Curse of the Phoenix

Ch.31 -Stormfang

Iara~

I didnt bring much in the first place, so that made packing easier. Marumen had a bit more possesions than I did with me, so i had to help him. All I had to do was roll up my bedroll, tie that and the two bags I had to the saddle. I had to take one of his bags. And then we were done. Eragon had finished. He looked over at us. Then he climbed into the saddle. Dru and the others were waiting by the fire. I ran over and into their arms.

"Remember your promise, Dru!"

"I will. Be careful, okay?"

"I'll try!" Then I backed up, and without a second glance got into the saddle. I was sad to leave them, but also excited to go home. Marumen was waiting for us on Virtue.

Saphira jumped up before flapping her wings and soaring into the sky. Virtue took off, and circled over the camp as she waited for us. Grimm took a running start, then made his way into the clouds. I gazed down at the campsite. Verdana stood on her hind legs and uttered a mournful trumpet. Grimm responded in kind. Then we turned toward the sea. Apparently this way was quicker.

I gazed behind us and watched as the figures onshore faded. The glint of dragonscale dissapeared, and eventually the land did as well. All you could see were the blue waves, the tops tipped with soft white foam. They made their own music, a sort of roaring. It was nice. But the air smelled like salt again. I felt a shudder run along Grimm's length, then he made a loud, jittery noise. When he did his whole body jolted forward, interrupting his flight and causing us to fall a few dozen feet before he could right himself. I nearly impaled my head on one of the spikes.

Grimm! What just happened?!

I....dont know. He shook again, and this time we didnt fall so far.

Are you alright?

Yes im fine dont worry about me. I think...no... Waves of amusement rolled off of him.

What?

I have the hiccups. I broke out in laughter. Shaking as if I had the hiccups as well.

Its not funny...

Are you kidding? Its hilarious!

I was still laughing to myself. Eragon and Marumen most likely couldn't hear, the wind ate my words. Yet as I looked over I could see a small smile on Eragon's face. Marumen, however, was gazing in awe at the sea. Oh yeah, that's right, he hadn't made a journey like this before. I just hoped we wouldn't come across that thing again. It almost swallowed me and Grimm whole! Usually Grimm was the one who did the eating of smaller creatures. The whole experience had changed my perspective. Unless...how big was Grimm going to get? Maybe he would be bigger than whatever that was one day. He never had stopped growing.

I looked ahead, and saw a large bunch of clouds. They were fat and puffy, like they had eaten and eaten. I guess they had, Eragon told me they got full of water and then dumped it back out. I jumped as I saw a small, quick flash. Lightning? Then I cringed as I felt something brush up against my mind.

Eragon?

Iara, a storm is brewing. We should have waited another day....

Is that bad?

Not really, but its going to take longer because we have to fly either through or around it.

What are we going to do?

I dont know yet...let me talk to Marumen. He should probably know as well. While im at that, get your coat on. Either way, we're probably going to get rained on.