would still be distratrous" replied Orrin terrified at the prospect of facing such a large army.
"There is a solution to their numbers" said Harry.
"Guerrila warfare" said Ajihad "while tempting as an idea it will be hard for thirty thousand Varden and Surdan people to hide in open plain and the rare forest of Surda not to mention the damage done to the land would make sure that Surda can not serve as a staging ground on the Empire anymore"
"Who said that you'd have to fight a guerrilla war in Surda" replied Harry.
"What do you mean?" asked Orrin intrigued.
"Open plains don't have wards" replied Harry.
"Oh, that could work" replied Orrin.
"Let the Vardens train your men and prepare for war in five months and if we are extremely lucky, six" said Harry.
"Galbatorix would need at least six months to prepare such a military force, seven if he wants them to be a bit more than cannon fodder" said Ajihad perplexed.
"If he had started when the battle of Tronxheim was finished that would be true but he has started since he razed his capital city to the ground and almost destroyed his greatest fortress in the north" explained Harry.
"Shit" was all that Ajihad could say.
"Couldn't have been more eloquent myself" said Hary as he got up and headed for the spot where the wards were still down, it wouldn't do to give them a glimpse of how powerful he truly was or how his magic truly worked.
During his trip he was stopped by a familiar voice shouting and when he turned around he saw Lorenzo, the unofficial leader of the magicians from Uru'baen and the best magician that the Vardens had, well except the Elven spellcasters but they didn't count as those guys were monsters when it came to pure power and had had centuries to hone their skills. Lorenzo was wearing a white trousers and a short sleved, white shirt, in his neck a medallion that he reckonized as imbued with protective spells, - and for the first time since he had meet him, his blck hairs weren't blocked by any sort of helmet or hat and his green eyes were different from those of the tortured young man that he had meet in Uru'baen.
"Harry, glad to see you here" said Lorenzo clasping Harry's forearm in gretting.
"Glad to see you to, how have thing been here?" asked Harry smiling.
"Well, the usual, the Du Vrangr Gata, trying to recruit us, we refusing, them throwing a temper tantrum" replied Lorenzo laughing.
"So all good then" said Harry.
"Yeah, we heard you keep defying all that we know of magic" said Lorenzo.
"Bah, that just means you still have a lot to learn" replied Harry.
"True, I still remember what Galbatorix and his pet Shade could do with the same amount of energy needed to lift a pen" said Lorenzo shuddering at the thought.
"Moving on from depresing topics, have you found a girl for yourself yet?" asked Harry with a meschievious griin.
"No but I wouldn't mind getting to know Trianna better, if she would stop trying to recruit me and my fellow deserters" answered Lorenzo and then with a mischevious grin of his own he asked "what about you, found one yet?"
"Got my eyes on one, currently" replied Harry not showing any distress at the personal question.
"The red haired elf?" asked Lorenzo and when he got nod from Harry, he continued "she won't accept because your're mortal"
"Who said I was mortal" replied Harry before turning around and with a wave of his hand he said "Bye, I've got to go to a date now"
"Lucky bastard" said Lorenzo once Harry turned around the corner.
"Yeah, so true" echoed the voice of Harry from around the corner
Harry woke up to the sight of the battered Eragon, Murtagh and Aria, covered n bruises and their faces swollen,- coming to their rooms holding onto each other for support as their legs could barely carry them. Smiling Harry returned to his "sleep", thinking "Eorr has done a great job". As to who Eorr was, well he was Harry's swordsmanship teacher, a Demigod of War from a world that Harry had visited. The two had meet at what had been later named the Assault of the Endless Storm, where he had been almost killed from one of the Three Great Storm Emperors and only Harry's help had saved him from being charred by an uber-lighting bolt. The assault had ended with their world all but destroyed and their entire pantheon of gods fallen to the hands of the Protogenoi of Storms but succeeded in taking him down with them in a massive explosion of godly energy. Harry had then taken him and the survivors of his world in an uhabitated world and he proceeded to swear a blood oath to him to come to his aid everytime he needed.
Now Harry had called him to aid in training te three of them but most of all Eragon because he was a prodigy that would have made Eorr's dad green from envy, and that guy was the greates warrior of all times in his world (Yep they had a Goddess of War in that world) and what swordsmen they had in Alagaesia wasn't enough to cultivate such a talent, he already was on the same level as Brom and Aria only won because she knew how to read him and that was one of the lessons Eorr was going to teach Murtagh and Eragon. Sensing danger Harry jumped from his bed, Willbreaker unsheathed as a spear perforated the spot where he was slepping a moment ago, across the room stood a young man, 185-190 cm tall, with a lean and muscular built, tanned skin, hairs that were an interesting shade of blue that made them look almost black, crooked nose, high checkbones, red eyes (courtesy of his mother's heritage).
"Still as sharp as ever" said Eorr.
"Still as much of an idiot as ever" replied Harry sheathing Willbreaker.
