Eragon watched Aelius intently as the boy awkwardly positioned the sword in his grip. It was obvious he had held a blade only for the image of safety and had never had to wield one in an actual fight before. But, he would learn quickly, and receive a multitude of bruises doing so. Smiling, Eragon reminisced on his first fights with Brom, and how surly he had become after being pummeled with the wooden stick on multiple occasions.

But, they were not fighting with wooden sticks now. Aelius hadn't the time to spare to start off with sticks. He had to learn quickly, and Eragon thought it best to start with the sword, in case the boy needed to defend himself at a moments notice.

Not wanting to overwhelm the boy, Eragon waited for Aelius to make the first move. But, it seemed he wasn't sure how to make the first hit. Eragon began to shuffle sideways, and Aelius copied his action until the both were circling each other.

'He's mirroring you,' Saphira commented, 'if you attack first this time, it may help him learn to do it himself.'

Eragon nodded. The boy had to learn one way or the other. And if he insisted on waiting-

Eragon was caught off guard in his thoughts as Aelius jumped forward, his sword swinging in an arc towards Eragon's left arm. It was nothing he couldn't handle with ease, but it was interesting to observe Aelius's fighting style. Eragon kept up a light defense, preferring to give Aelius the chance to continue fighting. His form was sloppy, but that was to be expected. The main thing Eragon was focused on was the speed with which Aelius could swing the blade. Despite missing his mark, the blade flew through the air with a speed that rivaled Eragon's own when he first began to practice with a sword. It was a skill that would be valuable further on in his training.

Finally, after Eragon was satisfied with what he had seen of Aelius's offensive technique, he blocked the blow towards his knee and retaliated, desiring to observe his defensive strategies. He kept his blows slower than usual and light, giving Aelius the chance to bring his sword up and stop his hit. He was more accurate in his defensive techniques than offensive, which was fortunate, but he still had a lot of work to do.

Eragon continued his assault, impressed that Aelius could continue blocking his blows for as long as he had, even if they were softened and slow. His endurance was the proof of many years of hard work. But, as a sheen of sweat began to appear on his brow, Eragon finally caught the cross guard of Aelius's blade and slipped the blade out of his hand.

Satisfied with the boys work, Eragon bent down and retrieved Aelius's sword for him, brushing the dirt of the hilt as he did so. With a mumbled, "thanks," he took the blade from his grasp and once again regained a grip on the sword.

"A remarkable first spar," Eragon said, momentarily sliding Brisingr into its sheath, "You're swift with your blows, but they must be on target in order to be effective. Try focusing on where you want the sword to land first, then increase the speed of your blow."

"Yes, Master."

And so the fighting went. Each time before they began the spar, Eragon would give Aelius a moment to attack first, and if he did not step forward to make the first blow, Eragon would dart forward and put him on the defense. Within the first few spars, Eragon could see the slightest amount of improvement in Aelius's aim. It was small, but still an improvement. And, after the first few fights, Eragon could see a small assortment of bruises blooming across the boys skin, and an overwhelming sense of nostalgia rose within him.

As for Aelius, he soon began to tire, and as he did so, his blows slowed and his sword arm drooped in exhaustion. His blows became weak as he barely managed to swing his sword towards Eragon. And, when Eragon disarmed him the final time, he dropped to the ground, his energy depleted to bare minimums.

Sheathing Brisingr for the final time, Eragon outstretched his hand and helped him up. He asked the boy if he was alright, to which he recieved a mumbled response. In his mind he heard Saphira chuckling, but he ignored her for the moment. Instead, he focused his energy into creating an imprint in the ground and using the ancient language to draw water into the shallow depression. Aelius immediately dropped back to his knees to scoop up the pure liquid and sate his thirst.

As Saphira's laughing grew louder, Eragon finally let his curiousity win over. He allowed a questioning thought to cross there mental link, to which she responded.

'He reminds me of you in so many ways, but his pride is not one of them,' she said in a sure voice.

'What do you mean?'

