The Return of the Guardian

Chapter 8

The last few hours was a complete blur for Lena. She barely remembered when the soldiers found her and Eragon under the wagon, the Ra'zac lurking from behind a distant building. One soldier reached under and tried to grab a hold of her, but Eragon grabbed the dagger Brom gave her and drove it into the soldier's hand. The next thing she remembered, Brom crashed through the marketplace with the horses. Scrambling out from under the wagon, she got on the horse behind Eragon. Riding for their lives, they made it out of the city and into the wilderness. Hours later, they stopped to make camp, but lit no fire. Feeling very awkward, she briefly told Brom what was wrong. She remembered seeing him annoyed as he rolled his eyes. She could not blame him, but it was not her fault that she had started her period.

"I knew this was going to happen, but I did not think it would be this soon." As he spoke, he handed her a bundle. "There is a stream nearby. No one will be watching, so you do not need to stray far." She nodded and made her way to the stream. The blood had soaked through the dress, so she took it off and rinsed the stain with the cold water. When most of the blood was out, she set the dress out to dry a bit while she took a quick bath. Refreshed and satisfied, she returned back to camp. Brom handed her a piece of bread, beef some jerky, and a small bottle.

"The bottle contains some medication that will help ease the pain. That is all I can really do." Lena gave him her thanks and ate. It was not soon after that she fell asleep.

It was dark when she woke up. Looking around, she saw that only Brom was awake. "How are you feeling?" he asked, quietly.

"Better than before, but still not that great." She didn't think her statement was funny, but she still heard Brom chuckle.

"I am glad you are doing better. For the longest time, Eragon thought it was his fault. When I finally told him what was really the matter he looked so relieved."

Despite what Brom and Lena thought, Eragon was not completely asleep. He was still conscious enough to hear them talking, and was about to say something, when Lena began to talk about him. Curious, he said nothing to hear what she had to say.

"He means well, but he still has a knack for getting into trouble." Lena said.

Brom nodded, "He did say that you did not want to enter the cathedral."

"I did say that, but he is so stubborn and insisted that we check it out."

"If only he had listened to you, we might not have the Ra'zac chasing close behind us."

The more he listened, the more defensive he became. Once more Eragon wanted to say something, but held his tongue when Lena said, "Brom, it's not his fault the Ra'zac found us; they were the last thing I expected to find at the cathedral. I didn't want to go because the whole building was just eerie." Brom wanted to say something, but she held up her hand. "I am just saying that the Ra'zac would have likely found us somewhere else if they did not find us in the church."

"Perhaps you are right, Lena. I guess I was a little too heard on him."

Her ears perked up when he said this. "Brom, what did you do?"

"I scolded him. The two of you were almost captured and I blamed him for not lying low."

"Look, entering the church was stupid, granted, but he still got me out of there. When I turned around and saw those beaked monsters, I was frozen stiff with fear! It was him that literally dragged me away from them."

"I guess I should give him some credit…"

"Some? Brom, I've never seen that side of him before. Since the day I met him, I always got this quirky vibe from him, and I never seen him as much of a warrior. I mean look at him!" she pointed down at where he lay. Brom laughed.