[Vlad Taltos]

This is my story which I started writing because i had just finished Brisingr and was bored. When i update it will be the revised version of this story because I have given up on this version because I did not like the begining so I started over and am working on that now. I just wanted to post this so I could get some critique and make my writing better. Please do not steal any names, I tried to be as origonal as possible with them and I dont want to spend another week and a half making up names. That is all, tear it apart.



POSSIBLE OFFENSIVE MATERIAL!!! If you disagree with women's right to choose (although it is not much of a choice in this story), safe-sex practices such as altering a woman's body with the goal of avoiding pregnancy, or vague suggestive phrases then do not read any farther. (wow, after that speech I should become a lawyer)

Téqua name pronunciation guide.

Name: Pronunciation:

Téqua – Te-quə
Chalceadron – Kal-si-dron
Elastan – El-ə-stan
Intarl – In-tar-l
Varanasi – Va-rə-nä-sī (Sī pronounced like sigh)
Kêalman – Kēl-main
Loron – Lō-rōn
Vatalyus – Vat-a-lē-əs
Sonambar – San-am-bar
Veni – Vē-nī
Avandra – A-van-dra
King Cêrular – King Sûr-ü-lär
Kuritsév – Kûr-it-sev
Phocar – Fō-car
Zuphlus – Zü-fl-us
O’deen – O-dēn
Bashtu – Bäsh-tü
Idris – I-dris
Avo – Av-ō (what, no, of course i did not take this from a vedio game)
Kēsí – Kē-sī
Rivolarn – Ri-vō-larn
Karodan – Ka-row-dan
Bêrdot – Bûr-dot
Gura-Brén – Gûr-a-Bren











Téqua
By Vlad Taltos


It’s Hatching
Intarl was halfway through a report when he heard the words he was waiting to hear.

“It’s hatching, it’s hatching!” yelled one of the servants as he ran down the hall outside of Intarl’s study. A jolt of excitement ran through him. It was time. The egg his dragon, Varanasi, had laid several weeks ago had been unusually inactive, until now.

“What color?” yelled Intarl as he popped his head out of his study's door.

“Orange,” said the servant, “bright orange!”

“Orange? How did that happen? Its parents are red and purple,” Intarl asked the servant.

“I don’t know, sir,” said the servant, “but it’s true, come and see!”

He jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could to the dragon hold where Varanasi slept and, more recently, where she guarded her egg.

What took you so long? He heard Varanasi say in the mind-speak they used to communicate.

I was finishing a report for Vatalyus on the recent raids, he replied.

A report? You almost missed my young’s hatching for a rep-

Shhh! It’s about to hatch, he said with a teasing smile on his face. He was usually more withdrawn with his emotions but seeing Varanasi so giddy with joy at being a mother, her blood red scales shivering slightly, and her happiness rebounding through their telepathic connection made it impossible to keep a straight face.

Then he saw the egg. That perfect, bright, lustrous egg. It was a brilliant orange with light strokes of red and small faint lines of blue, green, and purple, as if a master artist had been working on it for days.

“How can it be so many colors?” he asked. When no one responded, he didn’t really expect an answer, he thought of the other dragon eggs he had seen. They started as a dull gray color until a few minuets before the baby dragon hatched. Then turns the color of the new dragons scales. The hatchling is usually one of, or a slight variation of, one of the parents’ colors. It is also possible to have a mix of both colors, like this dragon’s father and Varanasi’s mate, Kêalman, who was blue with green stripes running down his back and the calves of his hind legs. He had yet to see any dragon that was ugly though, no matter what combination of colors; so he was confident this dragon would look fine.

Just then Varanasi let a jet of fire out onto the egg, which was to soften the eggs hard shell for the hatchling. It had to be done carefully, or so Varanasi told him, because the newborn dragon could pop out unexpectedly. That was almost what happened because when Varanasi let up on the flame six seconds later he could see a thin, two inch long fissure in the egg.

“See Varanasi?” exclaimed the head healer, Avandra, who had been watching with apprehension, “I told you that fire thing was too dangerous! Now don’t do it again,” she said as if scolding a child. Avandra was the only human who dared be so rude to a dragon. This was for her unusual nerve, for her age and wisdom, and for the simple fact that she was the head healer; she had saved countless lives, including several dragons.

Her tone still coxed a low growl out of Varanasi, but she stopped abruptly as the crack in the egg started to widen. The top of the egg started to bulge the tiniest amount as the crevice increased in length. After a few seconds it split into several lines at the peak of the bulge which all began to lengthen and branch. Suddenly the pressure creating the bulge stopped and the fissures lost all width and became almost invisible.

“What happened?” said one of the observers, a scholar he did not recognize. As if to answer he heard a soft Thump. Intarl returned his attention to the egg. Again another Thump. He then realized that the sound was coming from inside the egg because he had noticed that the area around the cracks flexed outward with each-

Thump.

On the fourth Thump a small piece of shell popped off the top of the egg. Through the hole the baby dragon was visible as a dark shadow moving around. Then, as the hatchling threw itself against the egg’s hard shell for a final time, and the egg shattered.

Standing among the remains of the egg was a small, bright orange, two feet long dragon. Although it was still obscured by a thin membrane that covered most of it’s body, Intarl could tell it had a long, thin body, wings that were furled up at it’s sides, and three rows of sharp points ran down it’s back, one along its spine and one on either side.

It unfurled its thin wings and spread them to dry, tearing the membrane. Each wing was slightly longer than the dragon’s body and six inches wide at the widest spot. As it started to walk it let out a long, loud screech.

While Avandra cleaned it up he said, “I wonder who it’s Rider will be.”

Are you sure you can’t simply trace the mental link between the hatchling and it's Rider? Varanasi asked.

No I can’t, he said to her, I could if I knew where to look but that could be anywhere in the world.

Well, we will know soon enough.

A Dragon Rider

Téqua was sitting at the dinner table, cramped between her two older brothers. The table was rather small for her parents, Sonambar and Veni, and six brothers and sisters-nine in all. Her parents were strict, but not overly so, and her father was as fair as a person could be. If there was a problem or disagreement, the kids always wanted dad to settle the problem. Their family lived in the Kingdom of Kēsí, in a small trading village called Rivolarn, which was on the coast of the Karodan Ocean near the mouth of the Bêrdot River.

“Mother, may I be excused?” Téqua asked. They only had a small amount of food, both because of the King’s taxes and because it was spring and their winter reserves of food had been consumed, but they always managed to survive somehow.

“Yes Téqua,” her mother said. She washed her dishes as fast as she could, thinking of Elastan the entire time, and as soon as she was done ran out the door to his tent on the edge of the village. On the way she passed posters the army had been putting out.

Téqua, who was tall, thin, fast, bordering on beautiful, and stronger than most of the women in the village, made it to Elastan’s tent in good time. She was stronger than the other women due to the fact that she helped with the farm work, “the good work” as her father called it, and most of the other women were the wives and daughters of merchants, whom made up the majority of the small village because of its large natural harbor, it’s access to the Bêrdot River, it’s many trading goods, and it’s mild winters.

“I missed you,” she said, as she ran into Elastan’s tent, startling him. He was barely out of his seat when she threw herself into his arms. They held each other for a few seconds, neither wanting to let go of their warm embrace.

“I have something important to tell you,” she said.

“So do I, hummingbird” Elastan replied, using the nickname he had given her, “but you go first.”

“Alright, you know the posters you’ve been putting up? About if anyone starts hearing things that aren’t real, or acting strange, or not feeling well when there is nothing wrong with them?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Do you really think that the army is looking for a new Dragon Rider?”

“I don’t know, but it is the only thing that we know of that fits the description other than the insane or possessed, and I don’t think King Cêrular would mobilize the army for them. That’s the priests job,” he said.

“Do you think it’s good or bad?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean for the person you’re looking for.”

“Oh, I don’t know how it could be good to hear things that aren’t real but I’m sure it is. The Sergeant said if we find the person to treat him like royalty and to not fool around near him. I think he thinks we are looking for the new Rider. Why are you asking me all of this?”

“Well, last night, when I was trying to fall asleep, I heard a loud screech. It sounded like an animal. I looked around at Idris but she hadn’t woken up. She’s a light sleeper so I know that would have woken her up. That’s not all. Since then I’ve had better eyesight, hearing, and I’ve noticed smells that I could not smell before, I’ve been having cravings for meat, I’ve been very sleepy, and I’ve had a lot of emotions that don’t seem to be mine.” The last part made his eyes widened with shock and his muscles tightened. “I know what you’re thinking, but we haven’t done that for a while now.”

After she explained, he relaxed greatly and whispered “Thank Avo,” then, when his heart stopped racing, he said, “Téqua, I have to tell my superiors.”

“No, I don’t want anyone to know.”

“It’s okay, I told you it’s not bad.”

“How can this be good? Elastan, I think I’m going insane!”

“No, Téqua, hummingbird, I didn’t say it was good but I know it’s not bad. Trust me. Tomorrow I will go to Sergeant Kuritsév and, if I can, I’ll make sure that no matter what reason they want you, that you will not be harmed. I won’t mention you until I’m sure he’s telling the truth. And if this turns out badly, you know I’m on your side, even if they string me up for lashes for insubordination.”

It chilled her bones to think of him being hurt for her, but she trusted that Elastan would not betray her and could escape this without being hurt.

“Okay, if you think it’s best.”

After a long pause Elastan asked, “So, did you tell anyone else about this?”

“No,”

“Well, that’s good. So, other than to tell me that, what did you come here to do?” he asked as he placed his hand carefully on her thigh.

“No, Elastan, I’m definitely not in the mood today, and we just had a very close miss. Do you really want to tempt fate again?”

“Well, when you put it that way………… Yes.”

“Ughh,” she grunted, “Men.”

“Well it’s not my fault,” he said defensively, “That’s how I was made.”

“What was it you had to say again?” trying to change the subject before she was seduced by his good looks and charming smile.

She received the latter anyway because he noticed what she was doing, sometimes they understood each other a little to well, but then the smile faded away faster than she anticipated and she found herself longing to see it again and also realized that, whatever it was, the news was bad news.

“What is it?” she asked.

He paused for a few seconds and mumbled, “I’m being transferred away from Rivolarn. As a matter of fact I’m being transferred away from Kēsí.”

“No, wh- what, where, whe- when?” she stuttered in disbelief.

“The war with the dwarves goes badly so they need every man they can get. That includes me. I’ll be leaving in five days”

“But where?” she said.

He lowered his head, understanding what she meant and said, “The front lines.”

“No!” she yelled, “No, they can’t do this to us!”

“It’s alright. I will write to you every day, and you know me, I will come back to you.”

Only then did Téqua comprehend the scope of everything that was happening and realize that this might be their last night together.

When she stated that Elastan looked at her suspiciously and replied, “No, Hummingbird, no, you said yourself that we should not take the cha-”

Just then she kissed him. She returned to her house on the inland edge of the village very late that night.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day came all to quickly for Téqua. She dressed, ate breakfast and did her chores as slowly as she could to stall the dreaded moment when she would find out why the army was looking for people who could hear things that weren’t there and feel emotions that were not theirs. She still didn’t know how she had abruptly acquired the gift, or curse. She was also feeling lonely, which was completely new to her because of their family size. She was just wondering if that was another one of the things that had been changing since she heard the screech when Elastan appeared outside the vegetable patch she was tending. He knew her routine from earlier times when her parents hadn’t known what was happening between them. He had a large smile on his face.

She simply sat there and stared, mesmerized by that beautiful smile.

“What happened,” she said after returning to her senses.

“Well, now we know for sure that it is a good thing. Sergeant Kuritsév pressed me for information but I did what I said I would do; I never gave your name away.” then he became incredibly formal, as if he was talking to another soldier of higher rank or a Duke, and said, “Also, the General invited you to dine with him and a counsel of officers, and me, in the officer’s quarters tonight. There he will decide if you are the person he is looking for. Just before I left, the general told me directly that he was acting on the Dragon Rider’s orders and that, if you are who the Riders are looking for, you won’t resist because before you depart you will be convinced that you should go. And, ummm,” he added when his charade of formality was no longer possible to retain, suppressing a chuckle of joy, “The General also said that you are to be kept happy and if there is anything you want that we can supply, you will have it.

She had started laughing quietly from relief when he had and, at the last part, stopped abruptly, awestruck. This must be very important.

Her silence seemed to help him regain his formality, which she now realized he had been ordered to use, enough to continue, “After the dinner and a good nights sleep, if you are who he wants, you will embark tomorrow for Gura-Brén, where you will be schooled. That is all I was informed about this matter.” As he finished, he lost his straight-backed, “consulting with a Duke posture” and she ran forward and kissed him.

After they broke apart she sent a barrage of questions at him.

“So he didn’t tell you what the king wants from me? What could he want from me? Why must I leave? The General said I would want to leave? What will I be learning? Do you think this might have something to do with magic? He will give me anything he can? Did you say Gura-Brén?

