Chapter 1: Aftermath.
The sun shone brightly in the sky, and birds were singing their morning songs, welcoming the new day. A day that would have been a lovely day to be walking in the tall grass, which was growing in the fertile soil surrounding the city of Feinster. Herbivores, such as deer, sheep and cows were all enjoying the abundance of the grass they were inhabiting. Normally, they would have been enjoying the fresh breeze that came from the sea. But this day, thin smoke rose up from burned houses in the city, polluting the morning air.
One could walk for hours through the vastness of the area, becoming one with nature, and let their thoughts carried away by the temperate sea breeze. But not this day, for it was a dark day, full of pain and distress. It was the day that a young Dragonrider woke up from his well-earned sleep.
A young Dragonrider, with a face so young, and a body so old, if age would come through scars and pain. Not only physically, but mentally as well. And the age of the Dragonrider had grown by years overnight.
A shadeslayer he was, and an apprentice he had been until recently, when the master of the Dragonrider had died during a battle near a city far from the chilly city of Feinster. And outside of the city of Feinster this young Dragonrider, Eragon, woke up as he heard the birds call out his name.
Or did he just imagine that?
Nevertheless, Eragon yawned and stretched, but quickly stopped in his movements after he felt the pains from the day before.
“Alone, Alone in the dark! Alone!”. The last words of his master’s dragon, Glaedr came vividly back into his memory again, and Eragon suddenly felt his energy drawn from him, and he felt miserable. Sorrow, and despair clouded his heart.
All his hopes for a good and joyful morning went washed away, as one would clean a dirty boot in a river. But then a familiar mind came into his, calming him down, and taking the feelings of agony away. Saphira, his proud dragoness, contacted him via their special mental bond, which was the most powerful thing a rider and his or her dragon could share. They were one, and they had no differences between the two of them.
“hello little one, you woke up late today. I went hunting earlier, and when I came back, Nasuada asked us to heal the wounded. She also asked Arya to aid us.”“Ok, let me get ready then, for I believe we have a lot of men to deal with today. It was a long and devastating battle yesterday.”Eragon then began to dress himself in his elven tunics and shaved himself by using his self-made spell and gathered some nuts, bread and berries from a bag he got off from Saphira’s saddle-bags. When he was done eating, he left the tent and began to walk in the direction of Arya’s tent. He discovered she wasn’t there before he arrived, because he didn’t sense her.
“Saphira, is Arya with you already?”
“Yes she is little one, I thought that woman-two-legged-ones were the one who needed much time to prepare themselves, but you seem to prove otherwise”, Saphira snorted.Eragon still felt hurt too much to reply to the witty answers from his partner-of-heart, and simply ran towards her. When he saw the shiny blue scales of Saphira, he noticed a beautiful black haired elf meditating in front of the humming dragon.
“Good morning to you, Arya Shadeslayer, as far as a morning like this can be good”.
“Hello Eragon Shadeslayer, I would prefer you to just call me Arya, as I only call you Eragon, remember?” said Arya with a such a small voice that surprised Eragon.
“She must still be very hurt from inside over the loss of Oromis and Glaedr”, Eragon thought to himself.
“Did Saphira tell you we were summoned by Nasuada to heal the injured men?”, Eragon asked.
“Yes, actually, I was told by Nasuada, and I contacted Saphira, as you were still asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you up, as I know sleeping is the best way to cure and clear your mind after a fight”.
“Thank you for that, Arya. Well, let us get moving to the healing tents then, shall we?”
Together the three friends walked to the healing tents, and spend the afternoon healing the injured men. They made sure they wouldn’t heal the injuries which didn’t require to be healed in a few moments, like bruises and little wounds, but they made sure no wound was infected and broken bones were mended. They pitied the men who lost limbs, and they made sure they told them their loss was not for nothing.
When they were mostly done with healing, they felt tired and in need of a proper meal. Saphira left to hunt and Eragon and Arya went to the cooking tents where they held a meal together.
“Have you already tried to contact Glaedr?”, Arya asked.
“No, and I don’t think I will try, unless he either makes contact with me, or within a week or two, as he still mourns for his rider. Alone, Alone in the dark! Alone! were Glaedrs last words, Arya, and he spoke these words with so much desperateness, that I think he will need much time to get over the death of Oromis.”
