Luminescent (Inheritance Cycle and Beyond)

Chapter Six: Luminescent

Eragon nervously turned in a circle as I prowled around him, inspecting all of his weak spots. I lunged at him, letting my sword come down at an angle. Eragon brought his red sword up in time to block my strike, but before he could take a swing at me, I ducked down and rolled behind him.

Eragon practically tripped over his feet spinning around, blocking my downward strike, our swords clashed Eragon's face twisted with early exhaustion. I quickly forced him backward until he fell onto his back. I pounced on his chest and held my dagger to his throat. Eragon was breathing heavily beneath me while I hadn't even put much energy into the fight.

"You're still too stiff." I pushed off of Eragon and looked at Brom. "You need to relax your body completely."

"I'll keep working on that," I said sighing while Eragon got up off of the ground and gaped at me.

"What was that?" He practically shouted.

"That, was you failing miserably," Brom said with a puff of his pipe. I put my sword back into its sheath and returned my dagger to my boot. "Continue your exercises after we eat dinner."

I nodded my head and crouched down in front of the fire, putting dried meat and herbs into the boiling water before stirring it. The mixture bubbled away as Eragon sat down on a log and huffed.

"How long?" I glanced up at Eragon.

"Since I was four." Eragon's face turned blue then red before returning to its original color.

"Why?"

"I...I felt the need to learn how to wield a weapon. Brom has been teaching me since."

"I hope we're going in the right direction because we'll be in trouble if we don't reach Yazuac today."

I glared at the back of Eragon's head as Cadoc trotted in the direction of Yazuac. I was giving Alethea a break from riding, and I was on the verge of regretting my choice. Riding a horse wasn't fun.

"I can hear your simmering thoughts, do you want me to pick you up?" I smiled at Alethea's voice.

"No, you need to build up your wing strength, I'll be fine. How's the weather up there?"

"Pleasant, there is a slight wind that feels nice when Saphira and I coast around."

"Well, enjoy the beautiful weather, we should be reaching Yazuac by nightfall, we can stock up and depart quickly. Tell Saphira that her rider needs to have more faith in Brom."

"I will, enjoy your ride on the small animal."

"I am most definitely not enjoying this, I will talk to you tonight," I replied before returning my attention to Brom and Eragon.

"Mal stay here, I don't like the feeling of this." I let out a little growl before dismounting Cadoc.

"Fine." Eragon and Brom headed towards Yazuac while I made camp out of sight with the company of Alethea and Saphira. It wasn't long before Saphira let out a roar. "Saphira go, lead them back here."

Saphira launched her body into the air and flew fast in the direction of Yazuac while Alethea and I paced around the small campfire. After a few minutes, Alethea started to growl and shake.

"What's wrong?" I said, placing a hand on her flank, Alethea filtered Saphira's sight into my mind, and I let out a hiss. "Urgal's, they killed the entire village, Brom's hurt, and Eragon almost killed himself. I knew that village didn't feel right."