Thanks to Erik's powers, the group didn't have any problem with the storm and despite the following hours, things were good for them. Once they found a nice place to settle, Erik had answered their questions such as 'What else was he capable of ?', 'Where did he got those abilities ?' or 'Where does he come from ?'.
He had answered them calmly but never gave full truth… only half-ones.
The Massive Bear explained that he came from a land far away in the North where there was snow and ice all year, a place where everyday was a fight for survival either against the weather, the cold or simply, other living-beings. He then explained that he inherited those abilities from his father who sadly passed away after a long battle.
Which was true as his father was indeed fighting… against a disease.
After receiving condolences from Eragon, Brom and Saphira, Erik gave them a brief summary of his abilities : his immense strength (which was proved when he lifted a boulder that was 3 times his size !), his control over lightnings… but he said nothing about him being a literal God as he didn't know how they would react to such an information.
Beside, he didn't know if Volibear had more abilities… After all, he was still learning about it himself !
Once he had finished his explanations, he had seen the way his companions had looked at him afterwards : Brom seemed shocked but cautious, Eragon looked like he was seeing the most incredible things of his life and Saphira… well, she looked at him in awe.
Erik would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't a bit embarrassed by the attention.
Other than that, they had a good night... especially after the terrible weather gave way to a magnificent blue sky bare of clouds. The next morning, after taking breakfast, they resumed their journey.
Next destination : Yazuac… mostly to replenish their food supply and water.
Ignoring the two talking humans near him, Erik, him, was deep in thought : soon enough, they will reach Yazuac and he knew what they were going to see… and what will happen : namely, an encounter with Urgals.
It was also an important part in Eragon's life because it will be where he will understand the true face of the Urgals… and how mad Galbatorix is to ally himself with the very creature who killed his dragon a long time ago. Sure, the Mad King planned to turn on them but still, it was stupid of him to do so.
It was also the place where he would learn that he could do Magic !
However, his thoughts were quickly interrupted by a strange smell in the air: a smell that was also very familiar…
"Stop !" he growled to his companions before getting back on his hind legs, sniffing the air.
Brom and Eragon stopped their mounts while looking at him with confusion and worry.
"What is it ?" the storyteller asked him but received no response from the massive White Bear.
"Valhir ?" Eragon called out but he was also ignored.
Erik/Valhir sniffed the air and frowned for a moment… but then, a flash passed through his mind and he suddenly remembered when he had smelled it : the day he had killed a deer,.. which was the same day he got to try his lightning power. The same smell had appeared after he killed the deer !
It was the scent of DEATH !
A growl escaped his throat and the sound frightened Snowfire and Cadoc who whinnied in fright. Shocked at first by the sudden sound, Eragon and Brom had trouble to calm down the two animals but once they managed to, they turned their heads to look at Erik… who was looking at the distance with narrowed eyes.
"Valhir ? What is it ?" Eragon asked him as he petted Cadoc's snout.
"There's a strange smell in the air... a familiar smell... and it doesn't bode well..." Erik answered as he went back on all four.
"What smell ?" Brom asked their furry companion as a look of cautiousness appeared on his face. Beside him, Eragon looked just as cautious.
"Death..." was the Massive Bear's only answer.
Hearing this, Brom and Eragon exchanged a look before looking back at him with serious expressions.
"Are you sure ?" the storyteller asked him in a stern tone, although there was also confusion.
Erik shot him a look before saying sternly "A bear's sense of smell is 7 times better than that of a dog or maybe a thousand time better than that of a human… so yes, I'm think I'm sure..."
Brom nodded in acceptance while Eragon looked toward where Yazuac was.
"What should we do ?" he asked his companions after a second or two of silence.
"We should tell Saphira to stay close to us… or maybe we can ask her to scout ahe-" Brom began to say… only to be interrupted by our hero.
"That won't be necessary! I will go there and if there are any problems, I take care of them !" Erik growled to the storyteller before he had the time to finish his sentence.
