Lesson 2: Agile Sparring.

The next day Tristan did not need to be woken. He had already washed under the warm water in the baths and shaved to the best of his abilities. Now, he wore a clean white linen shirt and a pair of linen trousers as well, which he had picked from his closet and hoped would ease his running.

They followed the path they had taken the previous day, stopping once so often to pick the rest of the riders and reached the volcano crater where a rider awaited them, one he had seen only briefly.

He was human with dark brown skin and clean shaven head which glowed under the first rays of light from the sun. For a human, he was tall and very well built. Tristan was surprised to see that there wasn't a single hair on the rider's skin. Golden rings hung from his ears and one from his right eyebrow. As he saw them approaching the elder rider flexed his muscles and pressed his arms over his chest.

"Welcome, welcome, young riders. The ones who have been here before will know me as a master of sparring but since Master Stoic has been assigned different duties I volunteered to take his role. My name is Octavian but you shall refer to me as master or ebrithil as is the word in the ancient language. We shall repeat what you did yesterday with Stoic; run. This is done to train your muscles and increase your endurance as he might have explained but as there are other tasks to concentrate on, we shall not spend long running" he said and with that he set of ahead of them, his golden earrings making a ringing noise every time he landed on the ground.

Tristan followed behind and kept stealing glances at Rikon and Kayla who were at the back of the group. Surprisingly they were able to keep up and weren't going too slow.

As Octavian had promised, they did not run for long, maybe a couple of hours and as soon as the sun rose they stopped to catch their breath. They were in a valley now, near the forest and there were tall oak trees with long shadows that reached them and offered some protection from the day's heat.

Octavian took a sword out of its sheath, a beautifully decorated golden sword and faced them.

"Now. I don't know if any of you have done much training with swords but as Shur'tugalar it is necessary that you know how to wield one as well as a bow. With me you shall be taught both and you need to be patient and persistent. You will be put into groups of two to train" he said and carefully went around the group, arranging them into pairs. He put the older, more experienced riders together and did the same with the younger ones.

Tristan was placed with an Urgal rider, who was named Grohn and had been a dragon rider no more than a year. This was good news for him, meaning he stood a chance against the Urgal and he got given a wooden sword. It didn't take long for him to realise that he was nowhere near as good as he thought he was.

Wait, you thought you were good?, Vertigo asked in his mind as Tristan saw an image of his dragon dropping from the clouds and then rising up again. At the moment Saphira was teaching them how to manoeuvre properly in order to avoid enemy attacks and which heights were ideal for flying.

Concentrate on your flying for now, little reptile, Tristan said, not unkindly. He felt his dragon letting out a puff of smoke and then Tristan returned his attention to his sparring.

The Urgal had a unique fighting style - different from the ones he had encountered before - and combined with his immense strength and height, Tristan's hopes of beating him crushed to dust. The only thing he could do was to try and go behind him, and catch him unawares. However, this soon failed so he tried to only defend himself. Often, Octavian would walk by his side and make comments about his stance, correcting the position he had placed his feet or adjusting his grip on the wooden stick.

Kayla had been placed with a dwarven female rider and her inexperience was evident. Octavian must have spent most of his time coaching just her, although he did comment on Laer's and Rikon's fighting styles as well.

When the riders took a break and had their lunch - which again included mostly fruit and vegetables - Tristan had time to study the elves. There was no doubt that they were well suited for sparring and they must have had training from a young age. It would take him years, or rather decades to catch up with them.

Annoyed, he continued sparring with Grohn and in the process learned that the Urgal had trained from a young age to be a runner in the games that took place in Alagaesia every year. Instead he had become a rider but he longed to go back to watch the games and cheer for his friends and family members. Tristan did not know whether that would be possible.

After finishing their sparring they went to train with crossbows. This training did not differ much from what he had done with Buster and Grion and he realised that he was indeed good. He was not better than the elves, they could shoot moving targets as easy as if they were walking, but compared to the humans, urgals and dwarves - even some of the older ones - he was quite good.

When the sun started dropping in the horizon, Octavian told them that his lesson was done for today and they would need to return tomorrow for the same training. Tristan was tired but nowhere near as close to tired, as he had been yesterday and guessed that their lessons were over.

However, Adrian and Gwen took a different path from the one that led back to Glieonard and the dorms and told the riders to follow them. Tristan watched as the green valley gave its place to rocky land and then, there at the end of the stone hill, appeared to be a small hut. From the top of the stone hill, he could see the beach with the black sand they had landed on and he could make out the outline of some buildings, as well as a dock were a few ships rested.

As they grew closer to the circular, wooden hut Tristan realised that it wasn't big but neither small. It could not fit dragons but it could easily fit thirty humans.

Gwen raised her hand in the air and told the riders to wait and stay silent, while Adrian approached the hut slowly. He gently tapped the wooden door and then quickly run to the other side of the building but Tristan could not understand how he did so without making any noise.

The wooden door opened to reveal a small, old woman, with a face eased and lined like a dry, withered apple and white, shaggy hair with stiff bangs. Her eyes were closed and she held a wooden staff. Her right hand slightly shook as she took a step forward and then she smiled.

"Ah, young elf. Good try but I know exactly where you are" she said and her voice was almost a whisper.

Adrian appeared behind the wooden hut holding a small dagger but the old woman still had her eyes closed. She put her palm on top of her head and appeared even smaller than before. She was so defenceless and helpless that Tristan wanted to run to her side and protect her, even though he highly doubted he would be able to beat Adrian in a match.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Gwen pressed her hand over it and startled, Tristan watched Adrian attacking the woman as silent as a simile.

What happened afterwards took his breath away and he watched, stunned, as the old woman slid from the dagger's edge, her back turning in an unnatural angle for her age and kicked the dagger from Adrian's hand. The elf recoiled and went to pick it up but he was trying to counteract the woman's blows at the same time so he couldn't quite get to it.

