Eragon ( Riders of the Lands across the Sea )

- Chapter 15 - Guardians of Surda

Illiea barred her teeth snarling in fury when she heard Eragon threaten her rider. Meanwhile, her rider was shaken to her bone. She felt her rider involuntarily shuddered as a chill ran down Sarah's spine. "Oh my god !! Oh my god !! Who is that? Why is he threatening me?" Sarah panicked. Then she realized she, "Doesn't he know that I am the darling princess of this kingdom?" Her nostrils flared in fury, "how dare a rider like himself behave so lowly in front of a royalty like her?" "Maybe its because you have your Ghost outfit on and its hood is up. It is also rather suspicious of us to be out here watching those people doing their chores," her dragon suggested calmly not wanting to alarm the shocked girl despite herself seething with anger. She regained her composure and adjusted her face mask, making sure it doesn't come off when she does what is going through her mind. Finally, she answered the other rider in an uncaring manner, and tried to imitate a boy's voice as she had personally taught herself, "the name's Ghost and she is Shadow" patting Illiea on her neck.

"Well Ghost, I've been looking for you to challenge you to a duel, do you accept?" Eragon stated with no emotion in his voice. His face straight betraying nothing. "Why should I fight you?"'Ghost spoke again feeling puzzled. "They say you are a warrior of justice, is that true, my dear Ghost? They say you came along to even the scales of balance. Some even dare to say you are the best swordsman in the southern regions. They surely know how to praise you. Don't you think? I have heard a lot about your heroics, I just wanted to see for myself," Eragon taunted the hooded figure knowing well enough how to make sure this 'Ghost ' to accept his challenge. "And if I refuse?" 'Ghost spoke again, 'his' voice muffled coming from beneath his hood. Eragon smiled under his hood, he knew that it was a girl trying to bluff her way out of this with a boy's voice. After a few silent moments, he decided to play along with this little girl. "She's good," he thought to himself. He made a mental note to discuss this with Elva later. "She is not going to like it one bit," Saphira chuckled. Eragon just nodded understandingly. He wondered what would the 'Star Child' do if she found out her crush was a girl! Internally he chuckled keeping a straight, emotionless face.

"Well, if you refuse, I'll just accept you don't have any courage or honour. And I'll decide that you are doing all this for yourself, for your own fun, and not for the people as they believe you're doing," Eragon stated simply. Her temper flared, she would gladly accept being insulted, but never her role as Ghost. "How dare you stranger come to my province and insult me? I accept this silly challenge of yours, only if it doesn't involve the dragons," she practically yelled. It's a wonder nobody from below heard her. Illiea was clearly unhappy with the arrangement, as she too wanted to defend their role in Surda. But she knew she had no chance of defeating the other rider's dragon. Her sheer size and bulging muscles made it very clear. Where Illiea had speed and agility, the other dragon made up with strength, brutality, and experience. Her steely gaze pierced through Illiea's very soul. It was enough to bend her ego until she bowed ever so slightly in front of the other dragon. She realised just how much she is unmatched to the other dragon.

"Well, she's smart to avoid unnecessary injury to her dragon even in her fury," Eragon observed nodding his head. "At least she is not too arrogant to ignore a superior opponent. Even her dragon understands the situation and accepts our status though she seems reluctant to let her rider fight you alone," Saphira spoke through their mental connection. "They have faith in each other," Eragon noted before continuing,"Well, you too was never supportive of the idea of me fighting alone before this." "Well, trouble seemed to always find you during those times, and you were the only rider we had against 'Him'," she retorted.

Ghost and Shadow flew to a nearby meadow where both dragons could land. 'He' jumped down and took out his sword. He went into a battle stance patiently waiting for Eragon to join him. Only his eyes was visible gleaming even in such poor lighting conditions. Inside Sarah was jumping with excitement, but she kept it well hidden. This was the first time someone has challenged her to.a duel and she was determined to ace it. She needs to defend her tittle as the city's guardian. Eragon jumped down and crouched down on his knees to reduce the impact. His fall distance was much more higher compared to the other rider's fall thus the greater pressure. He stretched his body like a cat would and lazily brought out Bsingr, his famed sword. His did some light warm ups before getting into his battle stance.