“No, he did not tell me what he wants from you. He said he is sorry but you must leave. He stressed that greatly and I think you should trust him. He said that you would know what you would be learning soon. I have no clue about magic. And yes, I said Gura-Brén. So do you want to go to this dinner?

“But why do I have to go to Gura-Brén?” Téqua said, only half listening, “ the only things there are the Riders and Gura-Brén University, which works with the Riders, and I wouldn’t be allowed in either one.”

“Well there are only two things that I can see, either the monks at the university want something from you, some sort of knowledge you might now be able to access with your abilities or you are a Rider. So are you going to go to this dinner?

“No, it’s not possible,” she said ignoring the last part again, “I’m a girl for one and that’s just insane, I can’t be a Rider. And I don’t have abilities, being hungry and having cravings could mean I’m sick or having a growth spurt or, Avo forbid, pregnant. Anyway, how do you know the stories about Dragons and their Riders being connected by a mental link are true? If so then can they even feel what the other feels? Don’t you think that’s a little far-fetched? Do you really think that’s what’s happening to me? This doesn’t have anything to do with magic either. The king’s magicians would have traced it to both the caster and me and contacted me and imprisoned him by now. I won’t go to this dinner because I know that this is all just to silly to be true. Me being a Dragon Rider and hearing it’s shrieks and going to dinner with a general and going to Gura-Brén and having anything I want. It’s all just crazy!”

“Well, I won’t tell the general who you are if you don’t want me to but, I think your making the wrong choice.”

“Of course you do. You’re a soldier that left his family and friends for adventure and glory. Of course you would take that chance. Well I’m not going to have my family and myself targeted by the king’s magicians because an absurd lie is dangled in front of me.”

With that she walked off leaving him standing there, mouth agape and on the verge of tears.


An Unexpected Revelation

Two days passed and nothing was said between Téqua and Elastan. During that time the strange thoughts, cravings, and feelings Téqua had started to sense since she heard the screech in the night had remained. But within her she felt a horrible sense of loneliness all the time. Tequa thought the loneliness was from being away from Elastan. That did not make sense, however, because she had been feeling that way since she heard the screech. She wanted him back, but, this being their first major argument, she did not know how to mend the gap between them without being incredibly awkward. That had always been her weakest spot, awkwardness. She always seemed to stumble upon it and, if given the chance, went to great lengths to avoid it. Even if she had to go without his loving touch, with this deep loneliness in her heart, she would not risk being awkward and possibly making things worse.

On the third day after Tequa had stopped talking to him, Elastan left a note to her. It read:



Dear Téqua,

I have not told anyone. They have sent for a magician, although they aren’t sure this
will work, to track the stray emotions and sounds. I still do not believe it is bad, but if
you think so, the hummingbird should fly away immediately, even if it would hurt.

Love from, Elastan


As she read the note, she heard a faint, repeating noise, like a tree falling far away over and over, barely noticeable to her while focused on her brainteaser. Before she could even fully comprehend the word puzzle Elastan had left her, a knock on the door startled her enough to make her look up. Her eldest brother, who, like the rest of her family, had already given the strange noise his undivided attention, got up and answered the guest. There, in the doorway, was an elf dressed in gleaming red armor, with a maroon sword at his waist and same colored helm. Behind him stood another elf wearing the exact same armor, but in his case it was brown, and an earth colored sword hung from his middle. Both elves were thinner and slightly taller than any human and, from what she could tell through their helmets, were both very handsome and almost the exact same age. She barely noticed the elves, though, because of the hulking, brown dragon behind them. It was almost as big as their small house, with wings-each thirty feet long, and scales of brownish green. A perfect camouflage if it didn’t glitter and sparkle like it did. She realized they must be the “magicians” looking for her.

“Hello,” said the man in red armor, “I’m Intarl, a Dragon Rider. This is Phocar and Zuphlus,” he stopped and gestured, Zuphlus was the dragon, “-my friends and fellow Dragon and Rider. We are here to speak with Téqua.” At that, the entire group looked at her, including Zuphlus, through the door, “And escort her to Gura-Brén where she will be instructed in certain areas of knowledge. If she wishes, she will return here and assure to you her continued good health soon.”

When he finished everyone turned their gaze back to Intarl, then switched again, not sure to whom they should give their attention.

After a while, Intarl said, “Well, I’m sorry for being rude, but my friends and I are running slightly late, so we really must be going.”

“Wait,” said Solambar, Téqua’s father, “Just wait a second. You’re taking my daughter away? Why?”

“Well, your daughter, Téqua, possesses special talents that will greatly help the Riders.”

“And what might those talents be?” he said questioningly.

“Solambar, don’t complain!” exclaimed Veni, Tequa’s mother, quietly enough that Intarl and most of the others in the room, excluding Téqua, who happened to be closer than the rest of the family, would not be able to hear, “This is a chance that will never grace our family again! What if she goes and catches the fancy of, and then falls in love with, one of the Riders? You know that it’s been hard to marry her off to a good man because of that soldier she won’t let go of. Who could we possibly find that was better for our daughter than a Rider? We cannot let this chance slip by us!”

“I can hear you, you know,” Téqua was compelled to say after hearing her own fate being decided for her.

“Alright,” said Solambar quietly to her mother. Straightening to address the guests he said, “My wife has convinced me, Téqua will go.”

Téqua started to protest against this unjust decision; it was very unlike her father, when he continued. “If, and only if, Téqua wants to go.”

Everyone returned his or her attention to her again as she thought about if she wanted to go. She did not want to leave her home and family. She also did not want to leave Elastan, but that did not matter because he was leaving in a few days anyway. It did not occur to her that she might be able to return anytime she wanted or that she might be able to get Elastan reassigned if her “abilities” happened to give her enough power to do so. Such thoughts of power and manipulation did not occur to her simple, uncorrupted mind. Just when she had decided she would not go with the Riders Intarl started to speak.

“I think Téqua should know everything before she decides.” He walked up to her and, into her ear, whispered, “You are a Dragon Rider. Your Dragon is bright orange with thin stripes running down his back and he is currently at Gura-Brén. He has already tried to fly to you twice, which is not good; he could have hurt himself, and is very lonely without you. I know you know this because you can feel his feelings and emotions.” With that he returned to the door and waited for her decision.

“I’ll go,” she said. At that, everyone let out a sigh that had accumulated during the tension. “But I want to say goodbye first, and you,” she pointed at Intarl, “have some explaining to do.”

“Yes I do, but we must hurry.”

Téqua quickly said goodbye to her mother, father, and siblings, then told them she would return soon, gathered the few things that were precious to her and some clothes and departed. She then went to Elastan’s tent. When she got there she opened the tent flap and ran inside. There was Elastan, polishing his plain sword, shield, arm and leg bracers and greaves, and helmet. Next to that was the worn, second-hand leather armor that had been given to him when he joined the army. He was only a common foot soldier and was not given metal armor, and the metal bracers, greaves, and helmet were looted from the dead in the one battle with bandits. He also had the scar on his stomach where a spear had cut him as it flew at him from behind and nicked him in the side.

“Elastan,” she said as she slowly walked into his tent, not sure of what to say. He looked around and noticed she had her traveling coat on.

“I see the Rider convinced you to go.” He said, knowing more than she thought he would, “He came to me today and said he knew that I knew whom you were, that he could track the trail of emotions and thoughts that you were receiving, and that was why you had been acting strangely. He also said that since he would find you anyway, I might as well tell him what I knew so that he could make a good first impression on you and that it was crucial for you to go because there is someone who needs you. He did not say whom, but he said it was important to you and that you needed to see them. Oh, and he told me where your house is and what it looked like, that he would not hurt you, and that you would be safe where he took you. So I told him who you were.”

“Oh, well I guess he was telling the truth. Elastan I’m sorry about what I said to you. I shouldn’t have said what I did. You were right after all, I’m a rider.”

“Really? A Dragon Rider? That is wonderful! That doesn’t make me feel better though. I’m sorry for trying to get you to do something you did not want to do. I could have been wrong and that would have turned out very bad.”

“I know, I wish we had spent more time together,” she said as they embraced, and then kissed.

They were well on their way to other things when Elastan said, “No, stop, you must go. That other Rider said it was urgent and the longer you are here, the more time lost.”

“Oh alright,” she said, and quickly followed with, “I love you.”

It was the first time she had said that to him. He beamed at her, stunned. She gave him one last kiss and left.
When she returned to her house she saw her family, the two Riders, and the brown dragon sitting quietly outside.

“Well, we had better be off,” Intarl said, “It was nice to meet you all.”

“How will we be getting to Gura-Brén?” Téqua asked out of curiosity.

“I believe Zuphlus can hold us all, don’t you think?” he asked.

“Oh,” she replied, her eyes widening as she looked at the dragon, he snorted and a thin jet of fire escaped his nostrils.

“Zuphlus says you should not doubt him, Téqua, and that he can carry much more than us,” said Phocar in a pleasant voice.

She turned to Zuphlus and, curtsying, said, “I am sorry, great Dragon. I did not mean to offend you.”
Zuphlus made a gurgling sound in his throat, unmistakably laughing, and Phocar said, “He says there is no need to curtsy, and that when you are more learnèd you will know the limits of dragons just as well as he does. Until then, underestimating him will not offend him. He simply wished to correct you so that you may learn. Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite mastered his body language yet.”

His reaction both surprised and intrigued her. She had heard in the tales about dragons that they were very intelligent creatures, and even that they could communicate through their riders, but the fact that a dragon was trying to teach her was overwhelming.

“So, we should be off,” said Intarl.

Téqua bid her family one last goodbye and turned to Zuphlus. Phocar was already climbing up a row of loops that extended down Zuphlus’ front left leg. When he had reached the top and seated himself, he turned and extended a hand down towards her. She put her foot on the first loop and grabbed his hand. After climbing the improvised ladder, she seated herself in one of the four small depressions in the leather, arranged in a row, where she was obviously supposed to sit, packed her belongings in one of the bags that hung to each side of her seat, fastened the two loops of leather for each leg the way Phocar showed her, and prepared herself for what was about to happen. While she was fumbling with the straps around her legs, Intarl had climbed up the ladder in half the time she had taken, skipping every other step, and strapped himself into the last seat, directly behind Téqua.

“Hold on!” Phocar said from up front.

Zuphlus spread his gigantic, ten-foot wide wings and, with a single bound for a running start, launched them into the open blue sky. He rose for several hundred feet and then leveled out.

When Téqua had returned her heart rate to normal, Intarl said, “So, I suppose you want an explanation.”

“Yes,” Téqua breathed, laboring for oxygen in the thin air that was now whipping past them. “Very much.”

“Well, first of all, I did not tell anyone else about you being a Rider because that is your choice to make. You can tell anyone you wish, if you wish to. Also, you will address me and all riders and Dragons who have completed their training as “Master.” Do not interrupt, I will ask for questions later. Now, to start, I will tell you about your dragon’s parents. A few months ago Varanasi, my dragon, and another dragon, named Kêalman, fell in “love,” as you humans call it, although dragons do not really feel love, it’s more of an instinctive impulse to mate. Two months later, Varanasi laid an egg, which hatched a few days ago as a beautiful, orange, baby dragon. That was how your dragon was born.” He paused and took a long slow breath; the thin air did not seam to affect him as much as it did Téqua. “Now, Dragons. Dragons are magical creatures. They are very powerful, very hard to kill, never stop growing and, as you know, can breath fire.” At that, Zuphlus let a huge bellow of whirling, red and yellow fire escape his mouth and nostrils. “Every dragon known, to date, has had a rider. We are not sure why dragons have always bound themselves with another race, but they do. Usually dragon riders are elves but there have also been humans, dwarves, orcs, goblins, and even a few other intelligent beings that were so different that they did not want anything to do with the other Riders and simply flew away as soon as their dragon could carry them. But that is history and we don’t have time for history lessons right now. Dragons are very magical creatures and are the source for the magic their riders’ use, in which you will be trained later.

“As I’m sure you already know, your mind is now connected with your dragon’s mind. This means that, after you teach him to speak, you will be able to communicate freely with him from anywhere, no matter how far apart you are. You can also, in times of need, distance yourself from your dragon’s mind, which is the only way to keep your sanity if your partner is in extreme pain or dying.

“What is my dragon’s name?” Téqua asked, then she quickly added, “Master.”

“I said, ‘no interruptions,’ but that is a very good question. No one, not even his mother, Varanasi, has more a right to name him than you, as you will share minds until one of you die. Look,” he added to his narration, pointing at the horizon, “It’s Gura-Brén.”

She looked out in front of Zuphlus. She had been staring at a piece of leather since they took off, not wanting to look up for fear of being sick. When she mastered herself enough to look up, she saw in the distance but growing rapidly, the archipelago of Gura-Brén.

While she watched the cluster of islands grow on the horizon she felt a shift in the emotions she was receiving from her dragon’s mind, from the usual loneliness and helplessness to eager anticipation and excitement.

“You told Varanasi I was almost here, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did, how could you tell?”

“My dragon’s feelings suddenly shifted from lonely to excited.”