He knew he was somehow affecting the real story but a part of him was ITCHING for some action !
"…" Brom looked hesitant as he was thinking about Erik's decision while Eragon looked to be talking with Saphira through their bond.
"Saphira said we should let Valhir go… She said he is strong enough to defend himself if need be..." the young Rider said to the older man after a moment.
The storyteller didn't looked enchanted by this but released a deep sigh after seeing that it was a three against one vote. Turning his aged head to look at the massive White Bear, Brom opened his mouth to say in a stern and firm tone
"Very well… but don't cause trouble !"
Erik snorted at those words before retorting with a smirk "Hey ! Who do you take me for? It's Eragon who brings trouble, not me!"
Chuckling at the indignant squawk Eragon released in response to his words, our hero turned tail before running away from there, heading toward Yazuac, leaving behind his two humans companions. It didn't take long for Erik to reach the village and soon, houses were distinguishable in the distance as the town presented itself to him in all its glory.
However, Erik stopped in his track when he saw smoke above the houses and knew that he had to prepared himself from what he was going to see. Taking a deep breath, our hero then slowly but surely entered the village.
It had been some time since he last entered a city and Erik glanced around in curiosity : the houses were all dark in color and many had broken windows and doors that hung half-open. The whole place looks like a ghost town because, instead of hearing children laughing or people chatting, all you hear is silence...
A deathly silence…
As he passed through a street, Erik could see many footprints on the ground, proof that a great deal of people were there recently but in the air, far stronger than earlier, was the smell of Death. But it also smelled of something rotten and he grimaced at the putrid scent.
"Note to self : to get out of here as fast as possible !" he thought to himself with a grimace of disgust at the scent.
But then, he heard a sound : the croaking of a crow. A second later, after some thoughts, he decided to follow it but still made sure to look around in case there was an ambush.
After a moment, Erik arrived at the downtown… where he was forced to stop as a morbid spectacle presented itself to him while a foul smell assaulted his nostrils: the ground was imbued with a dark red color as corpses, along with parts of bodies, were scattered everywhere belonging to men, woman and even children !
Erik's mind froze at the scene but then his blue eyes landed on another horrifying spectacle : a spear rising out of the pile, skewering the pale body of a dead baby.
Our hero couldn't look away from the baby's body : while he knew what he was about to see, he wasn't prepared to see it for REAL ! At that moment, a simple feeling occupied his mind and his heart, a hard and unshakable feeling: revenge.
Even though he disliked humanity as a whole, Erik knew that some people didn't deserve to die and that these villagers, even though he didn't know them, didn't deserve to lose their lives like this. And still, they were killed so horribly.
He will avenge them… one way or another, he will make sure the ones responsible will pay for this.
But then he froze when something echoed from nearby : growls. Turning his large furry head toward where it came from, Erik found himself facing four creatures. They looked humanoid in appearance, with grayish yellow skin covered in hair, bowed legs and big arms. Those Beasts had yellow, piggish-like eyes, claws instead of nails and a pair of long, twisted horns above their ears. In addition, they looked to be taller than Humans.
For a second, Erik stared at them but then he narrowed his eyes at the newcomers as a deep growl escaped his throat. He knew what those beasts were : Urgals. Baring his teeth at them, our hero stood up on his hind legs, towering over the beasts who looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"You did this… You and your cursed kind killed those innocents..." Erik began to say with a growl that caused the Urgals to take a few steps back in fright.
"I WILL KILL YOU ALL !" Erik screamed in rage as a roar escaped his mouth.
The Urgals froze in fear at the roar but soon they regained their senses when they saw a furious White Bear charging at them with bared teeth. One of the Urgals rushed forward to meet him with a roar but our hero was faster as he grabbed the Beast by the head… before easily crushing it with his paw.
"Such a feeble sacrifice..." Our hero muttered to himself as he stared at the body.
