Some Other World

Apparently I Talk Funny

It's never a good thing when you hear a scream in the middle of the night.

Even worse when you're walking around in an unfamiliar forest in a world that is very obviously not your own.

My hand flew to my sword the moment I heard the noise. Anareem's head shot up, and she tensed. I could see her nostrils quivering as she tried to detect any possible attackers.

Smell anything? I asked her after a moment. I wasn't going to risk speaking out loud right now.

'Nothing out of the normal.... but the forest is uneasy.'

Really? Never would have guessed. I rolled my eyes.

Her tail smacked the back of my leg sharply.

Ow! Okay, sorry. Can you tell where that came from?

Anareem sat still for another moment, the only movement being her head swiveling slowly.

'South.'

I nodded and began to move in that direction. 

If she questioned what I was doing, my companion didn't show it. Her footsteps were nearly silent as she walked alongside me.

We walked for almost ten minutes before Anareem stopped.

'I smell something.'

I glanced at her. Her head was low, eyes flicking back and forth.

What is it?

'I don't know. Something evil.'

Fantastic. I looked around.

Still South?

'Yes.'

Let's keep moving.

'Why do you run towards danger, young one?'

I stopped again and looked at Anareem. She watched me with eyes wise beyond her young age, and I remembered her saying something about being inside of her egg for thousands of years.

Because... Because I'm more equipped to deal with it than others are. I've grown up with it. And I can help other people. Maybe save someone's life.

Anareem was silent for a few moments before speaking again. 'You are wiser than some would expect.'

I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not.

'It is. Let us find this evil and save whoever it threatens.'

She didn't have to say more. I turned back the way we were going, and started forward again. The back of my neck was beginning to prickle, and my hand rested on Riptide's hilt.

I didn't notice the firelight at first, but it was Anareem's slowing that caught my attention.

'There's something up ahead.' She seemed wary of whatever it was. 'The smell comes from there.'

I nodded and slowed down. Have you figured out what it is yet?

'Evil. Other than that, no.'

I rolled my eyes and stopped moving, watching for shadows around the firelight.

'Do you hear that?'

I jumped when Anareem spoke again. Instead of answering her, I listened harder around us.

Someone was crying. And coming closer to us.

Something moved by the fire, returning my attention to that area. There was a man in the clearing. I hadn't seen him at first because he had been sitting directly behind the fire to me, but now he stood, looking in the direction of the sound.

Those creatures from the clearing appeared. One of them had a woman over its shoulder. It was clear she had been crying before, but now she seemed to be unconscious.

"You found her!" The man seemed relieved. "Is she okay?"

Without a word, one of the creatures leapt at him and cracked him across the head, hard. He dropped nearly soundlessly.

The two creatures began to go about tying the two up and I decided that enough was enough.

"Hey!"

Two pairs of bulbous black eyes flicked to me. Clearly these things were not anything I'd seen before. 

The creatures hissed evilly and stood, facing me.

"Leave them alone." I growled.

"You have no place here human."

"Neither do they."

One of the creatures let out a hissing laugh. "They belong to us."

"Not if I can help it." I took a step forward. Anareem slipped silently from the shadows to stand next to me.

Those ugly eyes flew wide. "Dragon rider." The first creature hissed. "But not the one we seek."

"Another will undoubtedly suffice." The second snarled, crouching.

I barely had time to react to its attack. It moved faster than anything I'd ever seen before, and soon I was locked in a combat I didn't know if I would survive.

Anareem attacked the other with a roar of fury. For what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, we only concerned ourselves with staying alive.

"I hear something!" The first creature suddenly hissed. They retreated quickly to their captives, and while I tried to follow them one made a strange screeching noise.

What followed was the most terrifying and confusing experience I've ever had.

There was the sound of huge leathery wings flapping. Something was coming that was clearly much larger than Anareem and I. At the same time, shouting began to echo from where the creatures had become earlier.

Two huge animals that looked like some sort of cross between bats, wild boars, and bears landed in the clearing. The first two creatures dragged the man and woman to them, and mounted. I started forward, but Anareem's tail stopped me.

'You cannot take on the Ra'zac and Letharblaka alone!'

"The what now?!"

Her distraction did the trick. The creatures were rising into the air and I couldn't get to them now.

I watched them fly away, cursing. Those people were going to die. And I couldn't stop it.

I turned to challenge Anareem, but found that I had been left suddenly. Almost as soon as I realized this, a strong arm wrapped around my chest and the cold tip of something sharp rested on my neck.

"Drop the sword." A deep voice growled.

Slowly, I did as I was told.

"Who are you?"

"Uh. Percy. Who are you?"

The voice didn't answer for a moment. "I'm going to let you go. Don't do anything foolish."

I gave them just enough of a nod to let them know I understood.

The cold feeling, which I had to assume was a blade of some sort, disappeared, as did the heat of a body behind me.

"Turn around."

I did as I was told and came face to face with a massive longbow being held by an even more massive man.

"Who are you?" He repeated. His voice had a strange lilt to it.

"I'm Percy.... I'm, uh, not from around here."

"You speak strangely."

I raised an eyebrow. "I speak strangely?"

"Yes." He narrowed his eyes. "And you dress similarly."

I looked down at my sort of torn up jeans and t-shirt, then at his medieval looking garb. "I mean. I guess I can give you that."

[A/N forgive me it's been so long since I've read Eragon and I'm going off of the book wikis to figure out some events that I've forgotten good lord it's been a while]