“Good, you’re learning to communicate with your dragon even without words. That was fast, but you must become one unified whole. Phocar and Zuphlus here couldn’t master that for quite a while,” Intarl said, patting Zuphlus while he did.

“It’s true,” they heard Phocar yell from up front, only five feet away and still having to yell through the wind rushing past.

Now that they were closer Téqua could make out some of the details on the islands beneath her. There seemed to be one large, central island with many others around it and a chain of them that broke away from the main cluster and continued north until they were swallowed by the sea. On the main island was a large mountain that continually spit fire and smoke into the sky.

“Is that the mouth of a giant dragon?” she asked, pointing at the mountain.

She felt Zuphlus shudder under her as he chuckled. Everyone else started laughing too. She started to feel ashamed.

“Well that was original,” Intarl said, wiping his eyes, “No it is not a giant dragon. It is called a volcano. They produce very hot dirt and rock and, when it cools, it adds a little more to the island. No one knows why this happens, but I’m sure there are people who have theories about it. We do know, however, that is how these islands are formed. There are many smaller ones dotted around the outer islands.” As she looked she did notice many small plumes of smoke rising from the outer islands.

As they flew around the main volcano a massive castle came into view. It was built on a large plateau that jutted out from the side of the volcano, with only a small road leading down to a natural harbor, where a port and very small village were situated. As she focused her attention away from the castle she noticed the main island she had originally assumed was round narrowed as it moved away from the volcano and then spread out again until it was twice as big as her original assumption and with a narrow land bridge connecting the two parts.

Then Téqua suddenly felt an extreme sense of excitement that did not come from her. She looked around and, over the castle, saw a small, red speck flying towards them. The speck soon materialized into a large, red dragon, at least twice the size of Zuphlus. Just then Zuphlus arched his head and, with a twist of his neck, made a circle of flame that blew past them as only hot air. The red dragon, which Téqua assumed was Varanasi, replied in turn, and then she saw a small burst of flame appear next to Varanasi. Zuphlus chuckled under her again, but not as violently as he had at the remark about giant dragons. Téqua was sure the third burst of fire had come from her dragon. Sure enough, when she looked carefully, she could see a flicker of motion next to Varanasi where the flame had been a moment before. As the two dragons moved closer, she could see more details about her dragon.

As Intarl had said, he was bright orange, but he had stripes of red and purple running down his back and a faint blue-green mix on his stomach. As Varanasi slowed down and angled away to turn into formation with Zuphlus, her dragon headed straight for Téqua.

“You can also communicate with pictures,” Intarl said as Téqua’s dragon held his course, directly at her, with no intent of stopping.

Téqua quickly formed a series of pictures in her mind of an orange dragon back flapping and slowing down, and then another of the same dragon turning and flying directly above her. A touch of grim acknowledgment emanated from him, mixed with the excitement he felt because he was about to meet his rider for the first time. Téqua sent him an emotion of pure happiness. She had just realized she was feeling very nervous and that was what she was emanating. They continued to send each other emotions and images until they reached the ground, learning about each other as fast as possible. Téqua had already untied the straps tying her to Zuphlus in the air and, when he landed in a large clearing that looked like it could hold a great many dragons of any size, she was the first to get off. She made it halfway down the ladder of loops tied to Zuphlus’ leg, jumped off, turned around and threw her arms around the dragon the she knew was directly behind her. She hugged his neck and he nuzzled her, then licked her face, then lifted her off the ground with his neck as she held on to the base of his head. After they had finished greeting each other they separated and, still talking with their thoughts, focused on Intarl, who had been waiting patiently.

When Téqua and her dragon had settled down, Intarl, with Varanasi behind him, said “Téqua and Téqua’s dragon, your training starts at dawn tomorrow, meet me here, you and your dragon will be expected to behave yourself and keep the peace, both because you are now a Dragon and Rider and because it will not be tolerated. There is a meal served in the Great Hall four times a day and there is always someone there to serve you if you need anything any other time. We will have our Master Smith forge you armor and a sword, which will match you dragon’s scales. Also, you are free to go anywhere on this island except farther up the volcano and if you wish to leave to explore the other islands, simply ask and you will be taken there on your own time.” Then he smiled and said, “I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about. Have a good day.” He started to turn to leave and then stopped and said, “Oh, and Téqua, I think your memories are a good place to start.” Intarl then explained his random statement with; “When I had just met Varanasi she had been trying to get me to show her my memories but could not get the idea into my thick skull, not even from inside, and she had to learn to speak, which took her a week and a half, before she could tell me to. That was a long time ago and she has never let me live it down.” With that, he left.

As Intarl left, a girl, a little younger then herself, approached her and said, “Miss Téqua, I have been instructed to be your guide while you are here. Your dragon is not yet large enough to carry you up to the Dragonhold so you have been given a room with a window large enough for him to fit through at the top of that tower.” She said, pointing, “The Great Hall will be serving dinner in a half an hour. If you wish, I will show you where your room is and, when you have finished, to the Great Hall. Is that alright with you?”

“Umm, ah, yes, yes that will be fine,” Téqua said awkwardly, caught completely off guard by what the girl, the servant she realized, had said. It was such a difference, being served, from when she had been in the village and had to step aside to let the men and women with the fancy clothes of nobility go by. She immediately vowed to herself that she would not become stuck-up and arrogant like the high-class people she had happened to meet on the street.

“Right this way, Miss,” the servant said as she picked up Téqua’s bag and turned toward a stairwell inside one of the buildings that surrounded the courtyard. After ten minutes of endless stairs and corridors, they reached a door at the top of a tower in the rear of the castle. When Téqua remembered the heavy bag the servant was carrying, she quickly opened the door for her and stood aside to let her pass as her mother had taught her to do for anyone that was carrying anything. The servant beamed at her, open-mouthed, until Téqua finally said, “Well come on, you should put that heavy bag down so your arms don’t get too tired.” That made the servant even more stunned, but this time she hurried into the room.

“Miss, you should not dishonor yourself like that by letting a servant enter before you, or by holding a door for one. I’m glad no one was around to see that. I swear I will not tell anyone, Miss,” said the servant rapidly as if to pardon herself as well as try to explain to Téqua the ways of the nobles and Riders.

“Nonsense, I did not disgrace myself, I simply wanted to help. What is your name?” she asked while going to the window to let in her dragon.

“B- Bashtu, Miss,” the servant said, apparently astounded that one of her masters would care what her name was.

“Bashtu,” said Téqua, rolling the word around her mouth, trying to remember it. At the sound of her name, Bashtu straightened, as if she was being reprimanded for having an inadequate name. “Well, Bashtu, I just thought you should know that only five days ago I was a simple farmer’s daughter. Look, I’m still dressed like one. Also, I know how it feels to be stepped on by the upper classes. I will not do that, and if I do, than it will be for good reason, but if you feel you are being treated unfairly by me, tell me. I wont stand for such abuse. Although I cannot control what other Riders do, if anyone of a lower rank that me does anything like that, tell me and I will sort it out.” Téqua watched her dragon fly in through the window she had opened as she took a long, slow breath, trying to regain some of the air she had lost during her speech, which had left Bashtu standing there, almost speechless.

Finally, Bashtu regained the use of her tongue and said, “Miss Téqua, I think you misunderstood me, we servants are not treated cruelly here, most of the Riders are very humble. Some of them might be a little rude towards us, but life here is much better than most anywhere else for us peasants and we do not complain about that. Most of us even volunteered to come here. I had only wished that you would not be disgraced by participating in work fit only for peasants and servants.”

“Well, then, I thank you, Bashtu, for looking out for my reputation. Also, do you know what I should wear to dinner? Because I do not have any idea.”
“Well, first you should wash. When you return I will have something ready for you.” Bashtu showed Téqua the closet just off the bathroom that had a tub with water outlets for both hot and cold water. When she was done she reentered the main bedroom and saw that Bashtu had picked an outfit that was very plain looking in style but made up for a thousand fold with it’s beautiful, midnight blue color. “This one looks good. Its plain, seamless style compliments your flawless skin and the blue matches your eyes. Although, it might not match your dragon, which is a little more important. What do you think?”

“Well, it would match the purple on his front,” she said while looking back and forth between her dragon and her outfit. “Orange and blue don’t match, but they don’t clash either. Yes, I like it.”

Bashtu helped her get into the outfit, which was arranged much differently from the clothes she usually wore. When Téqua was finally in the complicated series of straps, she stood up straight and asked Bashtu, “How do I look?”

“Magnificent, Miss Téqua, but you can see for yourself,” she said as she opened the door to the closet, which had a seven-foot tall mirror on the inside of it. Her reflection was astounding. She had seen herself in a mirror, undistorted by the ripples and waves that were on water, only a few times before. The last time she had seen her reflection so lifelike had been when she was twelve. She realized she had changed a lot since then. Téqua focused on how she looked in the outfit. It looked very good to her, although still very plain, but she wasn’t much of a judge.

“This is perfect,” she said. “Now, is there anything I should know about proper etiquette or anything like that?”

“No, Miss, not here. The Riders are very, loose, when it comes to etiquette. You may even have fit in better in the clothes you arrived in, depending on whom you sit near, but with the lack of furls and ruffles this should do rather well.”

With that they set out for dinner, her dragon out the window to meet her there. After a five-minute walk, they came to a huge corridor, a hundred and fifty feet wide. The walls slanted inward ten feet off the ground until they reached a point far above her. She assumed it was so large because of the dragons that she saw walking through it, which could be, and were of, any and every size. Téqua’s dragon, who she could see running as fast as possible from on opening that was to her left at the end of the hall, was the smallest. One of the other dragons could barely fit into the corridor, even with its wings furled at its sides. The colors were also astounding! There was a green dragon, and over there, a red one, and over there, a cobalt blue one. She looked around and saw twenty or so dragons just walking along the hall. She waited for her orange dragon to join her, and then headed off for the Great Hall. When they arrived Téqua, immediately understood why it was called the Great Hall- the huge corridor she had been in was only the entrance to this enormous room. The Great Hall was large enough for the smaller and even medium sized dragons to fly in, several hundred feet wide and a thousand feet long. The hall must have been at least half carved out of the volcano, she thought, because after a few hundred feet the windows stopped or rose farther up the wall, which were at least four hundred feet tall, also coming to a point at the top. The hall had long tables arranged in rows, with large paths between some tables for the largest of dragons. Even with its huge amount of space, the Great Hall still seemed crowded. There were three dragons that would barely fit through the entrance and a great many smaller dragons and even more people, elves, dwarves, and orcs.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Téqua said, looking around at the hundreds of dragons. Even with their size, the many dragons’ colors were their most beautiful and grandest trait. There was a dragon of every color, shade, hue, and combination of colors that could possibly be imagined.

“Yes it is. Well, we are a little late, I will sit over there,” she said as she pointed to a cluster of several other servants. “You should probably sit,” she scanned the crowd, “there.” She was pointing to a group of dragons, one of the largest dragons and Varanasi and Zuphlus were among them.

“Agreed,” Téqua said as she made her way toward the cluster of dragons, which was about seventy feet away. Her dragon took off with a flurry of motion as she told him, with pictures, what she was doing. When she reached the group, she found her dragon crouched next to Varanasi, both feasting on the carcass of a cow. When Varanasi saw her she looked expectantly at her hatchling. Téqua felt he was torn between sitting with her and sitting with his mother. Eventually, Téqua felt a strong hunger seep its way across the connection they shared and sent a reply of acceptance and indifference; trying to tell him she was not offended. She then saw Intarl and Phocar at the end of a table in a deep discussion about the easiest way to turn a frog into a toad. When he saw Téqua, Intarl stopped talking and gestured at an empty seat on the opposite side of the table, next to Phocar, who was on the very end of the table.

When Téqua had sat down, Intarl said, “So, Téqua, I’m sure you have a lot of questions. What is on your mind?”

“Well,” she replied, “I was wondering, what will I be learning tomorrow?”

At that Phocar chuckled, “I'm sorry, you just sound so much like me.”

Intarl glanced at him while he was talking, but mostly focused on Téqua. After a little while he said, “Before you can learn anything complicated, you must first teach your dragon to speak. If he cannot understand me I will only be half as efficient. Therefore we will start with history, which he can learn on his own and later through your memories.”

With that he waited for another question. “How will I teach him to speak?”

“Talk to him, you can supply a picture of what you are talking about as well if you want, other than that just talk to him. I'm sure he’s picked up a few words already from being around humans.”

“Where is his father, Kêalman?”

“Kêalman and his Rider, Loron where sent to Kēsí as arbitrators to try and stop the fighting between the dwarves and humans. They have yet to return.”

“When are they expected to return?”

“In his last message, Loron said that he had succeeded. The dwarves are willing to stop the hostilities. He says it was not hard to achieve, considering the dwarves were the ones who were attacked. Unfortunately he says the humans are as stubborn and quick to anger as always, or at least Cêrular is, and will not stop until their ancestral home is retaken. He also says that we may need to force the humans to keep the peace.”

Horror contorted Téqua’s beautiful face as she thought of what would happen to Elastan if the Riders decided there way no choice but to attack.

