Kvistr, Melissa Nichols [red white royal blue txt] 📗

she whooped and hugged him, praising him immensely for his achievement. It soon became his habit to practice his flying every night even when he hurt from flying so much during the day.Once Faolan had learned to fly, he could finally join his mother and father in their daily excursions beyond the lake. While Faolan was excited about that, Alanna wasn't as enthusiastic. She had grown used to having Faolan by her side for every moment of every day and didn't want him to leave, but she knew it was necessary for their training.With Faolan off for dragon training, Alanna joined her mentor and queen in their daily listening to nature. At first, she had no idea about what was expected of her, but after getting a tip in the right direction from Eragon, she realized that she had to become one with the forest until she could monitor every species without focusing on one in particular.Alanna also progressed with the Rimgar, despite the constant growing of her limbs. She was still a child, after all, and so had some growing left to do. But, she didn't let that stop her. She was determined to do well at training, to be the best Rider she could be.After five weeks of sparring with Arya, Alanna was finally making some headway in her sword fighting. She still received blows from her opponent, but she also started dodging and landing more, which meant she was getting faster. She also developed some good footwork, able to focus on fighting Arya, but also simultaneously watching where she was putting her feet in the position and with the pressure that would be best to keep her footing.Now that Alanna was situated in the real training, Eragon didn't focus on her anymore. He'd give her a few tips here and there, but there was little more one-on-one time. This suited Alanna just fine because she understood. She didn't need it anymore and it would be selfish to expect him to continue to focus on her.Not long after Faolan had turned six weeks, Eragon decided it was time he let Alanna practice magic. He started her off small, lifting a pebble and holding it for as long as she could, then letting it drop, only to make it lift for two more times. Once it was apparent she had more power than that, he moved her into moving a bubble of water and tossing it back and forth like a game. While she enjoyed that particular exercise, Eragon also had her moving rocks and commanding fire and other similar exercises. For the most part, Eragon had her doing this toward the end of the day, when her lack of energy wouldn't affect the other areas of her studies.For Alanna, life was looking up. Everything was going right. Chapter 6

When Faolan turned two months, Alanna was finally allowed to ride on his back. Their first flight together was absolutely mind-blowing. Since it was early in the morning and with Eragon having given his permission for them to go fly for the day, Faolan had a lot of energy, and a lot of moves to show off. He did everything he could think of, which of course resulted in Alanna laughing herself silly from the sheer joy of flying. It was also a lot of fun when Faolan went up as high as he could and then dove straight down. The Crags were nothing more than cliffs that towered hundreds of feet above the ocean, which meant dragons had a lot of room to take off and dive from.Faolan kept close to the Crags, wanting to be close to land when he should tire, and he eventually did. Landing on the cliff top, Faolan walked over to the hut and lay down. Alanna dismounted, untying her legs from the saddle that Eragon had helped her make over the last few weeks since Faolan had learned to fly. With her feet on solid ground, she swayed a bit, still used to the air, but she sat down beside Faolan without injury and scratched him behind his jaw, one of the many spots that made him writhe when scratched. Faolan closed his eyes and smiled, leaning into her hand, as he hummed with contentment.After Faolan fell asleep, Alanna decided it would be best to study as well until Faolan was awake. So, she walked across the meadow to reinsert herself into training.When the sun started to go down, Alanna gently woke Faolan and managed to wake him enough for him to understand that he had to clear the area so Saphira and Firnen could land. In his way of waking up quickly, Faolan simply walked over to the edge of the cliff and let himself fall. Heart racing, Alanna watched as Faolan fell into the water. Connected to his mind, she felt the shock of the freezing water as it hit his body with a tremendous amount of force. With the combination of the impact and the cold, Faolan was instantly awakened and he rose out of the water. Both Alanna and Faolan knew it was a temporary measure that would last until they got home, that Faolan would be awake enough to fly that distance, but the second they got home, he'd go straight to his bowl and pass out.Just as expected, Faolan did just that. Although, he did manage to stay awake enough to eat his dinner, eating more rats than normal this time. But, right after dinner, he fell asleep. Alanna smiled and went up to her study to work on writing in the human/dwarf language, conversing with her brother to help her with the characters she was having most trouble with.When she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore, Alanna turned out the lights and went to sleep.

