"Galbatorix", I mutter under my breath, testing the name. He chuckles, obviously hearing me no matter how much I tried to lower my voice.

"It is a lot", he says in that seductive voice of his, and I couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It isn't until Vascar presses up against my mind that I snap out of my little trance. Mumbling a quick apology to Vascar, I look back up at Galbatorix.

"Sorry, I'm just..... Tired", I say, only slightly lying. I was getting tired but that definitely wasn't the reason for my unfocusness.

"It is fine Talia...... But, I was just wondering, since you are new here, who is your master?"

Oh no. Part of me did not want to tell him who my elder was. What if he thought I was different and decided I was too strange to talk to? But, then again, he might think I'm more special than the rest and decide to stick around..... It was too tempting to pass up.

"Oromis and Glaedr", I say trying not to let a hint of pride creep into my voice. But I couldn't help feel a bit satisfied by seeing the look on his face. He was obviously impressed.

"Oromis huh?", he said looking somewhere over my left shoulder, "interesting indeed. Aren't you one of his only students?"

"Yes, one of three."

"Impressive", Galbatorix says, now looking at me again, with a kind smirk on his lips, then he continues, "would you like me to walk you home?"

"If you would like", I say, my heart starting to beat faster by the second.

"It would be my pleasure", he says holding out his arm. I lightly grab it and together we walk the rest of the way up the street, together. At that point, I wished more than anything else in the world, that it lived farther away.

Behind us, Vascar flies up and lands on Jarnunvösk's back, settling himself down in the hollow of her neck. Through our mental link, I could sense the two of them having a conversation through images and feelings.

All too soon, we arrive at my door, and Vascar departs, flying up to the opening in the wall so he would not have to climb up the stairs, and also to get used to it for when he gets larger. I couldn't help feeling anxious at being semi-alone with Galbatorix..... Though I was probably getting worked up over nothing.

"Well Talia, this is where I leave you", he says grabbing my hand once more and kissing it, "for now. I hope to see you again?"

"I do too", I say my heart pounding to such a rate I felt it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Good, I shall meet you in the Entrance Hall of the Eragonian Training Center after lessons. Until then."

And with that, he lets go of my hand and scales up Jarnunvösk's side, waves a quick goodbye, and then is gone into the darkening night sky. When he is out of sight, I start my climb up the smooth stone steps into my small room above. Once inside, the only thing I am capable of is flopping down on my bed and letting out a loud sigh. It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life.

Hopping up onto my bed, Vascar settles onto my chest and sends me a playful emotion of a love sick fool. Pushing against his head half-heartedly, I say, 'oh stop it you', before closing my eyes and drifting off to sleep with wonderful visions of Galbatorix in my head.

~*~

The next morning I wake to a sharp prod to my mind and awake with a start. Next to me sits Vascar, staring at me disapprovingly with those ice blue eyes of his. Sending a mental image of the time and training, I realize I almost slept in..... Again. I quickly slide on a tunic and leggings, put on my hunting boots, and grab a loaf of bread before striding out of the room. I wasn't running as late today so I did not need to run, and the training center is closer than the Salr Ríkr so I wasn't too worried.

Looking down at Vascar, I couldn't believe how big he was getting. Even though it had only been five days since he had hatched, he had easily already doubled in size. Would he always grow this fast?

We made to the training hall in good time, but I did not stop to gaze at the sights in the hall for we were still in a hurry. Heading down the hall that Oromis lead me down earlier, I push through the door with minutes, maybe seconds, to spare.

"Hello Talia, good to see you made it here alright", Oromis says from across the room. Looking to the right of him, I notice someone else standing next to him. It was Morzan.

"Thank you Oromis-elda", I say walking over next to Morzan, determined to show him I was not intimidated by him. Or at least act like it.

"Today, I have decided it shall be just the two of you, and I shall have training with Brom later today. So let's begin. Vascar, normally you would practice outside with Glaedr and Dagshúro, but being as small and young as you are, we will have you stay in here with us until you are larger", Oromis says to Vascar and I, then he continues to only Vascar, "though I still expect you to connect your mind with Glaedr to hear what he is teaching and also pay attention here."

Vascar dips his head in understanding, then crawls over to the far wall, the one completely clear, and sits down. That way he would be able to watch what was going on inside and also what was going on outside. Glancing outside myself, I notice that the field is a lot more organized than before, with each dragon elder in their own space with their students. There were large spaces in between each group with no one except the ones being trained on the field.

At the moment Dagshúro was in the air, doing mock battle with another dragon as Glaedr watched. He dipped and dove around this dragon, doing everything he could to get past its defenses. The dragon was a dark forest green. It was Jarnunvösk.

She was beating Morzan's dragon at every turn and he was getting frustrated. Finally letting loose a frustrated burst of flame into her face, he dips down underneath her and loosely grabs her neck, allowing the fire to do his dirty work. It was a low way to win the battle, but both land soon after this, Jarnunvösk walking over to Lokor, and Dagshúro over to Glaedr.

Through the mental link I hear Glaedr say, 'Dagshúro, you must learn to overcome these battles without resulting to low trickery. I am impressed with your recognizing of the odds being against you, but come up with a more creative way to overcome these odds.'