'I mean, he is not as proud as you once were. Answer me this, back when you first began sparring with Brom and would recieve a beating at the end of his stick, would you have allowed him to help you back up?'

Thinking back to his sour moods after having been bested by the older man, Eragon allowed himself a chuckle, 'No, I guess I would not have.'

Satisfied that she had proven a point, Saphira began to settle back into her relaxed, yet vigilant, mood. But, Eragon sensed a sudden change in her demeanor. Her thoughts grew rigid as her attention focused on something. But, moments before he could ask, she informed him of what she had sensed.

'Leora returns. She is a considerable distance away still, but I believe she will be here within the hour.'

'Ah, we will have to question her on her whereabouts,' Eragon replied, suddenly curious.

'Eragon,' Saphira warned, 'tread carefully. Leora is a dragon. And, we are very.... prideful. By questioning her it may give the sense that you do not trust her.'

'So you believe we should simply say nothing?'

'I did not say that. What I mean is ask her out of simple curiousity. Or, better yet, out of genuine, caring concern.'

'Who said I wasn't asking out of concern?'

'No one. Just remember that we dragons do not take well to insults and one of the worst insults is to question our loyalties.'

Eragon looked over his shoulder to where Saphira lay in the short grass, studying him intently. He responded slowly, finally understanding where her thoughts were beginning to travel.

'I do not believe it will be Leora,' he said, his mind reflecting to Elva's morbid news, 'I dont know who will. But, I cannot help but be suspicious of many things. I mean, the last time I was told I would be betrayed... I did not give it any consideration and because of it I endangered the both of us. This time I will not be taken by surprise when it happens. I will be ready whether it is Leora or someone I do not even know yet.'

'And do you truly believe it will not be Leora?' Saphira asked in a tone that would allow for nothing but the truth. Eragon, taking a deep breath, replied with what he felt was the true answer in his heart.

'I do not.'

Saphira's pride and love washed over him. 'I am glad. And Eragon, it is one thing to prepare for the future, but do not let it consume you. What happens will happen. We will learn from it; we will grow from it. And Eragon, I refuse to sit back and watch you dwell on this until you turn on everyone you love.'

Eragon nodded, taking a deep breath as he did so. Of course, he did not wish for that to happen, yet he could not simply dispel his worries on a whim. If he could, he would have. He waited patiently as he began to feel a familiar mind brush his own. She was closer than he expected, close enough that he should have been able to sense her sooner.

"Master," Aelius asked beside him, "are you well?"

Eragon started, surprised by the boy's approach. He had not realized that Aelius had joined him and berated himself for putting too much attention into his thoughts.

"I am," Eragon responded simply, "Are you ready to continue?"

"Yes," he said hesitantly, glancing down at his sword. Eragon chuckled at his reaction.

"No, not with the sword. We've done enough with the sword today."

Aelius visibly relaxed, a sigh escaping his lips as he smiled in relief. "What will we be doing next, Master?"

Eragon did not answer immediately as he looked to the sky. He could see, barely visible through the clouds, a faint purple shape hurtling towards the earth. Looking at his surroundings, he could see no piece of landscape suitable for his next lesson and instead settled for using the ground. Striding to a random spot, he flattened the grasses down and gestured for Aelius to come towards him. He did so immediately, and as soon as he had joined him, Eragon pointed to the ground.

"Next, I shall have you meditate. Clear your mind, and allow yourself to think of nothing, but instead everything. It will be difficult, nearly impossible, at first. But, the more you do this, the easier it will become," Eragon said as Aelius situated himself cross-legged on the ground.

"Master? How will I know if my mind is clear if I cannot think my mind is clear?"

Eragon did not know how to respond, so in lack of a way to explain the sensation to Aelius, he simply said, "You will know."

And, he strode away, leaving him to his thoughts and his surroundings. A soft breeze blew the taller grasses around him, brushing his legs as he strode towards Saphira. He could visibly see the silver in Leora's scales as she continued her descent towards them. And, as she landed on the ground mere feet away from him, Eragon could see Aelius jump. His eyes flung open to discern what had caused the ground to shake, and as he recognized the purple dragon, he allowed his eyes to slide shut once more.

