Eragon ( Riders of the Lands across the Sea )

-Chapter 11- Surda, here I come!!

The present time.........

                Eragon and Elva kept speeding towards Surda. It was nearly night and Saphira was exhausted. They had not stopped last night due to Elva's persistence that they should make the trip as fast as possible. 'We rest here tonight and shall make our journey into Surda,' Eragon decided. 'But we are so near to it, we can make it in time for a good supper and warm bed in King Orin's castle,' Elva protested. 'Did you hit your head recently?' Eragon calmly questioned her. Elva frowned, she did not like being treated like a child. She shook her head. Satisfied, Eragon continued, 'Then how did you forget that King Orin and I had a row when he refused to bow under Nasuada's leadership? That matter is yet to be resolved. Every moment we stay in Surda is precarious. Remember to keep your head low while we are there tomorrow, and do not loose your temper. We must tread carefully until we have met the 'Ghost'. We leave as soon as we meet him, is that understood?' Elva nodded her head. Her mood brightened immediately at the mention of 'Ghost's name. They made camp and ate cold rice. Saphira went straight to sleep after her hunt. Eragon volunteered to take the first watch, but Elva was not ready to sleep yet. Instead, she ushered him to sleep first while she dreamily thought about the 'Ghost'. The moon slowly crept across the sky as the sun began to rise, and she haven't even woken up Eragon for his shift. Eragon finally woke up from his sleep like trance that has now replaced his sleep. He stood up stretching savouring the cool morning breeze. He noticed Elva already up, if she had any sleep at all and was absent-mindedly staring at the disappearing stars. He knew she never woke him up for his turn at the watch. Saphira was still sleeping, so he let her have a few more extra moments.

                       'What are you thinking about?' he cautiously started a conversation. 'Stuff,' she replied half-heartedly. 'Okay,' Eragon replied and let the silence grow. Soon it was time to leave.......

Meanwhile in the southern parts of Surda,

        Sarah’s temporary exile was over, and she was ready to return to Surda. She had packed everything last night. She could hardly sleep out of excitement. She woke up with a jolt of power and prepared herself. She took on the stairs with one leap, something her tutors would scold her for if they saw it, though most will only sigh and shake their heads. Nobody dared to challenge a princess after all. She was about to enter the dining hall when she saw Oscar was already there and was blocking her path. He just stood there and watched her. She matched his gaze with a steely stare. The eye contest lasted a good two minutes before Oscar gave up. He politely stepped back to give her access to the dining hall. She smirked and went to sit at her preferred place. Oscar took his place beside her.

 ‘Um, Sarah?’ he stammered. ‘Yes?’ she raised an eyebrow. ‘You never gave an answer about yesterday,’ his shaky voice barely reaching her ears. ‘I said I’ll think about it, remember?’ she raised her voice. ‘You haven’t made a decision?’ his voice raised a note higher than his first few feeble attempts. ‘Such live changing decisions, I would like to take my time to decide. You do not want to rush this type of decisions, do you?’ she chided him. When he shook his head, she nodded satisfied and continued,’ so I think you can understand what I mean. Thank you’. ‘Well you certainly did not take your time to announce your decision to remove the post from my family linage,’ he challenged, confidence slowly building. He would put up a good defence for his family before going down to her. ‘Hell, I might even win this round,’ he thought to himself. ‘The decision was made a long time ago. Then, I was a small girl driven by anger that I felt the urge to use my own authority to neutralize the Duke’s authority. However, over the years I have matured and grown. I now know the full scale of this problem and I wish to put an end to it,’ she explained though she knew she did not need to.

Oscar tried to reply when her aunt, more precisely his mom entered the hall with several servants behind her. ‘Here’s breakfast darlings,’ she purred. Both made a face but kept quiet and helped themselves to the breakfast placed in front of them. When he tried to open his mouth, he earned a death glare from Sarah and never dared to open his mouth till breakfast was over. After eating she said her goodbyes to her uncle and aunt, deliberately avoiding Oscar and left swiftly. She never looked back though she could feel them watch her go. She never realize the sigh of her uncle and aunt though Illiea heard it and the tears that formed near Oscar’s eyes. He had fallen for this fierce, cold-hearted, swift, daring, and rebellious Sarah. Though she has not got the slightest idea of it. He swiftly wiped them off as he promised himself to develop into someone worthy of her love. 