'Yes master', he responds in a masculine, but not deep, voice. I was shocked hearing his voice for the first time. I expected something more deep and rough. Then he continues saying, 'I will-'

"Talia!", Oromis says, snapping me out of the conversation on the field, "you must learn to split your focus both ways, not put all your mind into listening to only one."

"Sorry Oromis-elda."

"Now, as I was saying, before we start today, I would like to teach you the Rimgar, or The Dance of Snake and Crane. It is a series of poses designed to improve your flexibility and keep one in shape. There are four different levels of the Rimgar, each more difficult than the last. Morzan, you may start on your own on level three. Talia, today we will learn level one", he says as Morzan starts doing a series of very complicated poses that almost make me cringe.

"Now Talia, the first thing I would like you to do is to bring you hands from your sides to above your head", Oromis says as I do what I'm told, he looks over everything before continuing, "now bend down, bring your palms to the ground, and jump back."

Following those directions, I barely make it all the way down to the ground then quickly jump back. Oromis has me do that a few more times before moving on to the next pose. I had difficulty with many of the poses while Oromis seemed able to do them perfectly.

By the end I was sweating profusely. I would have never guessed that it would take that much work, and I was only on the first level! Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Morzan looking triumphant at my hard time with the first level of the Rimgar. It did nothing but fuel my rage to that man.

"Good, good, now Morzan, if you would go into..... The room to practice.... Something", Oromis says giving a meaningful look to Morzan. He nods curtly before turning and walking out of the room, but not before tossing a cocky smirk at me.

Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I ask, "Oromis-elda, what room are you talking about? And what is he practicing?"

"You shall know that in good time, but you should work harder to hold in your questions of things that do not concern you", Oromis reprimands. I say nothing as I nod ashamed. It wasn't like I expected an answer, but it was worth a try.

After the Rimgar, Oromis has me grab the same sword for the wall of weapons and we spar once more for about 30 minutes. More bruises are added to the collection I had received the day before and I predict being soar for the next few days because of it. After our very tiring match, Oromis walks me over to the wall and pulls down an armful of scrolls and hands them to me.

"These are several scrolls about the history of Alagaësia. I would like you to read them to give you a decent knowledge of the stories of this land", he says after I shift all the scrolls into a comfortable position.

A warm feeling starts to creep across my face as my cheeks turn a rosy red. I was sincerely glad Morzan wasn't there as I said timidly, not meeting his eyes, "I cannot, Oromis-elda."

Oromis's thin eyebrows raise as he says, "oh? And why is that?"

In barely more than I whisper I say, "because I cannot read."

Pity and remorse show in his eyes as he looks at me. I decide my hunting boots are very interesting as I stare down at them, unable to meet his eyes.

"Ok Talia, come sit down at the table here then."

Following the directions without a word, I shuffle over to the large oak table and sit down quickly. In front of me, Oromis places a blank sheet of parchment and a fine quill. Then, walking to the other side of the table, he also sits down with the parchment and quill in front of him. As Oromis bends his head low over the parchment, I feel something wrap itself around my legs and a comforting thought presses up against my mind. Looking down, I watch Vascar jump up into my lap, humming softly in reassurance.

'Thank you', I murmur softly to him, and the humming grows louder.

Looking back up, I see Oromis watching me intently. I quickly shake my head to rid it of distracting thoughts and focus back on the lesson.

"This", Oromis says pointing to a strange ruin he had inked onto the parchment, "is the letter A, its sound is what you hear when you say dragon, Vascar, and apple", he finishes, pointing to an apple sitting on the edge of his table, which he then tosses to me seconds later. I take a bite, savori g the sweet juice the runs down my chin, mumbling a thank you in the process.

For the next hour, Oromis had me point out objects that sounded like they had the letter "A" in them. It was hard work and I got more wrong than I did right, but by the end I seemed to have slightly mastered that letter. At the very least, Oromis seemed satisfied by my progress.

"That is all for today", he said, standing up and stretching his limbs, "this will be our normal training routine until you learn how to read. We will start with the Rimgar, spar for a short time, then work on your ruins."

"Yes, master."

He nods then turns to Vascar and asks, "tell me one way Glaedr suggested to Dagshúro to best a quicker opponent."

Through our mental link, I sense Vascar show Oromis an image of Dagshúro doing a flip in air to reach the backside of another dragon. Oromis nods his head than looks to me.

"Glaedr scolded Dagshúro when he bested his opponent, why is that?"

"He achieved his victory by resorting to tricks", I say confidently, having watched the battle myself.

"Very good... Very good...... You are free to go Talia. I shall see you here same time tomorrow", Oromis says with a strange gleam in his eye. With a short goodbye, I run out of the doors and head for the entrance hall, my heart racing in anticipation of seeing him again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

AN: HEY SORRY FOR THE SHORT CHAPTER BUTTTTTT I DIDNT WANT TO TRY AND SMASH THE OTHER PART INTO THIS ONE AND MAKE IT ÜBER LONG AND ALSO I WANT THE NEXT PART TO BE FANTABULOUS!!!!!!!!! HEE HEE <3 SO IM GONNA GET WORKING ON THAT RIGHT NOW AND HOPEFULLY HAVE A SECOND CHAPTER OUT HERE SHORTLY :)

REMEMBER TO...........

READ/comment/VOTE!!!!!!

THANKA YOUUU

~Bert