Curse of the Phoenix

Ch.9 -To Dine with a Dragon

I saw a sword. I didn't have a sword! The sheath was black, black like Grimm's scales. Coincidence? It seemed about two feet long. I looked at it, unable to process it. The sword wasn't even big enough to fit inside my knapsack! I lifted it up gingerly. The hilt seemed to be made of steel wrapped in leather.

The crossguard was made of blackened steel. Almost as if it was scorched. The pommel had a chunk of black rock I couldn't identify. I gripped the hilt. The leather felt old and worn. I clenched my hand around it, and slowly drew the blade out. It made a sort of shrieking sound as metal scraped against metal. I heard Eragon pause in the kitchen.

"Iara?" He called.

"What?"

"What was that?"

"I don't know!"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, i'm fine!"

"Do you want me to come up there?"

"Yes!" I heard him come up the stairs rather quickly. He knocked softly.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah." The door creaked open. I had set down the sword on my bed and put everything eklse up and away by the pillow. The sword was the center of attention at the moment. I was standing there, staring at it. Eragon was behind me. He knelt so he was as tall as I was.

"Iara? Is this yours?"

"I don't think so, i've never seen it before.'

"Then how..."

"It came out of my bag. It's too big to even fit in there!"

"Magic.." he whispered under his breath. He seemed to be speaking to himself. Maybe he hadn't intended to say that out loud. I pretended not to hear.

"What?"

"Nothing. Come on, dinner is ready." He sheathed what little of the blade was visible very carefully, as if he was afraid the thing would turn around and kill him. He did however leave it on the bed. After that he walked out slow enough so that he could keep pace with me. When we went downstairs the atmosphere was the opposite I expected it to be. The table itself was mostly empty, except for two small human sized places that were set, and two giant wooden trenchers next to those. The trenchers were loaded with some kind of meat I couldn't identify. It was charred. The human places weren't set. There were two bowls in between them. everything was wooden except for the silverware. Saphira was seated behind Eragon, and one of the wooden plates was for her it seemed. So the other was for Grimm. Away from the table the atmosphere was also opposite of earlier.

The fireplace roared, making the whole room warm and cozy. Outisde the windows the sunset was visible. It was so....homey here. It made me think of ho-........nothing. Wait. Maybe I could control it. If I tried hard enough. I turned around as I heard Grimm's steps, his claws clacking on the stone. Eragon walked past me and to the table. I followed. Grimm walked alongside me and settled in front of his plate.

Grimm, what is that? I asked, referring to the meat.

It's one of those giant snails. Apparently you can eat them.

How did it get here?

Me and Saphira were hunting while you cleaned up.

Oh. Did you do anything else?

Not really. After that we brought the kills back here. But Eragon was upstairs, assisting you. Later he came back down, and so did you.

He seemed amused by something.

What? I asked.

You should have grabbed a towel before you took a bath.

It's not my fault!

I never said it was. Eragon sat down at his place, making me re-focus. I sat down at mine. It was a bit silent, and awkward for the first five seconds. Then Eragon reached for one of the bowls. He offered it to me.

'Do you want some?" He asked. All I could see was a pile of leaves.

"What is it?"

"Salad."

"What's salad?"

"Veggies, I guess."

"Does it taste good?"

"I think so. You don't have to have any if you don't want to. There's soup in the other bowl." Now, I had never even heard of salad, but soup I had. And I knew that soup was good. 

"Can I have some soup?"

"Of course." I already had a bowl and a spoon. He had a ladle. Soon I had a steaming bowl. All I could see through the broth was carrots, celery, and some sort of meat. I took a bite and once again regretted it. I had forgotten to let it cool down. The soup burned a track down my throat.

'Ah!" I cried. I fanned my tongue and it sort of helped. "Do you have anything to drink?" I asked. Eragon nodded.

"There's a whole lot of cold water in the other room. Want me to get it for you?"

'I can get it."

"The water's behind the counter." I grabbed my cup and practically ran into the other room. I saw what he had been talking about. There was a stream running through the castle. It bubbled through the bricks towards one corner, then gently ran downwards until it exited through the bricks, leading outside. The water was clear. If Eragon said it was safe, then I guess it was. I crouched down and filled the cup with water. I hesitantly sipped a bit. To my surprise, the water was freezing cold. Of course. I probably had to wait for it to warm up, and by the time it was my soup would be too cold for the water to help. With my luck so far that sounded likely. I came back to the table and sat down. The soup was good, in fact I hadn't had a proper meal since....in some time, but I didn't want to burn myself. Eragon was silently eating his 'salad'. I sat in silence as I waited for my food to cool. I noticed that Saphira had pretty much devoured all of her....snail steak? Fried snail? Whatever it was called. But Grimm had barely touched his. 

Grimm, why aren't you eating?

I thought it best to wait for you. 

Why?

It seemed polite. Also, then we wouldn't all have to watch you eat in silence later. We might be able to listen to them talk.

Good point. And nice of you.

Well, would you like me to chow down? The meat smells....delectable.

No! You can wait for me.

Oh. I assumed you were being sarcastic there.

Well I wasn't!

I know.