"Ouch, you broke my heart" said Eorr with an expression of mock hurt "what's up, a war to be fought"
"No, you will not fight but you'll train those three" said Harry.
"Ah, yes Eragon was all that you promised me but the other two, are good but they will never be as good as Eragon" said Eorr.
"I already knew but stll I wasn't that much according to you" replied Harry with a smug grin.
"And you aren't" replied Eorr with a smug grin of his own.
"Care to put your money where your mouth is" said Harry.
"What do you want to bet?" asked Eorr.
"If I win you'll use your godly powers to procure Brightsteel, enough to make hundreds of thousand of sword, as a material used to make weapons of war, its within your realm and if I called meteors they won't still become Brigthsteel ore, they need some special conditions that are a bitch to recreate" explained Harry.
"And you're to lazy to do that yourself, good I'll do that if you win but if I win you'll give me Winterthorn, The Etcher Of Crowns, I've wanted it for over half a century now" said Eorr.
"You're on" said Harry before the world around them ripple and they found themselves in a barren wasteland with a blue sun shining overead.
"Always one for the dramatics" said Eorr taking out a falchion that burst in scarlet flames upon touching his hand.
"If you do something, do it in the most grandiose way possible" replied Harry taking out Willbreaker.
"Well said" replied Eorr as he sprung forward in speeds spurapssing that of the sound.
Harry blocked, Eorr's blade with Willbreaker, locking their swords together, the ground beneath them started to crack at the titanic force that both combatants were using and then in a blurr of motion they got away from each other. Not losing a moment Eorr closed the distance between them and attacked with a flurry of stabs and swipes, Harry blocked all of them if just barely, Eorr wasn't an oponent to underestimate because he thrived in combat and his mastery of every weapon of war and his grasp of strategy was unequaled except for that of a full-fledged War God. Harry counterattacked with his own flurry of attacks but none of them got even close to touch Eorr, his skill still superior to Harry's own.
After a few minutes of fighting back and forth, Eorr sprang forward with a roar that reverberated across the entire wasteland where they were fighting and when Willbreaker met his Falchion, a crater was formed and a massive cloud of smoke rose over it. The clouds of smoke soon disappeared as the movement of air from the strength and speed the sword of the two combatants were being swung were very powerful. Within aminute Eorr got through Harry's guard and gave him a slash across his torso and then retreated. Harry didn't move but with an overly sweet smile healed his wound with a silent spell and then he started reciting the words of a spell that made Eorr's eyes go wide in shock and then disspaear in a blurr of speed toward Harry intending to stop him before he could finish it.
He didn't make it as just before he could hit Harry with a stab, Harry disappeared becoming so fast that not evn Eorr's demigod eyes couldn't follow him and reappeared behind Eorr's back and slashed at his back. Eorr dodged and overhead swipe only to get kneed in the somach and sent flying a few hundred meters away. Eorr got back up on his feet to avoid an attack from Harry that would have him cut in half, normally he wouldn't go that far into a sparr but Harry knew that he could handle him and the moment it became clear he could no longer fight he would stop. Deciding to take the offensive Eorr stabed at Harry, or he tried at least as Harry ducked beneath his arm and grabbing it he flipped Eorr with such strength that when he touched the ground another crater was formed. Eorr tried to get up but as soon as he tried he knew the sparr was over his aprenice had defeated him with a move that any amateur at martial arts would know; he had taught him too well.
"I got you good this time" said Harry offering his hand to Eorr.
"Yes, I see you have fully perfected your body-enhancement spell" said Eorr taking Harry's hand and feeling healing energy wash over him restoring him to the condition he was before the fight.
"Yes, I did and it is awesome" replied Harry with a wide grin.
"I agree" said Eor involuntarly twitching from a phantom pain in his previously pulverized ribs.
"So whe are you going to start making BrightSteel?" asked Harry cheerfully.
"Never, you cheated" said Eorr pouting.
"No, I didn't, I defeated you by using body-enhancements of which you have never complained until now when they gave me the strength and speed of a true god" said Harry.
"Whatever" said Eorr, meaning he would do it.
"Good boy but if you wanted the Etcher of Crowns you could have asked" said Harry off-handedly.
"So, can I have it?" asked Eoor.
"Of course, next time ask before you make me kick your sorry ass around" said Harry pulling Winterthorn from his personal pocket dimension and gave it to Eorr.
Winterthorn was fifteen centimeters longer than Za'rock, its blade was made from a metal that was the same color as ice, its handle made of Ravenswood, almost as sturdy as the metal of the blade itself and on the pommel stood an onyx black diamond, a gem that as one of its kind in its world and was used as the sign of royalty and if the king didn't have the sword with the gem in it he wouldn't be a legitimate king. When Harry took it, the line of kings had died and he took it to stop further wars for the sword, that and because the gem held immense magical power and the metal used on the blade was the fabled ever-changing Adamantium, which Harry learned to replicate easily after a few years of study.