Chapter 7

The next morning, Eragon watched as Arya battled with Alanna, analyzing each of his students critically. Alanna had taken well to battling by swords, or sticks as the case may be. After two months of studying, Alanna was now giving blows more often than she received them, and had even picked up on Arya's particular weaknesses and was utilizing them well.After sparring with Arya, Alanna and Faolan went with Eragon and Saphira into Ellesmera, forsaking a day in the hut and learning from scrolls for a day of real life learning. Eragon would have preferred to take them out of Du Weldenvarden to see how hard life could be, where they could be useful. But leaving Du Weldenvarden had dangers and he didn't want to overstep their training and risk one of the two losing their lives. So he had to get them a reliable means of defense. As elves, they were already capable of magic, and as Riders they were already stronger than most non-Rider magicians, but they needed another defense they could rely on until they had to rely on magic. They needed to see Rhunon.Saphira and Faolan landed outside Rhunon's workshop. Eragon shouted to Rhunon and she rushed out. They went through the traditional greetings, moving to Alanna and Faolan.Once the greetings were out of the way, Eragon revealed to his students why they were there, much to Alanna's delight. While Alanna talked to her dragon about getting a Rider's sword, Eragon and Rhunon conversed privately."Eragon, how do you expect me to make her a sword? Have you forgotten that I only rushed yours because of the gravity of the circumstances?"

"I remember, Rhunon-elda. And I don't expect you to make a sword over one night; That'd be expecting a lot of you and it wouldn't be fair. But, I could make it easier for you by leaving Alanna here every day. You can use her body like you used mine, and you can pick your pace so you don't tire yourself. And you don't have to worry about her studies. Reading from scrolls isn't as important anymore. It's time for her to start putting what she's read to good use, to get some real experience. That's why she needs a sword. But it doesn't have to be a Rider sword right away. I'd be content with a regular sword for now, get her used to fighting with swords and not sticks, to build up the muscles needed for lifting such a weight. "

"You drive a fair bargain, Eragon. Very well. I will begin the process immediately, but it will be purifying the ore first. Until the ore is ready, Alanna can use some regular sword." She moved to the wall and took down a simple hand-and-a-half sword that was undecorated."That's perfect. Thank you so much, Rhunon-elda." Eragon smiled widely as he accepted the sword and the scabbard."And be sure to teach her how to care for it. Even though she'll likely have a Rider's sword for the rest of her days, she should still know how to hone a regular sword." Rhunon explained as she took a set of the needed supplies from the wall, put one set in one pouch and gave the pouch to Eragon."I will. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah." She said and went back to her work, thus dismissing him. Eragon chuckled and went back outside. He explained the situation to Alanna, who was disappointed to not be getting her sword today, but she understood that she should start with a plain sword first. Accepting the sword, pouch and scabbard, Eragon got back on Saphira and they flew to the training grounds where there were several pairs already sparring with swords. The dragons landed and the Riders dismounted. To clear the land, the dragons moved to the outskirts of the ring."Alright, then. First, you need to understand that this swords is not a Rider sword and so it need to be maintained, lest it becomes nothing more than a dull, over-sized knife." Eragon began as he sat down. Alanna sat down beside him and watched and listened as Eragon taught her how to care for her new sword. When he was done, he instructed her to do the same things he had, repeating in her own words what he had said. He corrected her when she was wrong but when he was satisfied she had learned what she needed to, he taught her some spells for fortifying the metal and the spell for blocking the edges so the edges weren't deadly for a practice fight. Thus prepared, he and Alanna sparred. He gave her tips and commented on her forum, but otherwise remained silent.When he