Ignoring the blood on his claws, Erik roared at the other Beasts who charge at the same time to meet him.
With a bloodthirsty smile, Erik unsheathed his claws before falling on his enemies with a thunderous roar. The roar was so loud that a certain duo heard it and caused them to look at each other before riding faster toward Yazuac.
Back to our hero, he was facing the Urgals with nothing but rage.
One of them tried to attack him from his right side but a slash of his claws was enough to take it down, sending him crashing against the wall of a house.
"Another coward dies !"
Two others charged at him from different sides but Erik effortlessly picked them up by this chest… before smashing them together, crushing their heads in the process.
Tossing the bodies with disgust, Erik then noticed a movement from the corner of his eyes and snorted as quickly turned around before delivering a blow that sent the Urgal flying through the air before crashing to the ground with a loud 'THUMP'.
"Such a death ! Far greater than your life !" our hero commented darkly as he looked at the Urgal's body.
Looking around, Erik was a bit satisfied to not see anymore of those things … until he heard footsteps.
Sharply turning his head toward where it came from, Erik found himself looking at a bigger version of an Urgal : a Kull. Bigger than its comrades, the Kull was holding a battle ax and was looking at our hero with amazement and fear. The two of them stared at one another for a moment… until the Kull raised its weapon before charging.
With an amused snort, Erik raised his paws, readying his claws… before slashing them at the charging Beast. The claws tore it in two and, as the thing laid there, agonizing, our hero decided to leave it to suffer so he simply left it like this.
"A feast for the earth !"
Turning his head away from the bloody scene, Erik tilted his head back to release a thunderous roar that echoed throughout the area, ignoring the last sigh the Kull released at the same time. Once he closed his jaws, Erik took a few seconds to calm down and once he was, he decided to leave this place...but not before shooting a triumphant look at the dead bodies of the Urgals and Kull.
He felt nothing of their death… no regret, no shame… absolutely nothing at all. Normally, such thing would have troubled him… but no.
Shaking his large furry head, Erik then decided to leave this place but first, he looked toward the pile of bodies.
He couldn't leave them like this.
Raising his left hand in the air, Erik summoned a large thunderbolt to annihilate the corpses with a loud 'CRACK', leaving nothing behind. Now, their bodies would not be defiled by scavengers.
"May you rest in peace..." Erik whispered softly while looking at the place where the pile of bodies previously stood before going back on all four and walking away.
Or at least, he tried to…
Why ?
Because Erik had barely the time to turn around when he heard horses coming his way and looked ahead to see Eragon and Brom approaching him on their mounts. He was about to greet them when Saphira made herself know by landing not too far away from them.
A long silence followed as the humans and Dragon stared at him with stunned expression on their faces : Eragon was looking at him with open mouth and a pale face; Saphira with surprise and shock while Brom looked a bit pale. Erik couldn't blame them as he looked like a mess with his claws covered with blood… that and the fact there were Urgals bodies laying around.
"What happened here ?" Brom asked him after a moment of awkward silence.
"There were four Urgals and a Kull… they attacked me and, well, you can see how it ended up…" Erik answered while gesturing to the dead bodies around him.
Brom nodded in understanding before asking "What about that thunderbolt you used ?"
"Apart of those wretched things, there was a large pile of dead bodies here… men, women, children… all killed and stacked… I refused to allow the scavengers to feast on them so I used my lightning to annihilate the bodies… " Erik answered in a grim tone.
"They were all killed ?!" Eragon asked him in shock while Saphira growled in anger.
'Even the children ?!' the Dragoness hissed telepathically with indignation and rage.
The Massive White Bear nodded his head with a firm expression on his face. Eragon looked enraged as he clenched his fists tightly and a shadow was covering Brom's face, hiding his own expression.
'Those despicable monsters !' Saphira hissed furiously while glaring at the dead Urgals.
'Its fine… they are dead… but I suspect there were many more...' Erik said to the Dragoness.