Meanwhile back in Surda,

                King Orin was sitting at his throne fuming at his guards. He had told them to search for the ‘Ghost’ and although a large amount of energy and time was spent, there was no result to show for it. All their efforts ended up fruitless. The ‘Ghost’ seemed to have vanished into thin air. Nobody had any information about him. Even the people of Surda are puzzled. Some even suggested that the King had already killed both the ‘Ghost’ and his dragon. But King Orin was quick to assure them that no such deeds will be done, “for now at least”, he added to himself. His daughter will arrive at night fall, so his best chance to capture this ‘Ghost’ is this afternoon. ‘Search again,’ he stated simply. ‘Sir, our men are worn out and tired. The entire army could do with a few days of rest. Please consider this matter Sir, his general spoke with a mix of fear in his voice. Brian cleared his throat, to speak up….

At that moment, a messenger ran in.

‘Sir, a dragon was spotted at the Northern gate!!! Our towers confirm that it is a blue dragon Sir. Initial speculation has led to Saphira and Eragon Kingslayer….. Sir, due to the sheer size of the dragon,’ the messenger breathlessly told the news to the King. ‘Hmm, look who has come for a visit,’ King Orin mussed. ‘Tell the Palace guard to have this placed secured. I want at least four guards by my side and our entire magician clan behind my throne. Have two guards placed at each council’s side. I want everyone in this room except our visitors to have a weapon.  Nobody is to enter without my permission and make sure they are unarmed. Signal the Northern Gate sentinels to stand down. Tell them I made an exception for this pair. Make sure the dragon is fed far away from the palace. I do not want to feel its influence on me. Is that clear?’ he asked after belting out a lengthy order. Servants ran around carrying the message and the order was quickly seen through. King Orin sat at his throne satisfied with the preparation as he waited his much disliked guests.

At that moment, a messenger ran in and announced the arrival of Eragon and his creation Elva, though she was much more beautiful than he had last seen her. His interest suddenly perked up at the sight of her curvy yet well-built body. She was standing close to Eragon, far too close in his opinion. As he had ordered, both have been stripped of their weapons. However, King Orin felt a lone sweat drop trickle down his spine as he tasted fear. He knew that even with such preparation, he was at a disadvantage. The smirk at their face confirmed it. His throat suddenly felt dry. He could see the paled face of his other council members as they too recognize the silent threat. Clearly, they do not want to get on a rider’s bad side, especially when this one was the leader of all future riders and slayer of Galbotrix himself.

                Eragon stood there examining the situation. He was sure with combined effort of his and Elva, they could undo this little preparation King Orin had prepared. Alone, he was not so sure. He did not know which way Elva would pick, so he decided to play along with the King first. ‘It’s always best to avoid few unnecessary fights and casualties,’ he remembered Brom advising him as if it was just yesterday. ‘King Orin, I see you have stepped up your security. Almost double the number during the Great War. As anything happened that has threatened your safety?’ he asked trying hard to keep the sneer out of his voice as he bowed lightly. Elva followed suit as she smiled warmly. One could easily mistake her as an ordinary farm girl if they did not notice the dragon mark on her brow. ‘Dangerous times these are, Eragon,’ the King spoke monotonously. He dropped his voice further an added,’ times where Riders become robbers and murderers. There was a gasp from the watching audience. Most held their breath of as they waited to see Eragon’s reaction to that remark……………….

             

A/N

what do you think??? how was it??? should i add something else??? Give me ur comments and ideas if u wanna see one or two of your ideas along the story, Give your suggestion on names for the other characters (please specify human, dragons, drawes, elves, urgals, werecats, shades, and even the rider's sword).

What do u think about Illiea's pic? too violent??? Tl me ur opinion....

Njoy reading!!! take care.