“Téqua, you must realize that, as a Dragon Rider, it is your duty to keep the peace, no matter what. If that means war with your own kind than so be it. You must not let your emotions cloud your judgment.”

“What, no, that’s not it. I suppose that is bad also, but there is another reason.”

“Oh, I understand. So, he’s in the army?”

“How did you know?” Téqua asked, even Phocar looked surprised.

“The look on your face when you said ‘another reason’ was one of love. That was how I knew. So, what rank?”

“Just a common foot soldier.”

“Well that’s good, we may be able to get him out of the army.

“Really?”

“Yes, really, but he would never be able to return to Kēsí.”

“Oh, “ she said, startled, “well where would he go?”

“Here, if he wanted, or he could stay with the elves in Cánutl, I’m sure they would accept him.”

“I don’t mean to be rude but you seem to talk about elves as if you weren’t one.”

“Yes, like I said, as a Rider I must not be loyal to my people but loyal to all people.
If, for some reason, Queen Sherändis, the leader of the elves, went on a rampage and threatened or attacked the other races, Varanasi and I would fly into battle just the same as if we decide to attack Cêrular, and I would expect the same from you,” he added, jabbing a finger at Phocar.

“Oh,” Téqua said. She finally realized that all these Dragons and Riders were set for only one purpose, to keep the people, all people, safe. All through the meal, Intarl explained more about the situation between the humans and dwarves, a few things about each race in general, and about how she would not be doing anything about it anyway because her training would take awhile.

When dinner ended an hour later, Téqua, with the guidance of Bashtu, returned to her room. When Bashtu had left, she opened the window and let her dragon in. He curled up on the mattress that had been set on the floor for him and sent her an overpowering sense of misunderstanding, as if he wanted her to explain the crazy world he had hatched into. She remembered what Intarl had said about her memories and started sharing them with her dragon. When she got to some of the things she had done with Elastan, she paused, wondering if she should share that. She realized he was a dragon and different from a human child, but he was a child just the same. She finally decided to keep that part of her life a secret, at least until her dragon was older. She continued until she was right up to the present, then she, as best she could, tried to ask him for his memories. She finally got across to him by using an analogy; she put a stream of memories past him followed by a picture of her, then put a blank space next to a picture of him with a questioning feeling mixed into the complicated thought. He seamed to understand because he started recalling everything that had happened since his hatching. She was amazed to find he had learned to fly only a few hours after he hatched. There were a few other interesting facts, but he had mostly just practiced flying with him mother. Apparently she had gotten the idea across to him that he would not find a mate if he could not fly well. Téqua made mental note to ask Varanasi if that was true, then he had finished, with a touch of pride on their shared mental spectrum. She then started trying to teach him to speak. They sat there until at least the middle of the night before she noticed a fatigue on the link they shared. Téqua first thought it was coming from him but when she refocused on herself, she had been very immersed in her teaching, she realized it was herself who was tired. She let that feeling float through to her dragon, got up off the floor, she had been sitting next to him, and started for the bed on the other side of the room. When she was about halfway there she heard a squeak behind her. She turned and saw that her dragon had lifted his head and was looking at her, head slightly rolled to one side. A picture of her lying next to her dragon and sleeping was sent over to her.

“Oh,” she said, and returned to him, laid down and slept, with her dragon’s wing over her to keep her warm.

Training

The next week went by very fast for Téqua. Most hours of the day were spent training with a heavy wooden sword, which she had never used before and was not very good at, learning how to write and speak in a different language, which Intarl called Márra-Sañl, the Language of Magic, learning about past wars and kingdoms and how the current kingdoms came to be, and trying to teach her dragon how to speak. With the last one she had made some progress, her dragon could say “Téqua” and “Varanasi” and “meat,” that had been his first word, and a few others, but with everything else he did not seem interested in enough to remember. Also, she realized that her training was more like the school that she had briefly attended, Intarl was her teacher and, although he had a pleasant yet strict and fair personality that reminded her of her father, he was not lenient with his teaching. If she made a mistake he would not let it go uncorrected, no matter how small. Even with the high standards he set, Téqua memorized perfectly all the history Intarl threw at her and mastered the small portion of Márra-Sañl that Intarl gave her. He had also briefly gone over the things that could be achieved with magic, how dragons provided the ability to use magic to their Rider, and, when her dragon was older, how she could use that delve into that power. “To accomplish this,” he had said, “You must, as I have said before, become one unified whole, with no distinction between the two of you. Once you have mastered that, I will tell you the techniques for using and controlling magic.” Téqua could not wait to try magic. She knew she was a long way from actually doing it but still wanted to.

Throughout the week, her dragon had grown at an alarming rate. He had been about four and a half feet long when they had first met. Since then he had doubled in size and his shoulder was now taller than her. The three rows of sharp points on his back were now six-inch tall daggers that could pierce the heavy orange metal armor that had been given to her with only a small amount of force. The talons on his feet were a little longer than the spikes on his back, about nine or ten inches. Since he was almost strong enough to carry her, every time he flew he wore a heavy leather saddle, like the one on Zuphlus but much smaller and only for one person, and sometimes even a few bags filled with sand to prepare for carrying Téqua’s weight. While her dragon was preparing to take flight by carrying extra weight, Téqua was learning how to stay in her seat when her dragon rolled in the air, to use the goggles that would protect her eyes and face from the cold air that was high above the ground, and how not to go to high or she could suffocate from lack of oxygen.

Téqua, to her own astonishment, had also been changing. Her senses had continued to become more acute and clear. She could now see things half a mile away as sharp as if they were ten feet away and could notice more and more smells every day that she had never experienced before. She could hear the wings of a bird as it flapped through the air and could feel the lightest breeze. She also seemed stronger than she had before she heard her dragons screech in the night. Things that had made her unable to move from fatigue before now only made her tired. Things that had been very hard to lift or pull seamed lighter. When she asked Intarl why this was happening, just before her first flight with her dragon, he said, “Dragons are magical creatures, and being bonded to one like you are, some of that magic will rub off on you. Another common attribute that is acquired is an extremely long life. I was about you age when Varanasi hatched for me, that was some three hundred years ago.” At that she looked at him with surprise and awe. He looked no more than twenty-five.

“Are you really?” she responded

“Yes, but that does not matter now. What are the three things you must do before you take off?”

“Strap myself in, make sure everything is tied down, and check my goggles,” she said confidently.

“Wrong, it was a trick question, the forth thing is make sure your dragon is ready.”

“Oh, I forgot,” she said.

“Yes, I know you forgot. Now go! Your dragon is waiting.”

“Yes, Master,” she said as she started for her dragon, who was a few yards behind her. She mounted him, using a loop-ladder similar to the one on Zuphlus, and checked everything she had just listed to Intarl. Then she said in her mind, Are you ready? along with a questioning emotion and a picture of him preparing to fly. She received a positive emotion in return and he took off.

She felt the same fear of falling she had when she first flew on Zuphlus, but this was so much different because she had shared her dragon’s thoughts and feelings and knew what he could do. As Intarl had instructed, her dragon sent all of his sensations through their connection to her. Because of this, she could feel, through her dragon, the wind rushing under his wings, his tail flapping back and forth, the quiver of his scales as the wind ran over them like water falling sideways, and the uncontrolled joy of being completely free, having no limits at all, that was rushing through him. It was amazing, feeling everything he did. Now she understood what Intarl had said about being a unified whole, not two separate parts. Then her dragon did a roll and, in doing so, lost his concentration a little and she lost the flow of feelings that she had been receiving. She also panicked because when she had been reveling in her dragon’s emotions and feelings she had forgotten where she was. When Téqua returned to herself the first thing she realized was she was upside-down and barely hanging on to her dragon. Before she could do anything stupid she was right side-up and flying smoothly again.

“Wow!” she exclaimed as the adrenalin from her sudden panic attack rushed through her. For a moment she felt invincible. Then the rush of joy slowly seeped out of her and she said to her dragon, Dive, lets see what you can do! He must have understood what she said because he let out a roar, tucked in his wings, and pointed himself straight down. A sense of weightlessness overcame Téqua as they fell, a hundred, two hundred, five hundred, a thousand feet before he pulled up. After that her dragon performed the series of maneuvers that Varanasi, through Intarl, had directed him to do.

When they returned to the ground, Intarl said, “That was very impressive. Téqua, your dragon is very good at flying, especially for such a young age. I think you deserve a break from training. Also, now that your dragon is strong enough, if you wish, you may stay in the dragonhold. Think about it, it is more important a decision than you think.”

“Alright, thank you” Téqua replied, wondering what the dragonhold would be like.

When Intarl and Varanasi had gone, Téqua told Bashtu she would return around dinnertime, remounted her dragon and they flew high into the air. She loved the rush she received from flying. Again, they tried to merge their minds, but it failed again when her dragon had to turn sharply to avoid a downdraft that he had spotted just in time. When they had given up on that, which they tried a few more times, her dragon sent Téqua a picture of a small cliff on the hill on the other half of the island. Then he flew there as fast as he could, twisting and turning the entire time as if trying to evade another dragon, and landed with a hard thud. Téqua jumped down off of him and started to explore. She looked down over the edge of the cliff and realized it was much larger than it looked in the air, at least a forty-foot drop, and it also had several caves that wound their way into the rock. She sent a picture of herself and her dargon entering the caves across their connection and received an agreeing emotion. When they had flown down to the base of the cliff she dismounted again and they entered the cave. Her dragon let a small stream of fire blowing from his mouth and only broke the continuous flame when he needed to breath again. By his light they could see the cave turned after about fen feet and branched just before the wall obscured the rest of the interior.

They explored the cave systematically; every time there was a fork they always went left, so they would not get lost as easily. At the mouth of the cave the ceiling had been over twenty feet high, but the cavern quickly closed around them until they had to turn back. When they returned to the entrance again they decided to repeatedly turn right this time. Again the cave narrowed, but not so much that they could not fit through. After about ten minutes they came upon an underground lake. Only when Téqua’s dragon blew a large burst of flame and light could they see the other side of the lake. It ran along the right side of the ledge that they were standing on, which narrowed until it was barely wide enough for her dragon to stand on. As they continued, the lake did also, along the side the path beside them for a few hundred feet. Then they met a wall that stopped them from walking around the edge of the lake any longer. They backtracked and found an opening in the wall that was difficult to see when walking in the opposite direction, that was why they had not noticed it earlier, and continued that way. As they walked, Téqua noticed the cave was very plain looking in structure compared to the unusual rock formations that they had seen in some of the other parts of the cave, but the walls and ceiling were glassy and looked like they had been partially melted. They turned a corner just as the flame at her dragon’s mouth went out. In the time it took him to breath in and start the flame again they had walked a few more feet.

In that small space of time, without noticing, Téqua and her dragon had entered a large chamber. In the light from the re-lit fire they suddenly found themselves surrounded by an enormous amount of sparkling and dazzling gems and jewels. They stopped and gazed at the rainbow of colors that were being reflected and morphed out of the dim light that was being emitted from her dragon’s mouth. It was an astounding sight, with gems of every color reflecting spots of their light onto every inch of space that was not covered by another diamond or ruby. Téqua’s eyes were immediately attracted to the orange and golden-yellow stones, because of their very close resemblance to her dragon’s scales. They walked around and chamber, which happened to be the end of this part of the tunnel, for a long time marveling at the amazing sight they were seeing and their luck for finding it, because the tunnels and caverns that they had visited showed no sign of the amazing jewels they saw before them. Téqua was especially fascinated by the cut of the gems, which all seamed to be unique, when she realized something. Gems, jewels and other rare and shiny things were not like that in nature, they had to be cut and polished and shined. That meant that this was not a natural deposit of gems, but a stockpile for someone.

“We should leave,” she said to her dragon. Before she left, however, she picked up a single, orange stone, not a gem but a circular, orange stone, and compared it to her dragon’s scales, to make sure it was exactly the same color. It wasn’t. After she finally found one that was a perfect match to the orange scales on his back, if a little small, she took off the plain gold necklace that she had received from her first boyfriend as a gift and placed it where she had found the gem she wanted as payment. She hoped the gold was worth as much as the jewel she was taking, she strongly disapproved of stealing, and left the cave.

When they returned to the open she was startled to see the sun had almost set. Her dragon flew as fast as he could back to the Gura-Brén castle. They returned to find dinner had already started, which did not bother Téqua because dinner usually took about an hour and a half to end, and went to find Bashtu. She found her sitting at a table with a few other servants, and one boy servant whom she seemed to be around a lot. When Bashtu saw Téqua she jumped out of her chair, which she had been slouching in, and bowed to Téqua and her dragon.

“Yes, Miss?” She asked.

“I wanted to tell you that from now on I will be sleeping in the dragonhold. You do not have to sleep near the dragonhold, I hear it is very cold anywhere other than the in Rider’s quarters, and I will meet you in the Great Hall during breakfast if I need anything that day. Also after diner I have an errand. After that I wish to see the Master Smith that is making my sword. It will not take long so stay here until I return.”

