Chereads / The old princes (In Eragon's world) / Chapter 9 - The first confrontation

Chapter 9 - The first confrontation

He's been rumbling for several minutes and I've been watching everything around us but I can't hear or see anything that could elicit his reaction.

"Egan, what's going on?" »

I don't get any response from him, he doesn't change his posture either. He's still staring straight ahead, and seems to be listening intently, but all I hear is silence, which is broken intermittently by Egan's growl.

I stay alert and tense… I don't know how long we stay in this situation.

Suddenly I too hear the rustling of grass. Turning my head in the direction of the noises, it doesn't take long for me to see what is causing this noise.

"Wolves... So we can't have a moment of peace?" I grumble the second half of my sentence. Who lives in a forest so close to predators? I was left here to die? Am I some kind of prisoner or have I been banished to this forest?

Seems unlikely to me, who would have left a dragon with an outcast? Unless I was supposed to be his meal...

Thinking about it now won't help us. However, I do not feel in any danger now that I see what we are dealing with. With my magic scaring away 6 wolves (if others aren't hiding) really shouldn't be a problem.

"Egan, don't move, they can't get near us. It would be tiring to take care of them if there are too many of them, but he does not represent a danger for us.

Egan who always stares at the wolves brings back the memory of me falling into oblivion after killing the panther.

"I was starving, I could barely stand at the time. I'm better now, using magic consumes energy equivalent to the power of summoned magic. They're just a small pack of wolves, I wouldn't need to draw much strength to scare them away. »

I must not be very convincing since I do not see him relax or change his posture.

Six wolves are now clearly visible and begin to approach, trotting towards us. I close my eyes, to better concentrate, I still seek this force in me and find it in much greater quantity than during my meeting with the panther.

I smiled confidently and walked towards them, summoning a little fire into my hand. "Leave, we are not prey and if you provoke us, you will only find death"

No reaction to my speech...

'Egan they don't seem as smart as you, can't they see that it's completely stupid to provoke a magical being who is also accompanied by a dragon? They must never have seen any elves or dragons or they wouldn't dare attack us. I think we are really alone in this part of the forest…'

One of them advances towards me with a low posture and visible chops, clearly ignoring the threat I represent and my warning. I really don't have the patience to gently chase them away, if they don't understand, too bad for them, I'm thirsty and time is running out, I don't want to have to go home before dark without having been able to drink.

I feel Egan's warning but I don't back down, those pesky wolves wasting our time besides trying to eat us again... I have no more reason to hold back, I feed my magic and order my fire to act.

Exasperation overtakes me, I'm going to have to kill again and this time it's completely avoidable… Stupid wolves! It's one time too many, I've had too many intense emotions lately. I let my irritation wash over me, I don't even try to hold back my anger.

The annoyance I feel influences my magic and fuels it, I glare at this stupid beast, already anticipating the relief I'll feel at exhuming my anger on her.

Very quickly, I can see out of the corner of my eye my fire growing, twirling and roaring before contracting and then going so fast on the wolf that if I had blinked, I wouldn't have had time to to see my spell hit my target.

A sound of explosion sounded when my fire reached it. The impact makes the beast fly back several meters towards its fellow creatures.

The noise makes the fleeing wolves yelp for a few seconds but I can still hear them, they haven't gone far.

The wolf took my spell head-on, didn't have time to suffer, he didn't squeal, didn't move. He appears to have died instantly. The howl of wolves pierces the silence before fleeing again.