'I must say, I didn't expect a welcoming-committee,' Leora said in amusement as she gazed at Eragon and Saphira waiting for her. Her tone did not contain irritation or anything else that might depict negative feelings towards them. It was simply her normal attitude and outlook.

'Aye, we were just beginning to wonder what you had gotten yourself into now. Glad to see whatever it was has left you in one piece,' Eragon teased.

Ruffling her scales, Leora puffed out her chest and responded, 'As if anything could stand a chance against me.'

Eragon could mentally feel Saphira's tail twitch as she longed to pounce playfully on the other dragon. But, she was just as curious to know where Leora had left to and disciplined herself for the moment.

'Be that as it may, I cant help but wonder what could have consumed your attention for this long, for I have not seen hide nor tail of you since the attack earlier today.'

Leora moved her wings casually, settling herself down into a comfortable position in the grass. 'I have been flying, deeper into the Empire. I thought it best to scout out the areas around us. We had a band of soldiers following the Varden a league or so back-'

'Had?' Saphira questioned in amusement.

Leora pulled her lips back in a toothy grin. 'I thought it best to... Complicate their travels. It will be difficult to follow us now that their wagon wheels have burned and most of their oxen are dead.'

'Clever,' Saphira said, a laugh rumbling from her chest as Leora continued.

'But, my main reason for slipping away is that I felt the need to grow in my bones. It was strong, and I did not want to be around others when the urge struck. It is already an unpleasant experience without eyes pressing upon my every feature.'

'How far away did you go?' Eragon asked.

'I did not plan to go as far as I did, but when I picked up the scent of the soldiers I strayed farther than I intended out of curiousity. If I had to guess, I would say I flew a league or two away from the city.'

Eragon nodded in understanding. And, as he realized that he was wrong about Leora, a tinge of shame seeped into his thoughts for having suspicions about her actions. She was dedicated to protecting him, why would she ever do anything to hurt him?

'Have you two begun your training?' Leora asked, motioning her snout towards where Aelius was sitting.

'Yes, I'm not sure how well it is going, but at least he is learning something. If I can help keep him alive, then I'll be happy.'

'You'll do more than that, I'm sure,' Leora responded, laying herself down onto the ground, the grass flattening beneath her like unused parchment.

'How can you be so sure?' Eragon asked.

'Because you have good instincts. You are selfless and brave, Eragon, and I have no doubt that you will train Aelius to be as skilled of a warrior as you are.'

'Thank you, Leora,' Eragon said, the iron bands of his guilt tightening around his chest at her praise.

But, his guilt was covered by Saphira's pride in him as she embraced his mind. 'She's right Eragon. Oromis would be proud.'

Smiling, Eragon thanked them both and turned back to Aelius. "That will be enough for today, we will train more tomorrow, but after the trying events earlier, I assume you would like to rest."

"Thank you, Master," Aelius responded, standing and stretching his muscles.

"We will meet at the city gate tomorrow at noonday, at which time we will commence our training once more."

Aelius smiled and agreed. Eragon returned the smile before turning and heading back to the city of Bellatona, his energy utterly spent as he longed for the comfort of a bed within the city walls and for his waking dreams that would infuse his limbs with energy. Smiling, he unconsciously lengthened his strides, carried forward by the desire to rest in comfort and safety.

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

AN: I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. IVE BEEN EXTREMELY BUSY LATELY. BUT! I HAVE 2 QUESTIONS FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ACTUALLY READ THE AUTHORS NOTES...

1. Who is your favorite character (and if you are feeling up to it, why?)

2. Who would you like to see more of in this book?

IF YOU COULD ANSWER THOSE TWO QUESTIONS FOR ME, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. AGAIN IM REALLY SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS TOOK, AND I HOPE THE NEXT UPDATE WONT TAKE AS LONG, AND THANKS FOR EVERYONE WHO HAS STUCK AROUND!!! PLEASE,

READ/COMMENT/VOTE

THANKA YOUUU

~Bert