“Yes, Miss,” She said, “whatever you wish, Miss”

Then Téqua walked over to the table she, Intarl, Phocar, and a few other Riders she had acquainted with sat. Intarl did not like it when things that did not help her train, like what was happening to Elastan, distracted Téqua. To fix this problem, every dinner, he allowed her to bombard him with the many questions that occurred to her that were unrelated to what she was studying. This also divided the day into distinct time periods, sometimes she could ask a certain question, and sometimes she could not, which was very confusing for her. The one thing she did understand was that at dinner she could find out how Elastan was, and that was the first thing she asked.

“How’s Elastan,” she said

“How’s Elastan,” Phocar said at the same time, anticipating what she was going to say and joking at the same time. They had become friends in the short time they had known each other.

“Very funny, Phocar,” she said, smiling afterward because of Phocar’s uncontrollable laughter, which he kept as silent as possible. Then Téqua looked expectantly at Intarl, hoping for good news. As he had promised, the day after he had learned of Elastan’s situation, Intarl had contacted the Kēsían military and explained the predicament to a high ranking general, much higher ranking than the field general who commanded Elastan’s brigade, and also explained that Téqua had only begun training a few days ago. She later learned that the Kēsían army could have taken Elastan hostage, so her being of a very low status with little influence was a good thing at the time. Intarl told her that they had asked if he could discuss the matter with his superiors. They had not made a decision yet. When Téqua looked at him, though, she could tell he had heard news. He was very good at hiding his emotions from all, except Varanasi, but only when he wanted to. The only thing was, Téqua could not read his emotions well enough to know if the news was good or bad. She could plainly see he was holding something in, but she did not know what. Then he smiled and it was a secret no more.

“He was just released from service, he will be here in two days.”

“Yes,” she hissed, almost sounding as if she had been burned, jumping in the air with happiness. “Yes, yes, YES!”

Phocar, who had been sipping on a goblet filled with a substance that Intarl had told her she could not drink, started laughing anew, harder than ever.

“Wow!” he said after Téqua shot him a frown and he abruptly stopped laughing. “You really must like him.”

“Yes, I do.”

“I think you should practice separating your mind from your dragon so he does not find out about anything he shouldn’t know about until he is older,” Intarl said with a glance that told Téqua he knew exactly why she was so happy, and what might happen between her and Elastan while he was here. “If you are distracted by Elastan during your training, the two of you will be separated. Also, the two of you cannot have a child until you are done with your training. There will be a spell placed on you to make sure this does not happen, in case of any accidents that might occur. It is easily removable and will be dispelled when you finish your training”

During Intarl’s speech Téqua had gone from extremely happy at being reunited with Elastan, to concerned for her dragon, to horror at being separated from Elastan again, to disgusted at having her body irreversibly manipulated against her will, too a measure of acceptance knowing the spell would be removed, to horror again at the thought of being separated from Elastan, all within the confines of his thirty second speech. Her dragon sensed her jumbled emotions and ran to her side, he had been lying down next to his mother for a nap after the very tiring day while they talked.

“Master, I will not let Elastan interfere with my studies,” she said. Then her dragon put a wing around her, trying his best to replicate a hug, which she had shown him through her memories. It was comforting and restored a little bit of calm back into her. She hugged his neck in return and sat down in her usual place next to Phocar, across from Intarl. When she saw her dragon it had reminded her of the orange colored gem that was in her pocket.

“Master, what is this?” she asked, placing the jewel on the table.

“Where did you get that?” he asked sternly, ignoring her question.

“We where exploring and we found some caves. We explored the caves for most of the day, but when we thought we reached the end and turned back, we saw a small passage that had been almost invisible when we where walking in the opposite direction. We decided to follow that path and at the end we found a very large room full of diamonds, gems, and rubies.”

“How many did you take?”

“Just this one, Master, and I left behind a gold necklace in payment so it was not stealing.”

“Really?” he asked, surprised by her answer, “Well your parents must have taught you very well to resist such riches. I see you do not have the necklace anymore, I have noticed it before, and you do not have it now, so I believe you did pay for it. For this I think you deserve a reward. I will think of something. In the meantime, what was your question?”

“What kind of stone is this?”

“That,” he said, picking it up and looking at it carefully, “Looks like what you humans call citrine, although the elves disagree with the humans on the rock’s composition and call it chalceadron, which means “orange stone,” but when translated as a noun means “jasper.”

As Intarl was reading off the names of the stone, in both elvish and human, a strange emotion that she could not describe reached her over her connection with her dragon, along with one of the names again, Chalceadron. She said, in her head, Are you Chalceadron? For a second she sat there waiting for his reply. Then, Yes, reached her over the connection and she felt a great happiness, both her own and her dragons, which combined and they both reveled in their joy, of finally naming and finally being named.

“Intarl, Phocar, let me introduce Chalceadron.”

“Hello, Chalceadron,” they said in unison.

“I hope you consulted with him first,” Intarl added.

“Of course I did!” she replied.

“Good, because I’m sure he would not be vary happy about being named without his opinion.”

“I know, and now that he can understand most of the things I say, I almost never do anything important without telling or consulting him about it.”

“Well that is very good, communication is key when your are in a fight.” Intarl said.

After that the conversation lost its momentum and everyone ate quietly, or at least as mush silence as you can get in an enormous room filled with people of all races, and species, and dragons of all sizes. Téqua was lost in thought about Elastan and Chalceadron and how the two of them complicated her life. Then she thought of her new room and what other places she could now go on Chalceadron. Then the two thoughts combined and she broke the quiet, saying, “Where will Elastan sleep?”

“With you, most likely.”

“But I will be in the dragonhold and he can’t get up there.”

“Oh, well it seems you are more wise than me because I would not have thought of that until when it happened.” Téqua was pleased at that, compliments were only given from when Intarl when he thought she was exceeding the very high standards he set. “I suppose you could carry him up with you.”

“No, that won’t do, he might need to get up while I was not there. I think I may have too sleep closer to the ground.”

“Another Rider could carry him up when your are not here.”

“No,” she said again, “Elastan is very proud, he would not want to have to ask someone for help just to get to his own room, not even me. I think my current room will suffice.”

Sword and Armor

They finished dinner in silence. After dinner, Téqua met Bashtu, who was waiting just outside the Great Hall. From there they went to the Master Smith’s forge, which was in a small courtyard near the outer wall of the castle. When they reached it they found the Master Smith hard at work. He was a very large dwarf; he was four and a half feet tall with arms almost as big as Elastan’s well-muscled arms. He was hunched over a sword’s unfinished blade that he was pounding on to smooth out a slight bend. When he noticed Téqua and Chalceadron standing just outside the small hut that he used as his workshop, he stopped and, taking the wads of cloth out of his ears, said, “Hello, you must be Téqua,” with a low bow, “and you’re her dragon,” with another. “I’ve been wondering when I would be seeing you. Your armor is almost finished, if that is why you are here, but I would also like to see you practice with a sword. It will greatly help me in deciding the best shape your sword should have so it will fit you. So why did you come to see me?”

“Master, we came to see you because we found this stone.” She gave him the stone. “I’ve been told, and seen, that the Sword and Helm of a rider are usually a slight variation in color compared to the armor. I would like my Sword and Helm to be this color, if it is not to much to ask.”

He looked at the stone carefully for a long time and said, “It is a perfect match to the scales on your dragon’s back. The armor, as you know, is closer to the lighter scales on his front. Yes that would be a nice combination. Most of the time a Rider chooses a color that is just a little bit off of their dragon’s color scheme, but I think that this is a better choice. Stay with your dragon, when has it ever been wrong? Oh, and please, call me O’deen”

Téqua then noticed a slight motion in O’deen’s hand, and then she looked in the direction of the flinch and saw a barrel full of very realistic wooden swords behind him. She started to suspect he was planning a surprise attack, which was something Intarl would do to test her. She barely saw his next move and, out of reflex only, caught the wooden sword that he pulled out of a barrel behind himself and threw it to her, hilt first. He pulled another for himself and swung it around to point at her. She barely blocked the first blow, which would have hit her ankle, and when she went to strike against him, which Intarl had instructed her to do after a close block to throw her opponent of guard, she met his wooden blade in the air, as if he knew what she was going to do and got there first. She side stepped the next attack, the downward flourish that would have killed her even with a wooden blade but was obviously only a way to force her to move her feet, which she hadn’t been doing and should have been. The flourish was quick and he turned his attention behind him, away from Téqua. She thought that signaled the practice match was over. She set her sword down and, when she looked back up saw O’deen, with only a wooden sword, defend himself against Chalceadron’s teeth and claws. It was now obvious he was going very easy on Téqua. She immediately threw herself into Chalceadron’s mind and said, What are you doing? We were only practicing! Stop right now! He did stop. O’deen put down his wooden sword, which was now chipped in many places and charred slightly from being bitten and then breathed on by Chalceadron. He put up his hands in a gesture of surrender and said, “I'm very sorry, this is my fault, I should have warned you before I did that. I assure you, if you had failed to block a strike I would not have hit you.”

“I know that, I don’t think he understood what you meant when you said ‘I would also like to see you practice with a sword.’ I understood it perfectly and anticipated what you where going to do, the barrel of wooden swords behind you gave it away. The only thing I forgot was to make sure Chalceadron understood the plan. That is a grave mistake on my part.”

“You really saw through my plan that easily? Well, I would like to be have you on my side if I am ever about to walk into a trap. I did not know you had named your dragon. Also, I suppose not telling Chalceadron was a mistake, but I am not your teacher and therefore it is not my place to punish you, as a mater of fact considering how you saw through my ambush I don’t think I will tell him.” He finished that with a wink.

“Thank you very much. Now that you mention it I probably would have been punished severally for this.” She though about what her father might do if she had a huge dog and it attacked one of the merchants in the village. She found those kinds of comparisons accurately anticipated what Intarl would do, but in this case she did not like the answer it gave her. “Thank you again. So did you get what you needed out of our duel?”

“Yes, I did. You seem to at least care for you self when bodily harm threatens. I know some who would have chopped my head off while I mutilated their leg.”

“Really? I’ve never met such a person.”

“Well I have, a lot of them actually. Also, when you blocked my first blow you swung you arm around behind yourself to block with the front instead of blocking with the rear of your blade, which would have been much easier. That means a blade that would follow your natural flow would have to curve forward slightly. Another thing is you attacked immediately after your block. That is because you are more of an attacker than a defender. Then I will make your blade a little heavier than I originally planed. This is because you need the extra weight to fuel a more powerful blow and break a defender’s sword. This will not happen to you, of course, because you blade will never break, bend, dent or tarnish after it is finished.”

“Oh, well that’s useful. I was wondering why aren’t all swords made so that they won’t break or dent?”

“Good question! I like that, nothing slips past you. First, you need an extremely talented smith, not to boast. Also, you need a very complicated mixture of metals, there are a huge number of spells that must be put on the metal at several times during the smelting and forging, and the sword must perfectly match the person it is made for, or all of the work was for nothing. If you did this with every sword ever made there would be far fewer swords, and also far fewer war-smiths, because there are few that have the skill needed.”

“Well, it seems you put a lot of work into the weapons you make, but wouldn’t your superior skill with metal working be more useful if you where making armor? No offense intended, and I greatly appreciate what you are doing, but don’t you think unbreakable armor might be better than an unbreakable sword?”

“Ah, and you show your defensive side. In some ways I would agree with you, but the mixture of metals is rather heavy, and although it may be light enough for a sword, armor made of the same alloy would crush all mortal men and most of the Riders, even the dragon armor I forge is not made of it. The only person I have made armor for out of this substance is Vatalyus, the head of the council. If you wish, I could make you a shield studded with it, or maybe reinforce your helm with it, but unless you get much stronger very fast, I will not make you a full suit of armor out of it.”

“One last thing, I have seen several Rider’s sword now and they all have a jewel in them, a diamond or a sapphire or a ruby, but only a cut and polished jewel. Why?”

“Well, how much have you learned of magic?” O’deen said.

“Only a few words of Márra-Sañl and some of the things you can do with magic, why? What does magic have to do with gems?”

“You do know that dragons are the source of their rider’s magical powers?”

“Oh, I have learned that too.”

“Well, there are other sources. How do magicians that are not Riders use magic?”

“I do not know,” she replied.

“There are many sources of energy, and they can be turned into magical energy. Some sources other than dragons are gems, living things, fire, lightning, and sunlight. The last three are energy themselves but the first three contain energy. Living things use energy to move and breath, and therefore need a constant supply of energy. When we die, we are not using the energy we have stored and that is eaten by other living things. Plants get energy from sunlight. Gems, on the other hand, do not use energy. When they are created in volcanoes there is much fire around them and some of that fire energy is stored inside them, which makes them transparent. When this energy is used they become normal stone that is shaped in a fancy way. If there is still some of the energy remaining, however, you can put more energy into it to replace what has been lost. You can only refill a gem, though; you cannot store more energy than there originally was, but the original amount could be quite a lot. That is why there are gems on Rider’s swords; to carry extra energy in case of emergency.”

