Serena slowly opened her eyes and squinted at the harsh light, both men noticed her awaken and Eragon rushed to her side "Serena I'm sorry I should have made sure you were with us" he said feeling more guilty, she shook her head and smiled "It's fine Eragon, I had a little help" she said in thought remembering the man who helped her "From who?"
he asked curiously, she shrugged "I don't know, I didn't see him completely" she replied, he nodded and Brom stood in front of them "Serena, I saw what you did" he said, she gulped feeling nervous "I don't know why I did it I just thought it would work" she replied, Brom chuckled at her nervousness
"You don't need to be worried Serena, what you have is a very big gift, and if you learn how to control it you just might be able to help us with the Varden" he said, she smiled hopefully "Really?" she asked hoping she could get revenge for her father "Yes" he said, Eragon was left feeling confused "Wait what happened?"
he asked confused, Serena sighed "Your cousin is an' elemental, there are only four in existance, one for each element. But they are very powerfull which is why King Gallbatorix wiped them out, but everyone knows that once an' elemental is killed another is born, which is why the King has his men searching the villages all the time, it isn't just for stolen food and young men to serve in the army, Elementals have one main element, but can control all the others if they train hard enough...May I see your wrist Serena?"
Brom asked, Serena slowly pulled off her glove and turned her right hand over, she lifted her sleeve revealing the tattoo "Just as I thought, you have the Elemental tattoo, when you use each element a different line will glow that color, but when you've used all four elements they will all glow silver" he explained,
Serena's eyes were wide the entire time "But why now?" she asked confused "That surprised me the most, most elementals get their powers at 18, which is when they stop growing older, but you seem to have gotten the powers a few years earlier" Brom said, Serena put her glove back on "Is there a reason?" she asked, he shook his head
"No, you must be the youngest elemental, but it is a curse aswell Serena you cannot strain your powers too much or it will drain you, you need to train slowly and carefully and do not let anyone apart from us see you Serena or you will be killed. Your life is much more precious now but it is more in danger, we cannot let anyone find out about your powers and do not use them unless absolutely necessary Serena" he said,
she nodded and Brom looked out at the mountains "Well now that we've announced ourselves so spectacularly to the world were gonna have to find another way through these hills" he said "Of course it would be a lot easier if you were flying" he added turning to Eragon, Saphira suddenly landed on the mountain and Eragon smiled, as Eragon got on Saphira Brom motioned Serena to the horses "We will ride" he said, she nodded and after he mounted the horse he helped her up
"Why haven't you learned how to ride yet?" he asked, she rolled her eyes "I was never taught" she replied, he nodded and they both watched Saphira stand on the edge of the cliff "It's not so bad up here" Eragon said, he looked down at the drop and gasped, Saphira flew off the cliff and Serena laughed as she heard Eragon screaming,
they rode on the horse somehow managing to keep track of Eragon and Saphira, as Serena and Brom were riding he suddenly stopped the horse, Serena heard a strange hissing/screeching sound and she recognized it as the noises from the night her father died, Brom nudged the horses forward and they galloped through, Serena could hear Saphira's wings and she looked to see them in the woods chasing the Razac's, Serena saw one of them jump onto her cousin and knock him off Saphira,
Saphira tumbled down the hill and hurt the tip of her wing, as Brom stopped the horse Serena hid behind one of the trees, she suddenly saw one of the razac's making their way towards Saphira, Serena remembered that she could control all elements and focused, Serena kept her eyes on the razac and lifted her hands in front of her, she moved them into position as though taking hold of puppet strings, Serena felt the link and pulled her right hand to the left, a bunch of vines took hold of the unknowing Razac behind Saphira,
Serena felt herself weaken but she kept focus, she spun her left hand in a circle and saw a vine wrap itself around the razac's head, it struggled but she could tell her vines were too strong, Serena's eyes flashed a bright green and she clenched her fists before pulling them apart, the vines ripped the razac's limbs from it's body and the rest of it dissolved into the mud, Serena's eyes faded back to blue and she fell onto her hands and knees "Serena"
Eragon said helping her up, she hung onto him and Brom led them to a safe part of the forest where he could help the slightly injured Saphira "Protect your dragon, your irrisponsibilty nearly cost Saphira her life" he said angrily while putting a strange yellow substance on Saphira's wound, Serena was lying down in a light sleep to get back her lost energy "Do you not listen to anything I tell you?" Brom snapped "Better to ask forgivness than' permission"
Eragon replied, Brom sighed and made his way to the river while Eragon followed, he made sure to tell Saphira to keep watch over Serena, which she did "Your duty is to reach the varden alive" Brom said as Eragon reached him "Let's discuss truth before we talk about duty" he replied "What are you talking about?"
Brom asked acting oblivious, Eragon took Brom's hand and cut the fabric away "I thought we agreed not to lie to each other" he said, the fabric split open revealing Brom's own dragon rider scar "Dragon rider" Eragon finished "Not anymore" Brom replied sadly "Where's your dragon?" Eragon asked as they made their way back to Saphira
"Dead, she was murdered by another rider with this sword" Brom said pulling out his sword "Zar'roc" he said, Saphira growled at it "The riders name was Morzan, Gallbatorix won him over. And while she was trying to protect me my dragon was killed, so I set out to search for Morzan, I found him, I took his sword and I drove it through his heart" Brom said shoving the sword into the ground for demonstration "And as he died so did his dragon, the last except for the Kings. So I hid out in Carvahall with a shame I wrightly deserved, because of me the days of the dragon riders were over... then you came"
he said placing a hand on Eragon's shoulder "You both came" he added glancing at Saphira "How much longer will Seren sleep?" Eragon asked a little worried, Brom shrugged and sat down "Not much longer, your cousin has learn't to control two elements in two days at the age of 15, she's putting a lot of strain on herself" he replied, Eragon nodded "How powerfull are the Elementals?"
he asked curiously "Once they've mastered their elements very, but Serena's main element is water which means it'll be a bit harder to learn the others, but once she does there will be no limit to her power and we will be able to defeat Gallbatorix" Brom said, Eragon nodded
"I promised to take care of her, her brother left to avoid being dragged into the army and he made me promise to protect her. I intend to keep it" he said, Brom nodded "That is understandable, but what will you do when you age and she doesn't?" he asked, Eragon shrugged, he hadn't thought about it "I will trust her life with someone else, hopefully" he said biting his lip, Brom nodded.