The old woman was moving in such a way, that to an outsider, it would look like she was dancing. Her eyes were still closed and she was humming a melody while elegantly counteracting Adrian's blows. The elf was becoming tired, it appeared, and Tristan noticed an opening in his defense stance. The woman did not hesitate to take the opportunity and she jumped in the air, making a swirling turn in the process, picked the dagger and held it against the elf's throat.

"I win" she purred, smiling widely and revealing her edgy teeth.

She let Adrian go and he rubbed his neck and faced the riders.

"This is Maud and she is the Master of Agility" he said, introducing her to the riders. The old woman smiled politely.

"Indeed I am, although I am not a rider" she said and smiled again.

"There are a few creatures here, who are not riders, mostly elves and dwarves. They settled here, near the beach, when Eragon arrived and helped him make this island into what it is today although later the riders helped as well" Gwen further explained and Maud nodded, clapping her hands together.

"So true indeed!" she added.

"What is she?" Tristan whispered to Grohn, who stood close to him. The Urgal shrugged.

"They say she is a werecat although I am not so sure" he admitted.

"Now, now, stop mattering amongst yourselves and follow me inside, in my small hut" the woman purred again and the riders did what she told them.

Once inside, Tristan realized that only one side of the building was made out of wood. The other appeared to be made out of a translucent material the likes of which he had not seen before. He walked closer and run his finger over it. It was smooth.

"Take a pillow from your right" the woman said and Tristan saw her momentarily opening her eyes. They were the palest shade of grey but they were as clear and lively as the water which run down the snowy mountains.

"Now make yourselves comfortable" she instructed and arranged them in a way so that each rider had a distance of about a square from the other. Tristan looked at Kayla, Rikon and Laer who all appeared perplexed as they took their sits down on the wooden floor.

He sat in the most comfortable position he could think of, but which would also allow him to see what the woman and the rest of the riders were doing. Some riders had their whole body on the wooden floor and the pillows behind their heads.

From his position, Tristan could see the sun which was dropping further down in the horizon, close to where the sea was. He could also see some clouds and the edgy rocks that protruded from where they were.

"Now, take a deep breath in. And relax" she said, speaking softly. "Closing your eyes might help" she added and he followed her advice.

After a few moments the woman spoke again.

"Are you all comfortable enough?"

Everyone answered positively.

"Splendid!" she said clapping her hands again. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind staying in that position, completely still, for the next hour?"

The riders answered positively again although not all did so at the same time.

Tristan could feel the sun's rays on his skin and sense on which part of his body they were. This was his only way of keeping track of time as he felt his muscles wanting to twitch and was afraid of swallowing. He cursed himself for sitting cross-legged.

He did not know who the first to crumble was but Maud shook her head, disappointed. Tristan had his eyes closed, a solid choice as he wouldn't be allowed to blink if he had kept them open but he was curious to find out who it had been. After a few moments he heard Maud tsking again and this continued until the woman clapped her hands.

"Open your eyes, riders" she said and when Tristan did so he realised that all riders were sitting in the positions they had been before. The sun hadn't even dropped as much in the horizon as he had originally thought.

"Next time you will be better prepared to stay still longer. Most of you moved, even slightly. Now, we shall continue with the Dance of Snake and Crane or the Rimgar as the older riders and elves like to call it"

"Repeat after me" she said and brought her hands from the side to above her head. Then, she bent down, touched the ground with her palms and jumped back.

Tristan had trouble doing this and so did Rikon and his sister. Laer appeared to be more flexible. The elves were the best in this exercise again, compared to everyone else. Urgals, humans and dwarves looked clumsy when they were doing this exercise.

Maud tsked.

"Now, now, you can't be a fighter and a rider if you can't move your body in all the right angles. Yes, a rider must know how to wield a sword and a crossbow, and yes a rider must have stamina but where would you be if you moved your body like a rock? At the bottom of the mountain!" she said and jumped in the air, doing a backflip.

"There are four levels in the Rimgar and you cannot progress to the next one if you don't master the one you are in already. The first action was what we did today. I expect you to have mastered this move by the end of autumn" she said and purred once again, slowly walking to the outside of her hut.

Once she was outside, Rikon turned to Tristan.

"I swear vegetables and fruits do not agree with my stomach. And having to sit in one position for this long without moving, certainly did not help... "the dwarf was saying, blushing.

Tristan burst out in a fit of laughter and earned the perplexed glances of the riders, especially Adrian's. The elf looked at him, with his usual air of superiority.

After finishing the Rimgar, they returned to their dorms to have supper there, instead of the Grand Hall. Their dragons landed near their structures. Aiedail had a goat in her mouth, Onyx a shark and Vertigo some fish.

We managed to smuggle some meat. Roast it if you want, we have had enough, Onyx said in the riders' minds and Tristan nodded to him, appreciatively. It was interesting how Onyx had both a deep and melodic voice.

Somehow Rikon was able to get out of his dorm and brought along with him the dwarven girl, Maurine, who had been sparring before with Kayla. Maurine had short, hazelnut coloured hair, white skin and rosy cheeks. She was very shy but as they all started talking, she seemed to relax and she told them she had been picked as a rider only last year.

Maurine talked more with Kayla while Laer, Tristan and Rikon talked more amongst themselves but that didn't matter, because as soon as the meat had roasted and they brought out the vegetables and fruit they were all in a cheery mood, looking at the dark sky and hearing the occasional growl of a dragon.

Being a rider suits you, Vertigo commented and Tristan smiled.

It is what I have always wanted to be.

A/N: Don't forget to leave reviews :)! Next chapter will be called First Time... And this is all I am saying for now... Until next week, enjoy!