“Oh,” Téqua said, she had wanted to put her stone in the blade instead of a diamond or ruby. Now that she knew they had a purpose it would be a very large handicap to not have one.

“I am confused, this is a rather interesting fact that is very useful in a fight, yet you seem disappointed.” O’deen said.

“Well, I wanted to insert my stone instead, but that would make me vulnerable.”

“Yes, it would if you did not have a gem at all, but you do not necessarily have to have it on you blade. If you with you could carry one in you pocket or something, and then I can insert your stone into you blade.”

“I did not think of that, thank you very much.”

“Anything I can do to help,” he said. Then he looked at the sun and said, “Wow, it’s late. I should get back to work, just leave the stone on that table over there and I will put it in your sword when it’s ready.”

“Thank you,” Téqua said as her and Chalceadron left and flew off to their room.

The Soldier Arrives

The two days before Elastan was to arrive went by very slowly for Téqua. She could not wait before they where in each other’s arms again. The morning of the day he was to arrive, Téqua found herself packing. The plan was for her, Chalceadron, Intarl, and Varanasi to fly west to meet Elastan and the Dragon and Rider carrying him, Kêalman and Loron, and to escort them the rest of the way to Gura-Brén. They would fly far and long, the two would reach each other until about noon and they were leaving just after sunrise. They ate a quick breakfast and made a few final preparations, then set off, away from the oncoming sun. Téqua was worried about Chalceadron. The first time he carried her had only been for a few hours, with breaks. This journey would be non-stop flying for at least a full day. If he became to tired to fly, Varanasi would carry him on her broad back, but only if he was so tired that he was about to fall out of the sky. Also, Chalceadron was not informed of the back-up plan. This was a rite of passage for him and he needed to believe that he was striking out on his own with no one to save him if he failed. Téqua only wanted him to be safe and did not care, but Varanasi had told her, through Intarl, that it was very important and if Chalceadron did not succeed he would lose him honor. Because of Varanasi’s urging, Téqua hid all of the thoughts about the plan from Chalceadron. While she mounted him and checked her goggles and that everything was tied down, she went over the plan again, almost forgetting to shield her mind, and then opened it again to ask, Are you ready, Chalceadron?

Yes, he said, after unfurling his wings and preparing to take off. He would be starting and leading the journey, which Varanasi had also insisted, but Téqua had not failed to notice that, if Chalceadron were to fail, that would only make things worse. It also presented another problem, Intarl knew exactly where to go, and Chalceadron only had a general idea. If he was in front then Intarl would have to relay directions up from the rear, which would make the mission much more difficult and take away some of the leadership that was supposed to be Chalceadron’s. The only comfort was that Varanasi was directly behind them and, if they fell, she would catch them. At that moment, Chalceadron ran forward and launched himself, and Téqua, into the air. They were only twenty feet up before Varanasi followed. They turned slightly to the left, which was the darkest part of the sky, and flew. They flew for several hours with only a few directional corrections and, because they flew in a straight line that did not require much though for Chalceadron, he and Téqua could practice unifying their minds. While they talked Téqua could feel him getting tired, but it took a surprisingly long time. After they grew board of talking they simply reveled in each other’s body, she could not get over the strange and complex movements that he used to fly and he was just as fascinated by the alien nature of her features and abilities, such as walking on two legs. Time flew as fast as the wind whipping by for a few hours, until Téqua remembered what was at the end of their flight, Elastan, and then time almost stopped. She spent about ten minutes being bored out of her mind before she grew sick of it and decided that, for something to do, she would eat some of the food she had packed with her. She ate it slowly to make it last as long as possible. Finally, out of desperation, she made up a game. While they flew they would, individually, search for anything that broke the monotonous look of the ocean, they counted seagulls, islands, ships, whales, dolphins, and even clouds, because there were so few of them. The simple game distracted Chalceadron from the growing tiredness and both of them from the overwhelming boredom. They soon forgot about keeping track of the time. Completely lost in their game, neither noticed that the bird in front of them that Téqua called just before Chalceadron was actually what they where waiting for. It drew their attention, but they could not figure out what it was. Then it let out a large circle of fire and they realized it was Kêalman, with Elastan and Loron. Anticipation welled up inside of Téqua. Chalceadron returned the greeting with another circle of fire, followed by one from Varanasi, which Téqua had learned was a gesture of peace among dragons.

The plan, after the initial greeting, was for Téqua to “transfer” from Chalceadron to Kêalman. The “transfer,” which Intarl had called it, was the simple act of jumping off of Chalceadron onto Kêalman. After the greeting, in which Intarl and Loron talked, Kêalman and Varanasi rubbed heads, and Elastan and Téqua simply stared at each other, Chalceadron flew up to his father, who was larger than Varanasi and Chalceadron could have fit in his mouth, wings folded, without being hurt. Kêalman’s scales were dark blue with long, foot-wide stripes of deep green running down his back and the rear of his hind legs. For a long time he and Chalceadron looked at each other. Then, Chalceadron broke the stare and flew up around to Kêalman’s back to let Téqua off. The two dragons had mystified her, but now she looked at Elastan again and she found that lovely smile on his face. She also noticed he was in much better armor, had a finer sword, and he looked a thousand years older. She climbed down to the end of the ladder that was strapped to Chalceadron’s front leg and, with a breath to fortify her, jumped down the few feet to Kêalman’s back. Chalceadron flew above her like he had when they first met.

“I missed you,” she said as she ran over to Elastan and hugged him.

“I missed you, too,” he replied.

They talked all the way back, which went much faster than the first half. Elastan told her that he had been in several battles, and three times his commanding officer had been killed, which explained the better armor and sword, but he had also made friends with a man on the trip to the front lines and he had been killed right in front of him. Elastan never even knew his name. Téqua thought this explained why he looked so old and broken, but he had ten more stories just like it that he had heard from other soldiers. Then he showed her a few new wounds that were not even scares yet, like the slash across the chest that his new armor had blunted, so there was a long, wide bruise with small cuts running along it where the sword had poked through. She felt her heart wrench when he told her of the devastation the towns went through, some were nothing but piles of ash left because they where high in the mountains and made entirely of wood.

When Elastan paused Loron leaned back and said, “Now you know why we must try to keep the peace, to stop that sort of thing from happening.”

Elastan nodded to that and said, “I just hope you do not have to do that to keep the peace, it is slightly counter-productive.”

“Well, I'm sorry to be so unpleasant, because I know it is you'r families I am talking about, but if this cannot be solved peacefully then one country’s worth of destruction is better than half a world of destruction. Cêrular could do that with the army he is mustering. Also, the Riders are cunning, I’m certain we can find a way to lessen the losses.”

“I hope so to,” Téqua said truthfully.

After that she told him about how life was living in Gura-Brén, some of the things he needed to know, like do not insult a Rider, which seems obvious but is exactly something he would do, about the spell that was now on her so that she could not have children, and the rules Intarl had set down when he first told Téqua Elastan was coming. She also explained as much as possible about Chalceadron. “Now that I think about it he is a lot like you,” she said, trying to joke, but both of them took offense at that, Elastan because he did not yet fully comprehend the intelligence of dragons and Chalceadron because he was jealous of Elastan for being Téqua’s “mate,” as he called him. They both seemed to be overly suspicious about each other. After she had soothed Chalceadron with a quick emotion of peace and relaxation, she explained to Elastan, once again, that dragons were much smarter than animals and they had thoughts, feelings, and personalities just like humans. She finished just as Gura-Brén came into sight. They returned, or arrived, in Elastan’s case, at the castle a little before sunset and, when they were all finished unburdening the dragons, Kêalman mostly, with scores of important scrolls for Vatalyus and Elastan’s few belongings, Téqua, Elastan and Chalceadron assembled, as Intarl instructed, in the middle of the courtyard in front of him.

He began with, “Elastan, while you are here you must keep the peace. Neither violence nor crime will be tolerated. I believe Téqua has already informed you but, to be clear, you are a possible distraction for her and I do not want anything interfering with her studying or performance. If that does happen you will be separated. Am I clear?”

“Yes,” he said, not knowing he was supposed to say “sir.”

“Sir,” Téqua whispered to him.

“Sir,” he added hastily.

Intarl nodded and said, “You may go.”

“Thank you, Master,” Téqua said, trying to tell Elastan that he had it easy compared to her.

Then Elastan and Téqua went upstairs to her room and Chalceadron stayed behind with his father. When they were done doing a few things that Téqua hid from Chalceadron, they talked some more. “You are learning to use a sword?” Elastan asked after Téqua reached that part.

“Yes.”

“Well, lets see what you’re made of,” he said, smiling. Ten minutes later they were in the courtyard equipped with two of O’deen’s wooden practice swords, circling each other about ten feet apart. Elastan made a gesture, as if to say “you first.” The slight distraction was the signal she was waiting for and, with a low running start that covered the distance between them quickly, slashed upwards. The blow was meant for his right shoulder but he blocked it much faster than she thought he could, pushing her wooden blade aside and also, with his other arm, pushing her lightly along so that she did not stop running but continued farther then she should. This put him directly behind her and he rested his practice sword gently on her shoulder, as a sing of winning. She dropped her sword and turned to see that smile again on his face, but she did not like it at the moment. “You were very aggressive,” he said, as if trying to console her.

“Yes, just like Intarl taught me. How did you block it so fast?” she asked, wondering how her carefully planned attack had been blocked so easily.

“Well, I’ve been in battle, where you have to be fast to survive. You have not, that is the only difference. You are very good, and that fast first strike will probably save your life, but we also did not factor in shields, arrows, or the complete randomness of battle. You would have done well, but I do not know what would have happened if you had been in battle. I have seen men much better than me fall because of a stray arrow or a sharp piece of metal being fallen on, even someone from your own side attacking you from behind, not knowing you are not their enemy. I'm sure you would do as good as luck allows.” This made her feel a little better, but she wanted to redeem herself by winning at least once.

“This time you attack. Also, thanks for not actually hitting me in the neck. That’s what Intarl does when we practice,” she said, remembering the many ways Intarl had taught her to block, and how he had been very successful in teaching her.

“I wouldn’t hurt a lady,” he said, “and I will have to talk with Intarl about that.

“No, that is how he teaches and you will not interfere,” she said sternly, not wanting them to be separated.

“Fine, but I do not like the power he has over us,” he said, showing his pride again.

“Intarl is very fair, and very strict. He will not separate us unless he has good reason, and I hope he cannot hear what you just said because that kind of prideful stupidity is just what he is trying to stop. Now admit to yourself that he has more power than you and accept it because if you don’t then your pride will get in the way of my training and he will separate us. Now, let’s just get back to practice.”

They circled for a few seconds and Téqua twitched her foot, trying to get him to attack. It worked and he lunged forward. She prepared to block the attack by simply pushing his sword aside to her right, which he had done to her. Just before he was close enough for her to do this he drew his blade back towards himself and spun himself to the left. His tactic threw Téqua off guard, but Intarl commonly used his move and she knew how to counter it. In the very short time Elastan was facing away from her she rolled forwards, behind him, and turned to face where he would soon be. Her speed was unexpected and, when Elastan turned back to where she had been, ready to strike, he did not see her. He looked around, but could not even get his sword up before Téqua’s sword was at his neck. “You were very aggressive,” she said, mocking what he had said when he won.

He did not care that he had been beaten, but sat there, awestruck. All he said was, “How?”

She explained what she had done and the fact that Intarl used that move commonly. Then they dueled several more times, switching between who attacked, Elastan winning mostly but she was sometimes able to turn an attack on him. The only thing she could not do was break his defense and she started trying desperate maneuvers when attacking. He only rarely used a move twice and never right after another. They kept score and when they ended it was: Elastan, 23, Téqua, 6. During the last match before they ended it was his turn to attack and, just after his first strike, which Téqua blocked, they heard a growl from off to their left. They both stopped and saw Chalceadron standing about twenty feet away, watching them. Téqua remembered what he had done to O’deen and quickly explained to him that they were only practicing. He stopped growling but kept his upper lip curled while he looked at Elastan. Stop it! Téqua said. His lip lowered but his face remained tense. She looked over to Elastan and saw the same look on his face. “You too,” she said, forgetting that he could not hear what she had said to Chalceadron.

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Stop making that face, and why are you two so aggressive with each other? Elastan, I’ve told you this before but you don’t seem to understand. Chalceadron and I are mentally bonded for life, and Chalceadron,” she talked to him out loud so Elastan could hear, “I love Elastan, he is not going anywhere either. Both of you should just stop it and get along.”

They relaxed and, Téqua hoped, discarded their jealousy. From what she could see, that is what it looked like they did, but she suspected they where only acting to try and please her. She tried to inch her way farther into Chalceadrin’s mind to see it that was true but was stopped by a wall. She was frustrated, but did not try to force her way into his mind; she needed to respect his privacy.

