Chapter Four: Keep Testing Yourself (But You Should Stop Before Passing Out From Exhaustion)

It's something that's been in the back of my mind since Taliesin hatched. She was capable of short flights, but not nearly strong enough to make it back. We couldn't stay much longer among the Elves. The only solution I could think of was that she stay on Saphira's back.

Saphira agreed and Taliesin seemed okay with it. Now we only waited for Arya's answer. In the meantime, I received magic lessons.

"You already have an advantage over when I first started, you know the language," Eragon said.

I stared at the rock on the table. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it. It was a sandy color with jagged edges roughly the length of my thumb. I picked it up with my right hand and stared at it for a few more seconds. In theory, it should be easier because it was much lighter than a book.

In theory.

Unfortunately, I wasn't nearly as frustrated or upset now as I had been when I had first done magic.

That put quite a wrench in the whole exercise.

I closed my eyes and sort of…poked at the bond I shared with my dragon.

Taliesin grumbled.

The ache in my head had dissipated a little less than an hour after I had levitated the book, but now it would be rather useful in locating the source of my magic.

I followed a thread of my bond and promptly ran into a mental wall. I winced, and then determinedly looked for a way through. It was my mind and my magic and it would bend to my will, not the other way around.

The more I concentrated on it the more solid it appeared in my mind's eye, till it came into sharp focus.

The wall in front of me was stone, with faint violet light shining through minute cracks. I trailed my hand across the cracks, followed them down to the foundation. Here the chinks were bigger and the rocks didn't fit so neatly together.

I pulled at the stone, dislodged some of the smaller ones. I pulled again and again until it crumpled.

The light briefly increased in intensity before settling down.

I withdrew from the bond, focused on the rock in my hand and said "Rise."

And rise it did. It wobbled and only left my hand by scant inches but it stayed suspended in the air. I held the spell until my hand started to shake and my head throbbed. I released it and looked up.

Eragon was kneeling next to me and as soon as I looked at him I was pulled into his arms and he pressed kisses into my hair.

My whole body started to shake slightly and he pulled away to look at me.

"You overdid it." He touched the side of my face. "I told you to let go of it." There was anger in the way he held himself.

"At least I didn't pass out."

Some of the tension left him. He looked away from me and ran a hand through his hair.

I tugged on the sleeve of his tunic. "Hey, look at me. I'm fine. I stopped in plenty of time."

He pulled me close to him again. Before he did I caught a glimpse of another emotion lingering in his eyes, fear.

A/N Thank you to: ShadowManipulator7, Guest, Nightsky1290, Queen-of-Ice101, Turtlekier4, Best Random Dude, and JustBenifet (times 3!) Listen to I Think I Like You by Sirenxx. It really describes Eragon's feelings at the beginning, especially the chorus. If you could meet a character from the Inheritance Cycle, who would it be and why? Oh, and I haven't forgotten about Murtagh :)