Unexpected Ally - Eragon fanfiction

Chapter 5 - Strength

The next day Eragon looked less in pain and was able to answer Brom's questions better. After an especially difficult round, Eragon mentioned the scrying, though he didn't mention Ruth going with him which confused her, he commented on the woman

"You said she was imprisoned" Brom pulled on his beard

"Yes" Eragon said

"Did you see her face?" Brom asked intently

"Not very clearly. The lighting was bad, yet I could tell she was beautiful. It's strange; I didn't have any problem seeing her eyes. And she did look at me"

Brom shook his head "As far as I know it's impossible for anyone to know if they're being scryed upon"

"Do you know who she might be?" Eragon asked eagerly

"Not really" admitted Brom "If pressed, I suppose I could come up with a few guesses, but none of them would be very likely. This dream of yours is peculiar. Somehow you managed to scry in your sleep something you'd never seen before - without saying the words of power. Dreams do occasionally touch the spirit realm, but this is different"

"Perhaps to understand this we should search every prison and dungeon until we find this woman" Eragon said, sounding proud of his remark. Ruth and Brom laughed though, this idea was ridiculous.

Brom's strict training filled every hour that they were travelling, Brom soon included Ruth in the training too. Something she did not enjoy. Days slowly blended into weeks. Because of Eragon's splint Eragon was forced to use his left arm when Brom and he sparred. Ruth also sparred with both Eragon and Brom, she wasn't amazing but good enough to maintain the sparring. She hadn't beaten either of them yet but her skills were improving. Before long, Eragon became very good with his left hand. 

Spring had begun to take its toll on Alagaësia, multitudes of flowers had sprung. The bare trees were russet with buds, while new blades of grass began to push up through last year's dead stalks. Birds returned from their winter absence to mate and build nests.

They followed the Toark River, when the river was one league wide Brom pointed at the silt island that dotted the water.

"We're close the Leona lake now" he said "It's only about two leagues away"

"Do you think we can get there by nightfall" Eragon queried

"We can try"

Dusk soon made the trail hard to follow, but the sound of the river at their side guided them. When the moon rose, the bright disk provided enough light to see what lay ahead.
Leona Lake looked like a thin sheet of ice. Saphira was on the rocky shore, fanning her wings to dry them. Eragon greeted her then they set up camp under a stand of trees and they were soon asleep.

At dawn, Ruth was sitting propped up by a tree watching the gentle waves on the gorgeous lake. Eragon rushed past her, his messy hair bouncing as he made his way to the shore. Eragon glanced behind him

"Ruth, come on, let's have some fun" he said with a foolishly large grin on his face. He whooped and ran into the water, laughing. Ruth ran into the lake and smiled. 

Saphira swooped from the sky and Eragon clambered onto her. Saphira lunged into the sky, circling the lake overhead. Ruth grinned and stared into the sky. Suddenly Saphira folded her wings and plunged into the lake, a large wave soaked Ruth and knocked her backwards into the lake. After a few seconds under the ripples, Saphira flew out and Eragon gasped loudly. 

Wadding more into the water so it was up to her shoulders. Saphira dived back into the water, this time Ruth also plunged under the waves. She swam alongside Saphira as the dragon elegantly danced in the water. Just as Ruth's lungs began to scream for air Saphira's burst out the water - as did she - droplets splattered Ruth's face as the lizard twisted in the air. Ruth tread the water, although her muscles were beginning to ache.

Ruth felt a smile spread quickly across her face as Saphira flew through the sky, the sun glinting beautifully off her majestic body. Eragon whipped the water from his hair. Once they were both dry they started around the lake while Saphira playfully dipped in and out of the water.

Before dinner, Eragon was getting ready to spar with Brom for tonight's rounds of sparring was;
Brom and Eragon
Eragon and Ruth
Ruth and Brom

Eragon and Brom each held their swords, Eragon surveyed his surroundings then grabbed a stick from the fire and hurled it at Brom. Brom sidestepped it easily, the old man lunged at Eragon who ducked under Brom's sword blow. Eragon growled and tackled Brom ferociously. They fell to the ground wrestling each other recklessly. They fought with extreme skill and concentration. Brom's parries soon slowed, cords on his neck bulged and veins in his forehead stood out. Eragon swung a hard blow and knocked Brom's sword out of his hand, before he could react Eragon flicked his blade to Brom's neck.

They stood panting then Eragon dropped his sword from his neck

"Today, Ruth, we will not fight," Brom said, between breaths "Eragon, I can teach you nothing more of the sword. Of all the fighters I've met, only three of them could have defeated me like that, and I doubt any of them could have done it with their left hand" He smiled ruefully "I may not be as young as I used to be, but I can tell you're a talented and rare swordsman."

"You and Ruth may spar now"

Ruth felt her heart pound, she had never been nervous to spar with Eragon before but she was now. Eragon blocked the sides of Ruth's sword for her -she couldn't manage magic yet- then they began. Eragon struck Ruth's skull which she avoided with a quick pivot; she then lashed her blade toward Eragon's hip. Which was blocked hastily, they continued to parry and block. Eragon tackled Ruth similarly to Brom, Ruth cried as her hand fell into the fire and burnt her. She sucked her breath between her teeth, Eragon noticed something was wrong and climbed off of her.

"Are you okay?" Eragon asked

"Burnt– hand" she managed to say through her clenched teeth. Ruth looked at her hand, the skin was gone and her shiny flesh oozed crimson blood. The pain felt like a hot iron being pressed against her, while the cold breeze blew dirt and dust in it, making it sting. She inhaled sharply. Brom walked over to her and picked up her hand. He took a rag from his pocket and covered it in water. He then wrapped the cloth around the wound. He tightened the rag around the burn, which also resulted in pain for Ruth. She squeezed her eyes shut as the cloth stung her flesh. Once the bandaid was secure he helped Ruth sit up|

"Are you okay?" Brom asked
"Better now" she replied

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Once again I will be making a part 2 for this is another long chapter
Thanks for reading and following along :)
Read on :)
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