“Thank you,” she said. “I am tired, Chalceadron, will you please carry me and Elastan to our room?” Over the mental wall between them, he said Yes. After they returned the wooden swords, which were notched and worn from the practice, Téqua and Elastan climbed onto Chalceadron’s back and they flew to their room. It was more of a problem deciding the sleeping arrangements. Téqua normally slept with her dragon, but that would leave Elastan to sleep alone in the bed. Téqua also wanted to sleep in a bed with Elastan for a full night without doing anything else, which they had never done before. She thought that probably would not happen if she choose that arrangement anyway, but still wanted to try. That would leave Chalceadron in the small nest of blankets that he had made alone. She explained the dilemma to them and asked for their input.

“Well,” Elastan said, “I do want to sleep in the bed, with you. But if you really want to sleep with your dragon…” he trailed of into nothing but at first sounded like her sleeping next to Chalceadron in stead of on a bed was weird.

“What is wrong with that?” she asked. “You speak of him as if he was nothing more than an animal. Like he does not have feelings and emotions like we do.”

“I guess I didn’t. It’s just hard for me to understand.”

“Well he does, and don’t make that mistake about any other dragons because they will tear you to pieces for it.” She walked over and lay down next to Chalceadron where she usually slept. Elastan put out the small lantern on the table next to the bed and they all went to sleep.

Téqua had a hard time falling asleep knowing Elastan was so near and she was not right next to him. After a while she stopped trying to get comfortable and just lay there, trying to bore herself to sleep by focusing on nothing in particular. She felt Chalceadron drift off to sleep and was annoyed by how easy it was for him. Then, suddenly, she heard the floorboards near her creak. With her newly improved vision she was able to see in the darkness that would have blinded her, so she slowly and silently lifted her head to see who it was. She saw Elastan sitting on the edge of the bed. While she watched he stood up and walked over to her and lay down next to her, with Téqua in between him and Chalceadron. She rolled over to face him, showing she was also awake, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms. All was well.

A Change In Routine

The next few weeks were more pleasant then Téqua had thought they would be. She thought Elastan was going to be a major distraction but Intarl had an idea that solved that problem. Instead of keeping Téqua and Elastan as far from each other as possible, he had found a way to keep them together and happy by teaching both of them. He arrived at the idea while watching them spar their first night. Elastan was slightly better than her in most things because had had gone to school for a few years, but she was a fast learner and they were about even at the end of their second week.

At their first joint sword-fighting lesson Intarl had Elastan demonstrate all of the moves he knew. Téqua was amazed by how many attacks, counter-attacks, and blocks he knew, there where at least fifty of each. When that was done Intarl had him show her a few of the more aggressive attacks. When she had practiced those for a while Intarl had her show Elastan some of the more complicated counters she had learned. When they had learned all of each other’s moves Téqua found she was faster than Elastan and they where almost even in strength, therefore she was able to win most of their sparring matches. This did not seem to bother Elastan much, for which she was very grateful, but if he went a long time without winning she would let him win. She did not want Elastan to interfere with her work because she did not want to be separated, but she also did not want her work to interfere with their relationship.

Elastan was not allowed to be present during Téqua’s lessons in Márra-Sañl or when she learned anything about magic. Intarl told her she could not tell him anything about this branch of knowledge because some of it was secret and was told only to the Riders. Elastan did not mind this much because it gave him a little more free time. He had asked her a few times what she was learning about but he stopped when she explained to him what Intarl had said about secrets that he should not know.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A month after Elastan arrived at Gura-Brén, just after training, Intarl suggested Chalceadron, Téqua and Elastan all go for a solo flight. Chalceadron had grow tremendously, he was twenty feet long and his shoulder was two feet above Téqua’s head, so she was confident he could carry them both, although he had not tried it yet.

“But where would we go?” Téqua asked.

“Well, I did tell your parents they would see you again soon,” Intarl said.

“I completely forgot! Mom and dad must be worried sick.”

“So we are going back to Rivolarn?” Elastan asked.

“We have to, Intarl how long will it take to get there?”

“About two hours, you should leave first thing in the morning.”

They spent the rest of the day packing and, when they where done, they all took a practice flight. Intarl had a larger saddle, which seated three, made for Chalceadron just after Elastan had arrived and now Elastan sat in the middle seat with Téqua in front of him. She did not worry to much about Elastan because he had flown before and

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry, that was where I lost my train of thought and stopped to read what I had written, which I then thought was bad so I did not write any more. I might start posting my revised story chapter by chapter like some others have done but only if I hit it big with this. Also I hade some MAJOR changes in the revised version, actually, it is more like a compleatly different story with the same names and general storylign (which I havent even gotten to yet in this version).

Another thing, this is not only inspired by the Eragon series. There are a few other books that were in the front of my mind when I was writing thisHINT: my name, Vlad Taltos. HINT 2: The name "Elastan" If anyone gets the hints and can guess what vedio game I took "Avo" from (yes you must get ALL THREE) then I will definitly start posting the revised version.

One final thing, I wrote this about a year ago and that was before I had read anything on this site so no one can posibbly blame me for taking ideas from their storys. (I say this because I just realized, Tequa is sometimes very similar to the Katrina in the fanfic that I just read)

Other than that, I want to know every single thing I did wrong. C-6 (or watever it is now, i think the C thing is outdated) Rip it to shreds.

This post has been edited by Vlad Taltos: 19 November 2009 - 06:34 PM

[HBomb]

2 things you need to know:

1) PUT SPACES between your paragraphs and talking lines! I refuse to read it until it becomes legible

2) I think this might belong in the general fanfic area. It's sort of a tossup because it has inheritance properties from what I noticed when I skimmed through, but it is also a different storyline.

-HBomb

This post has been edited by HBomb: 15 November 2009 - 10:49 PM

[Vlad Taltos]

sorry, I just realized the paragraph problem, but it is fixed now

[Thunder Gulch]

I have to agree with HBomb on this one. Though I don't think that it belongs in the general fanfic.

1) As HBomb said, using spacing to define your paragraphs, and also try to start on a separate line when a new character is talking.

2) Use Italics when a character is talking with their minds or reading a letter. Helps it stand out from normal conversations.

-OTF

[HBomb]

Thanks for fixing that. I'll read this in a little bit, have to go post a new chapter in my fanfic and do a few other things first

-HBomb

[darkangel447]

Téqua
By Vlad Taltos


It’s Hatching
Intarl was halfway through a report when he heard the words he was waiting to hear.

“It’s hatching, it’s hatching!” yelled one of the servants as he ran down the hall outside of Intarl’s study. A jolt of excitement ran through him. It was time. The egg his dragon, Varanasi, had laid several weeks ago had been unusually inactive, until now.

“What color?” yelled Intarl as he popped his head out of his study's door.

“Orange,” said the servant, “bright orange!”

“Orange? How did that happen? Its parents are red and purple,” Intarl asked the servant.

“I don’t know, sir,” said the servant, “but it’s true, come and see!”

Just a point (You said C-6 so sorry if this is picky) but they can tell the colour of the dragon from the egg; it's the same colour as the dragon, so the whole 'its orange' thing, just wouldnt work.


And as I am now being booted off the PC, thats as far as I got! So sorry about that. Ill come back inabit and be all 'grr' later

[Vlad Taltos]

@ Darkangel: Um, that is explained a few paragraphes in. I wanted to make my story as different from Eragon as possible so some of the dragon's atributes will be different.

@ everyone: I just picked up from where i left off in the revised version so if ppl start getting the hints I have put in then I will post the first chapter (after It's Hatching, that is staying, although it is a little different).

Off topic, but I was wondering. How do you put in a signature? I can't figure it out.

[Savasung88]

Vlad Taltos: Go into "My Controls" and there sholud be a whole lot of links down the side of the page and one of them will be "Edit Signature" You should be fine after that.

Liked the fan-fic by the way but I am tossing up whether it should be in general fiction or not.

Savvy

[Vlad Taltos]

Yay!!! I finally got my pic and signature working!

On topic: Okay I just tried writing some more and I realized that in the revised version I keep switching between past and present tense. Oops. Well I guess I will try again, again. It doesn't help that my dad wont shut the he!! up. Good thing I wasn't to far in when I realized it.

Also, why hasent anyone tried to guess at the hints? Im getting bored

EDIT: come on guys, almost 200 veiws and only 5 replies? is it good or bad or what?
And no takers on the hints either? I can make it easier if you promis u will post.

EDIT: Okay, fine. I will post the revised version of the prolouge tomarrow to see if I can get some responses.

EDIT: I skipped the Name Guide to save time and because you can just scroll up if you want to use it. Also, there are differences in this one that will affect the story so even though it is boring because you have already read it, READ IT AGAIN.

Tequa
By Vlad Taltos


Prologue: It’s Hatching
Intarl was sitting in his study; halfway through a report when he heard the words he was waiting to hear.

It’s hatching, He heard his dragon, Varanasi say in the mind-speak they used to communicate. A jolt of excitement ran through him. It was time. The egg Varanasi had laid several weeks ago had been unusually inactive, until now.

What color? He replied while folding the report he had been working on putting it away.

Orange, kind of.

What do you mean ‘kind of’

You will see when you get here now hurry!

He jumped to his feet and ran as fast as he could to the dragon hold where Varanasi slept and, more recently, where she guarded her egg.

What took you so long?

I was finishing a report for Vatalyus on the recent raids, he replied.

A report? You almost missed my young’s hatching for a rep-

Shhh! It’s about to hatch, he said with a teasing smile on his face. He was usually forced to be more withdrawn with his emotions, like if he was talking with a potential enemy, which was almost always, so it was nice to be able to just enjoy the feeling. Compounded with the excitement that he was receiving over the telepathic connection with Varanasi, it was one heck of a feeling.

There were about twenty people in the room, all crowded around the egg. Then, in between two mages, he saw a brief glimpse of it. That perfect, bright, lustrous egg. He pushed through the crowd until he was right next to it. It was two feet tall and a brilliant orange color with light splotches of red and small faint lines of blue, green, and purple, as if a master artist had been working on it for days blending the colors so that they flowed and swirled.

“How can it be so many colors?” he asked. When no one responded, the question had been rhetorical, he thought of the other dragon eggs he had seen. They started as a dull gray color until a few minuets before the baby dragon hatched. Then it turns the color of the new dragon’s scales. The hatchling is usually one of, or a slight variation of, one of the parents’ colors. It is also possible to have a mix of both colors, like this dragon’s father and Varanasi’s mate, Kêalman, who was blue with green stripes running down his back and the calves of his hind legs. He had yet to see any dragon that was ugly though, no matter what combination of colors; so he was confident this dragon would look fine.

Just then Varanasi let a jet of fire out onto the egg, which was to soften the eggs hard shell for the hatchling. It had to be done carefully, or so Varanasi told him, because the newborn dragon could pop out unexpectedly. That was almost what happened because when Varanasi let up on the flame six seconds later he could see a thin, two-inch long fissure in the egg.

“See Varanasi?” exclaimed the head healer, Avandra, who had been watching with apprehension, “I told you that fire thing was too dangerous! Now don’t do it again,” she said as if scolding a child. Avandra was the only human who dared be so rude to a dragon. This was for her unusual nerve, for her age and wisdom, and for the simple fact that she was the head healer; she had saved countless lives, including several dragons. Also, to Avandra, Varanasi’s age of four hundred and seventy three might make her practically a child.

Her tone still coxed a low growl out of Varanasi, but she stopped abruptly as the crack in the egg started to widen. The top of the egg started to bulge the tiniest amount as the crevice increased in length. After a few seconds it split into several lines at the peak of the bulge which all began to lengthen and branch. Suddenly the pressure creating the bulge stopped and the fissures lost all width and became almost invisible.

“What happened?” said one of the observers, a scholar he did not recognize. As if to answer he heard a soft Thump. Intarl returned his attention to the egg. Again another Thump. He then realized that the sound was coming from inside the egg because he had noticed that the area around the cracks flexed outward with each-

Thump.

On the fourth Thump a small piece of shell popped off the top of the egg. Through the hole the baby dragon was visible as a dark shadow moving around. Then, as the hatchling threw itself against the egg’s hard shell for a final time, and the egg shattered.

Standing among the remains of the egg was a small, bright orange, three-foot long dragon. Although it was still obscured by a thin membrane that covered most of it’s body, Intarl could tell it had a long, thin body, wings that were furled up at it’s sides, and three rows of sharp points ran down it’s back, one along its spine and one a few inches to either side.

It unfurled its thin wings and spread them to dry, tearing the membrane. Each wing was slightly shorter than the dragon’s body and eight inches wide at the widest spot. As it started to walk it let out a long, loud screech.

After Avandra cleaned it up she wrapped the hatchling, which was already asleep, in a soft cloth and placed it on the floor in front of Varanasi. Then everyone left except Intarl.

Are you ready? Intarl asked the partner of his mind.

Yes.

With that they let their minds flow together into one and, using the greatest caution possible, began to ease their way into the newborn’s mind. It, no, Intarl could tell from through its mind that the hatchling was a He. He sensed the invasion of his mind and woke up. Intarl could tell he was frightened but Varanasi illustrated, using thoughts, that there was no danger. The newborn seemed to understand and was soon asleep again. After searching through his mind for a while they found the almost undetectable thread that connected the hatchling with his rider. They felt across the thread at the end they found another sentient mind. Drawing on Varanasi’s vast stores of energy Intarl performed a complicated spell and withdrew back into his own consciousness.

