Let Me Be Your Wings

Chapter 12

For an entire week Eragon underwent rigorous and unique training. He went to bed late reading books Oromis gave him, and awoke early where he was made to meditate for a few hours. By the end of the week, he was already exhausted. What made it worse is that his back erupted in pain whenever he stretched or moved in awkward ways. The pain was always intense, sending him to the ground writhing.

The mental toll the training took on Eragon was insane. He went from excited to miserable in one week. He was thankful he was with another Rider, but he did not fully understand the training techniques Oromis did. It was Saphira who had to calm him down each day. She was really the only one keeping him sane. Since his training, he barely got to see Ellesmera, or Gwen. He really missed spending time with her and promised himself that he would go see her as much as he could. Being apart from her for long periods of time added to his discomfort and distracted him.

Eragon yawned, but refused to go to bed. Saphira was curled up on her bed, gazing at her Rider. It was a cool and cloudy night with a storm brewing in the distance. Oromis had let them go early before the storm hit, making Eragon happy. He was about to read a book, a book that actually interested him, when he heard a knock at the door. He placed the book on his bed, and said "Come in."

It did not surprise him when he saw Arya enter, Gwen sitting on her hand. "Hello Eragon." Gwen smiled.

"Greetings, Eragon and Saphira. I hope you do not mind our visit."

"I insisted that we come to see you. It has been a while." Gwen said as she stood up. Arya handed her to Eragon.

"I really appreciate your visit." Eragon said, a smile finally crossing his lips.

"How goes your training?" Arya asked.

"Difficult, but I think I will survive. At least that is what Saphira says." His statement made Saphira hum with happiness. She was poking her head through an entranceway. Arya patted her on her head causing Saphira to hum louder.

Eragon is taking longer to adjust than we expected, but part of it is not his fault. His back wound hinders him.

It was the truth, but Eragon became sour when Saphira mentioned his wound. He did want Gwen or Arya to worry about him. He also wanted to be strong and capable of protecting his loved ones and he knew he could not do that very well with such a wound. He had become tense and breathed heavily making it obvious that the topic bothered him.

"Oromis was unable to heal you?" Gwen's eyes grew big with concern

"No. He said that it was beyond his power. His training is complex and I fear that I may let him down-that I will let everyone down."

"Listen to me, Eragon, you are not letting anyone down. You can only do your best, and that is all we want. Do not give up, or that will let us down." Arya said, her voice soft.

Eragon nodded, still solemn. He looked down at Gwen and saw her distressed demeanor. The conversation irked her about as much as it annoyed Eragon. "I can see this is bothering you." A wisp of wind began to rustle papers on Eragon's desk. "The storm is approaching. We should leave to avoid getting caught in it."

Eragon sighed deeply. His first time to see Gwen in a week and it had to be tainted by a terrible conversation and bad weather. He placed Gwen back in Arya's hand reluctantly and watched them say their goodbyes. When they were gone, Eragon felt like punching something. He needed to vent.

Eragon, breathe. It will be all right. Come, sit by me.

Fine. Eragon listened to Saphira and curled up next to his dragon after he closed the windows. He sat silently next to her, trying to prevent himself from crying. He fell asleep next to Saphira only to get woken up by the storm. A garish flash of lightning nearly blinded him when he opened his eyes, the tree house swaying in the high winds. Thunder boomed causing him to jump a little. He rubbed his eyes and tried to stand up. He was knocked down when the tree house swayed again.