“I’m sorry Eragon, I did not know being separated from your rider would cause these thoughts… These last words make me very angry towards Galbatorix, as he has separated many dragons from their riders, not even granting them the joy of being in the void together!.”, said Arya suddenly with her old fury and firmness.
“Then let us together make him suffer for the pain he has caused to the world, but let us not rush things, I am still not ready to fight against Galbatorix yet”, said Eragon to calm the Elf princess down.
They then left the cooking tent, to discover Saphira returned from her hunting trip. When they walked up to the large sapphire blue dragon, they noticed a small group existing out of Humans and Urgals approaching them, with a proud stepping, dark skinned young woman in the centre of the group.
When the group arrived, the Urgal and Human bodyguards split into the shape of a half moon, so they would be able to guard the back of the young woman, and she would be able to speak with the trio.
“Saphira, Eragon, Arya, good morning”, Nasuada said. “I wanted to give you information on our march to the city of Belatona, and I wouldn’t want to wait until you three were in my tent, as it is quite a mess there”.
“What is it you want to discuss, lady Nightstalker? It was clear to us that we would march with the army alongside the Jiet river, or did you change plans?” said Saphira.
“How could someone underestimate the wit of a dragon, is my answer as usual”, said Nasuada with a grin. ”As Saphira just guessed, we have indeed changed our plans, which is directly or indirectly the cause of the mess in the commanders tent. We agreed on a quick march up to the city of Belatona over land, but a Varden commander, who is familiar with the lands of the area between Feinster and Belatona, informed us that it was rather hard to get a quick march going, as the lands are very soggy and wet from the river. It would be impossible to carry food and supplies on a caravan behind the army. Therefore, we have decided to build ships, probably the same type as your cousin Roran used to get from Narda to Teirm. Some of the commanders weren’t happy with this decision, and since those commanders are very good in standing behind their ideas, a little argument held place in the tent”.
“Who were these commanders, Nasuada?”, Eragon asked.
“Nar Garzhvog, Fadawar and Narheim”, replied Nasuada. “They refused to get on the ships because it is in their nature to not be involved with deep waters. But after the few needed debates we convinced them to take the ships, as long as we promised we wouldn’t let them drown”, grinned Nasuada
Saphira, Eragon and Arya were highly amused by hearing how scared the mighty warriors were for the waters of the river. The couple then discussed about the amount of time it would take to reach the city of Belatona, and how they would protect themselves from possible attacks. Nasuade told them that making the ships would take up to three weeks if everybody from the army would help, and it would take up to a month and a half to reach Lake Leona, as they were going upstream. If all went well and without casualties, they would be fighting again in two months.
“One question, Nasuada”, Eragon said.
“Yes, my vassal?”
“Where are we going to build the ships?, We are a hundred miles from the river, and I don’t think you want to build the ships at Feinster,”
“Ah, I see you are very clever, Eragon, but I came up with an idea to get ourselves from the city to the river. We are going to dig a canal, and you three alongside the elves will be a perfect help with that. Talons will make a great shovel, and with your magic you will be able to reach the river in three weeks. Then we can ship immediately”.
Nasuada then was amused by the looks the trio gave him. Eragon was looking confused, Arya showed no emotion as always. And as she had suspected, if looks could kill, she would have been reduced to ashes instantly by the proud Saphira.
“Talons are not for digging in mud, talons are for ripping apart two-legged-tailless-short-snouts!” Was Saphira’s reply.
“They might be, but not for the upcoming three weeks”, Nasuada said with a faint smile on her face”. She then left for the commanders tent, leaving the three with their own minds.
“Well, I suppose we will begin tomorrow then”, said Eragon. “we will save as much energy as we can in gemstones, and we will have to let our digging machine get herself some food”.
“If you don’t want to be reduced to nothing more than a burnt squirrel, you’d better not say such things anymore” Saphira angrily said.
They then went in their tents, to get to sleep. Saphira curled herself up in front of Eragons tent, and became one with her own thoughts.
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This post has been edited by Jesper: 26 October 2009 - 06:10 AM
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Posted 17 May 2009 - 10:57 AM
Chapter 20: When all seems lost...
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Anyway...yeah I look forward to seeing where this goes in the future because you do show potential.
, also good to use a time skip over it, one question though. What kind of story is this going to be? ie: ExA. Anyway nice start, cannot wait for the next update.