'They better not be here ! Because I will tear them apart with my fangs and talons !' the Dragoness snarled in response.
'And I will gladly join your for that !' Erik retorted sternly and Saphira shot him a look of acceptance and agreement.
A long silence followed until Brom spoke again "We can't stay here… We don't know if there are more Urgals out there..."
"What about our supplies ?" Eragon asked him and Erik understood why he did.
After all, they were all here to refuel their food supply and water… but look like Fate had another thing in mind for them.
"We will deal with that later… first, we should leave this place… and quickly !" Brom answered the young Rider in a hurried tone.
Eragon looked hesitant for a moment but then he nodded before the entire group made their way out of Yazuac, leaving the place completely.
A few hours later, Erik, Eragon, Brom and Saphira were all laying in a little meadow surrounded by trees and near the river as a small fire was burning. Brom was in front of it, Eragon was laying against Saphira's belly while Erik was sitting a few feet away from them.
The Dragoness had been the one to find this place and her companions had greatly accepted it as their new campsite. Erik had used the river to not only wash the blood off his claws but also himself, and now he looked clean and fresh again.
"What should we do now ?" Erik asked his companions with a curious raised eyebrow.
"I don't know..." Eragon replied with a sigh before smiling as Saphira nuzzled him gently.
"We have to go to Daret… We need to fill our bags or we won't get far in this pursuit of ours..." Brom answered while pulling out a pipe.
"Sounds like a good plan… as long as it won't end up like Yazuac..." Erik grumbled to himself but Eragon heard him.
"Let's hope so..." the young Dragon Rider said with a sigh.
"Are you okay, cub ?" Erik asked him with slight concern.
"I wish I could do Magic…" was Eragon's answer.
Brom and Erik blinked in surprise at those words but it was the White Bear who spoke first.
"What bring that up ?"
"You…"
Blinking again, Erik's eyes narrowed at the Rider "Explain..."
"Well, ever since I-we saw you using your power during that storm, I imagined myself doing the same..." Eragon began to say before being interrupted by Erik.
"I see… You know, if I remember correctly, I heard that Dragonriders had the abilities to do magic…"
Blinking, Eragon and Saphira glanced at one another, surprised by the words before looking back at him
"Really ?"
'Really ?'
Shooting them both an amused look, our hero turned his head to look at Brom before saying "Why don't you tell them, old man ?"
The storyteller's left eye twitched at the 'old man' comment but ignored it to instead, stared in the eyes of the Massive White Bear
"And pray tell, why should I be the one to tell them ?"
"Because you are the one who know the most about Dragon Riders, you know-it-all !" Erik retorted with a toothy smirk.
Brom shot him a glare at those words but it did nothing to deter him while Eragon couldn't retain himself from snickering in amusement… until the storyteller turned his glare toward him which shut him up almost instantly.
After this, Brom agreed to teach Eragon the Ancient Language… and Erik promised to help as much as he could. Once it was settled, they all shared a nice dinner before they all went to sleep, knowing that it will take time before they reach the next town.
With a loud yawn, Erik slowly closed his eyes before waiting for Morpheus to take him to Dreamland… unaware that Saphira was watching him.
Ever since she saw what he was capable off, the young Dragoness had admired him… and what he did today strengthened her admiration toward him. There were times she lamented that he wasn't a dragon as he was the perfect mate material but she was happy to have him as a friend.
But internally, she saw him as something else : an older brother.
Shaking her head to regain her sense, the blue Dragoness then decided to follow the example of her companions and feel asleep, protectively curled around her rider.
(To be continue…)
A/N : I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone ! I want to thank all the folks who favored and/or followed my story so far as well as those who commented on it ! It warm my heart to see that you like my story and it motivate me to keep going !
So thank you for supporting me everyone !
Also, I decided to not pair Erik/Valhir/Volibear with Saphira and they will have a sibling-relationship instead. I hope it does not bother you… beside, we don't see many fics with Saphira having a sibling bond with an OC …