Well, now we know where she is, Rivolarn, let’s go, Intarl said and then they packed up and left with haste.

---------------------------------------------------

Hope that gets some responses out of you ppl.

This post has been edited by Vlad Taltos: 18 November 2009 - 02:54 PM

[Blue Swords]

How closely is this related to the Eragon series? Will it be in the same universe but in the past with some minor tweaks, or will you just borrow the idea of dragonriders and some of the species of people?

It is well written though, it kind of flows and I don't have to pause to try and understand what's going on.

[Vlad Taltos]

@dravarian: This story happens in the same universe as the eragon series but it is on a different planet.

Lol, jk, it is a different ''universe'', if that is the right word for it. All i did was take a few general ideas from the eragon series, that is all.

by the way, thanks for the praise, and the post. I was starting to think I had somehow blocked ppl for posting or somthing.

EDIT: Wow, I just realized something about myself. I have no life, whatsoever(Sp?). I just sat here for like five minutes staring at my computer, waiting for a reply to my post

EDIT:

EDIT: Well to get you ppl to start talking, I will post the first chapter of the revised version (this is after It's Hatching) even though no one even tried to guess the hints. MAJOR spoilar for the one who does get all three though. This story is COMPLEATLY DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE ABOVE. sorry to make you guys read all that and then not have it but I will probabbly ues peices of the story above as filler anyway. Sry



skip 17 years



A Simple Test

Lazily, Téqua checked in with Chalceadron, like she did every five minutes, and when he reported no unusual movements she went back to thinking about why she was sitting under a tree making plans for the assassination of one of her mentors.

Of course, she was not actually going to kill Idris, this was just a test she had been given, but it seamed pointless to her why she would need to know how to assassinate someone when she could simply challenge any ordinary person to a duel and win without even breaking a sweat. She had been born 17 years ago with the looks of an average (HOT) human female but also with the strength, agility and senses of an elf, which meant she could defeat any human swordsman blindfolded, and she just happened to have a forty-foot long dragon as a lifelong companion to protect her and fight by her side. So despite all that, she had to go through the motions of setting up the most observant person she knew for assassination, infiltrate a city full of Dragon Riders, which she shouldn’t even be locked out of because she lived there, then get past Zuphlus, Idris’ dragon, and finally sneak up behind her and pretend to stab her, all to prove she could do something that she didn’t need to know how to do. (I might have been a little pevved at school when I wrote this)

Téqua, Quit complaining to yourself and go over Idris’s movements for tonight again, she heard Chalceadron say into her head. That was one of the good things about being telepathically connected to someone else’s mind; they keep you focused when you get distracted. The bad thing was, she couldn’t even grumble to herself because he would sense that and then he would be one up on her. They were always trying to get one up on each other.

Chalceadron was right, however, because that day was Thursday and that night was the only time, after months of tracking that they had not pinned down Idris’s schedule to within five minutes. The reason for this was Idris did not go building to building like she usually did when going from one place to another; she went into the castle where there was a roof over her head. This prevented Chalceadron from tracking her from the sky, where he blended in with the hundreds of dragons that are always circling Gura-Bren. That meant Téqua was going to have to go under cover. The problem was, Idris was her stealth mentor, thus she was the one who taught Téqua what to do when under cover, so she was certain Idris would notice her because she was going to be doing the things Idris knew to look for. So she fully expected to blow the whole thing that night.

You will do just fine as long as you stay to the shadows and act naturally. Stop thinking like that.

Okay, she thought to herself, trying to organize her thoughts and at the same time keep those thoughts from Chalceadron, back to Idris. We know she goes into the citadel three hours after noon through the western Citadel gate and emerges either seven or ten hours after noon from the southern Citadel gate, either to go to the sparring grounds at seven hours past noon or to the dragon field so she can mount Zuphlus and go home if it is ten hours past noon. There is no pattern as to which she will choose but when she leaves ten hours after noon she is usually alone, so this would be the perfect time to strike. It also eliminates the dragon problem. The citadel prevents Chalceadron from seeing Idris, but it also stops Zuphlus from being at her side because he is too large to fit in the narrow, roofed passages. That means it is the only time I can strike without having dragons on either side of the fight, and that would ruin everything because this is supposed to be an assassination, not a brawl to the death between two gigantic magical reptiles.

Hey! Don’t call me a reptile! She heard over her link.

How do you do that? I was trying to block you out! And, come to think of it, why don’t I constantly hear your thoughts in my head?

Well, you can’t block me out because I’m to close to it. When you make barriers, you usually make them around you thoughts, but I am part of your thoughts. We both affect each other’s thinking. To block me, you would have to block off certain parts of yourself and me at the same time. As for why you do not hear all of my thoughts, I pay more attention than you do. If you thought more about what you could sense at any given moment, like my thoughts or where I am, then you would know I am right above you. Téqua looked up and, through the leafless branches of the tree she was sitting under, she saw a large orange dragon, it’s scales shimmering with reflected light, diving at an incredible speed about eighty feet above her and only about ten feet from the tree. Just then Chalceadron opened his wings and flapped down hard, barely missing the uppermost branches.

An avalanche of air collided with Téqua and she felt her feet leave the ground, but she simply muttered, “Letta,” and she slowed down. She then said a string of phrases in Márra-Sañl, the Language of Magic, that would both, put her back on the ground and cause a downdraft above Chalceadron. She heard a loud boom and turned around. She was surprised to see he was on his feet, he must have absorbed the landing with his large legs, but as he started to open his mouth she said another sentence in Márra-Sañl. Into Chalceadron’s mind she said, I believe that is one more for me, you have lost the element of surprise and not your claws, fangs nor fire can defeat my magic.

She heard a grim growl from him, an acknowledgement of defeat, and he said, Aye, you win, but I am still up by four, although you are catching up. You should continue to search for an answer to our dilemma. Téqua then removed the enchantments she had place on him, which consisted of a fire resistant barrier in front of him and another gust of wind that would blow him back to earth should he try to fly, so that he could fry back to the Citadel. She kept an eye on him until she was certain he was not going to turn around again, though. Téqua knew he would if he thought he could catch her off guard again.

She then felt a small amount of cheerfulness reach her over her link, the equivalent of a mental chuckle, and said, What is so funny Chalceadron?

Well, earlier you were wondering why you needed to learn stealth. Well if you could sneak up on me as well as I can you, then I would not be winning in our little game. It does not matter overmuch, though, so I suggest you return to trying to find a solution to our problem.

You were the one who distracted me, she replied playfully, but took his advice anyway. It was usually right. She sat down against the tree she had leaned against earlier and began to think. That night at ten hours after noon would be the best time, as Idris would be alone, but she might leave three hours earlier instead and past observations confirmed she usually left with at least a small group of people, and some of that group were usually other dragon riders. It all depended on when Idris decided to leave, and Téqua could not know that ahead of time. Then, suddenly, a very simple, obvious way of solving the problem was formed in her mind. She wondered why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. Chalceadron, I just figured it out! All we need to do is wait until seven hours past noon, then, if she does not come out then, we set up the attack for three hours later. That would be the only other time she would leave, our months of watching have proven she does not ever leave any other time.

You are right, that is a sound plan. Now that you have found a way to put her in an isolated position, how do intend to actually win a fight against her. That is the difficult part.

I do not know. You keep watching, I will try to solve this new problem. Of course, Téqua had thought of this before, but she hadn’t thought she would ever get this far so she had not been worried particularly about it. Now that she had found a time and place that actually might work, she started to think she might have a chance at succeeding after all. She considered everything she knew about her mentor and started looking for a weakness. Idris was small, extremely fast, wore very thin, lightweight armor and usually had about ten pounds worth of sharp, pointy objects on her person, all of which were almost unnoticeable. Téqua knew that these objects consisted of two short swords, although neither were encased in a normal hip sheath, at least ten narrow throwing knives, although she suspected there to be many more, roughly seven medium sized daggers, which, in Idris’s hands were just as bad as swords, if not worse because they could double as more throwing knives, around five shuriken and a countless number of two inch long, poisoned darts. All of these weapons were incredibly lethal when the wielder was attempting an assassination, but were almost useless if the wielder was creped up upon stabbed from behind, so Téqua thought, as long as she could get close enough, she would succeed.

She started pondering what the best way to get close behind Idris without her knowing. She estimated she could stay unnoticed while moving for about three seconds, if she was approaching from behind and being as quiet as possible. After that, Téqua would probably be noticed by Idris and the attempt would be a failure. In three seconds she could move approximately fifteen feet without making a sound, so if she could get less than fifteen feet from Idris she would be able to be successful. Unfortunately, it was nearly impossible to get just that close without being noticed unless you were hiding out of sight until the person walked by you. So, all Téqua needed to do was find a place near the southern Citadel gate where she could hide and wait until Idris passed by her, and then she could strike. She realized then that she was done; she had made a good plan that had a very low chance of failure. She did not have to anything else other than actually doing it. She relayed her plan to Chalceadron so he could make sure she had not overlooked anything.

After a few minutes of thinking he said that it was a fine plan and he agreed with all of the logic involved. With his confirmation she looked up and checked where the sun was in the sky. It was more or less two hours past noon. She could get more accurate an assessment if she contacted the Crystal, but she could be tracked using magic if she did so, so she didn’t.

During the last few months Téqua had been devoting all of her time to trying to think of ways to kill Idris. Therefore, she had not been bored. Now that she had solved the problem, she found there was nothing to do. She quickly tried to distract herself, she would never hear the end of it if Chalceadron noticed she could not handle ten seconds without something to do.

She started to wonder about the Crystal and the many magical mysteries that surrounded it. For sorcerers that were not Dragon Riders, mental contact with the Crystal is necessary for any and all uses of magic. It acted like the spark that set off the magic and then the spell fed off of the caster’s energy until: the spell was completed, the caster ran out of energy and died or the caster severed the flow of energy, thus stopping the spell while it is still being preformed, which usually causes vary strange side effects. The reason Dragon Riders do not need a link to the Crystal is because the bond with their dragon acts as the spark for there magic. Also, Riders have the enormous amount of energy from their dragon at their disposal also, which makes them much more powerful than ordinary spellcasters.

Another thing about the Crystal was the Lead Rider’s ability to call on it’s energy, not just it’s initial spark of magic, and it had the largest reserve of energy ever to exist. One of the first Lead Riders had said that if he had wanted to pick up and move the Alfum Tuve Mountains over the Karodan Ocean to the Isle of Kēsí, he could have.

Téqua wondered about this and other inconsequential things until seven hours past noon, when Chalceadron said into her mind, Téqua, Idris did not leave with the group. She will be leaving in three hours. You should get ready.

This post has been edited by Vlad Taltos: 22 November 2009 - 08:02 PM

[Squirtle Squirt]

Mate I think this is a good story but check punctuation after every chapter. It is also a bit hard to follow because every time there is a thought, it doesn't have a new line. How is it that Tequa's dragon hatched without her being near it, and that the Riders knew who it was? Also, Avo is from Fable, he is the apparant 'god' in it, and the evil god is called Skorm I think...

Peace out,

<~SE~>

[Vlad Taltos]

@ sapheragon

1) Can you quote the places where you thought there should have been a new line? I just cannot find my own mistakes.

2) Um, I cant really find any good reasons why Chalceadron chose tequa and how the interaction happens. That is one of the things I changed in the revised version, which is in my last post. In that version, the dagon and Rider are born at the same time. Well actually, the dragon waits to hatche until the Riders it has chosen is born. It choses it rider based on what that person will be like in the future, therefor eliminating the possibility of there being an evil Rider, which was not explained in the eragon series. Why did Galby's first dragon chose him? She must have known he would go nuts if she died, he was not exactly good rider material. Same goes for the forsworn, where did the insaneness come from? Why would they pick peaple who were greedy and vain and evil?

3) Also, thank you for the answer. Avo is from Fable and if you can guess the other two references then you will get PM all of my notes on the storyline. that is like, EVERYTHING IN THE STORY. But, I am confident that none of you have read either of the series that the hints come from, they are not all that popular, and even if you google them (hint, hint) you will only get the answer to one of them, not both.

@ everyone

If anyone gets the answer to the other two, please PM me the answers. I do not want everyone to know them once only one person finds out. Make the others work for it. The one hint already guessed was the eisiesrt so it does not really matter.

@ Choodle64
*glares at menicingly* do not say a thing about the hints, my notes, any names you may or may not have helped me with, or my cinimmon.

EDIT: How do I add a poll?

This post has been edited by Vlad Taltos: 22 November 2009 - 02:09 PM

[Squirtle Squirt]

Go to your first post and click full edit; it should say something like add poll; I can't quite remember how I did it.

About the quote... I can't quote from my iPod I don't know why but just check that last paragraph of the last post (chapter post).

This post has been edited by sapheragon: 22 November 2009 - 02:56 PM