Chapter X- Eragon & Murtagh
Eragon clung to the spike in front of him as Saphira soared upwards. She climbed so high that Eragon found himself placing wards around them to stop ice from forming on their bodies. Thorn twisted around them, issuing a tremendous roar into the clouds. Saphira followed his lead, pouring a stream of fire out of her mouth. The clouds around them hissed as the blue tinged flames vaporised all before it. Too breathless for words, Eragon looked across to Murtagh. The two half-brothers grinned at each other. If Murtagh was to be believed, the rocky crags seen on the horizon were the perfect spot to establish the new home of the Riders. After a long and fruitless search in the East, a land that held only shadows of past nightmares, the North had delivered.
The two dragons winged their way towards the peaks. For several hours they flew on. Eventually, as the sun reached the height of its descent over the fertile plains below, the range came into full view. This is it Eragon, I feel it. Saphira's excitement washed over Eragon. He felt something even stronger, an emotion more primitive. He had not felt it before and reached out to Saphira, asking what she felt. The words of two-legs fail to describe this little-one. She poured a torrent of emotions and images into her partner-of-mind-and-soul. Eragon gasped as he realised what Saphira felt. She knew in her bones that this place was where she would make her home. From here, the dragons would once more thrive. And she would be the mother of her entire race. Most of her life she had believed herself to be the last free dragon alive. Their experience in the vault of souls had changed all of this. Eggs existed, as well as her mate Firnien, who lay in wait in Du Weldenvarden. Now, she saw the place in which she would usher in the new age of dragons. A blush rose to Eragon's cheeks as a different set of emotions poured through their mental bond, accompanied by images of a certain green-scaled male who lay behind in Alagaesia.
Night fell as they reached the foothills of the mountain range. Physically and emotionally exhausted, the dragons landed in a large meadow and immediately lay their heads to rest. Eragon and Murtagh quickly placed wards around their camp and bid each other goodnight. They crawled under the wings of their dragons and fell asleep with the exhaustion of excitement.
Alone on the plains the group slept into the morning and woke when the light of the high sun pierced the translucent wings of the dragons. Quickly realising the enormity of the day ahead, they wolfed down a quick breakfast and set off to explore their surroundings. To the south, fertile plains reached as far as the eye can see. Herds of animals grazed upon the lush grass, clustering around the streams that meandered their way across the horizon. In front of them, to the North, a vast wall of rock rose up from the foothills. Taller than the Spine, and as tall as some of the peaks in the Beor mountains, the wall seemingly ran into the distance on either side of them. Seeking to gain a better view, the group flew higher, reaching heights in the steep mountains that no human could scale. The peaks finally levelled out and Saphira plunged over the first gap she saw. Through to the other side, Saphira sharply pulled up in shock. Even Thorn, who had not ventured so far as to go over the mountains, let out a deep rumble of surprise.
What lay beyond the ring of peaks was more than Eragon had ever hoped to find. More than even the Riders who established Vroengard could find. The wall of slopes did not in fact carry on indefinitely to the East and West. They curved gently, forming a ring of impenetrable peaks with a hollow plateau lying inside. On the inside of the range, the foothills gently sloped downwards. To the eyes of a farm boy from Carvahall, the land inside was fertile enough to grow crops. However, what caught Eragon's eye was the lake that took up most of the South-Eastern quarter of the plateau. From above it looked like an eye, with a vast body of water ringed by thick forest. In the middle of the lake lay an island, covered in thick woodland. Viewed from above, the entire place looked remarkably similar in its spiral pattern to the gedwey insignia that marked all Riders.
Eragon felt the consciousness of Murtagh and Thorn brush against his. The four of them had spent so much time that they could meld their minds together almost as well as a rider with their individual dragon. Drifting on the warm currents, they stayed like that for hours, basking in the glow of the realisation that their long search for a new home had ended. Casting their collective consciousness out to the ground below, they felt nothing but the minds of gentle animals. No magic had ever been wrought here before. The land was pure, free of the evils that had destroyed Vroengard.
The four were awakened from their waking dream by a deep rumble emanating from the very air. It was as if two ancient mountains were grinding past each other. They awaken little one. Suddenly, the thoughts of Glaedr rolled through their minds. Saphira gasped, they had not heard from the Eldunari in many a moon. They had opted to rest, worn from the rigours that the confrontation with Galbatorix had exerted upon them. Ebrithil, we are sorry to have awoken the Eldunari from your slumber, please excuse us our excitement. Glaedr surprised them then, as the sound of his laughter echoed through their minds. Brightscales, do not apologise to me on this ever again, you have done our whole race well, you have found the place our race belongs. We all feel this, our minds hum like they have not done since we were flesh. Oromis would be proud. Eragon felt a pang in his heart as he felt the deep hurt resonate within Glaedr at the mention of his fallen Rider. He felt guilty that he had let Oromis slip from his mind too frequently recently. Glaedr-elda, we are honoured to have used your teachings for such a purpose. Without the guidance of you and Oromis-elda, we would have fallen many years ago. As ever, the vanity of dragons shone through, and Eragon felt a warm glow come from the place in Saphira's saddlebags where he knew he had placed the golden dragon's heart-of-hearts. Feeling Eragon's smugness, Saphira commented. You talk more like an elf every day little one. You are no longer the simple farm boy I hatched for. Laughing at his feigned offence, Saphira laughed, hold on! She roared across at Thorn. Tucking her wings by her side, she turned until her body pointed at the ground like an arrow and shot towards the ground. The two dragons raced down, daring each other to pull up first. As the air blurred around them and Eragon began to question Saphira, she pulled up just in time, spreading her enormous wings and buffeting the ground. She slowed just enough to extend her legs beneath her, thudding against the ground and sliding to a stop, before teetering and falling tail over snout. Thorn landed softly beside her and Murtagh leapt from the saddle with a grin. Eragon meanwhile untangled himself from the saddle. He groggily shook his head. Aha! I beat the youngling yet again Saphira crowed. Murtagh cockily leaned against Saphira's side. "The Queen of Dragons. Such a good flyer she almost kills her rider every time she takes to the skies" he said with a smirk, earning an indignant putt of smoke in his face from Saphira. Careful Murtagh-brother-of-Eragon, a Rider you may be but a two-leg is no match for a dragon. Murtagh simply looked at Eragon, who stared back. The two cracked at the same time, a grin rising to their faces as they staggered towards each other. They laughed and embraced, relieved that their journey was finally over.
The cracking of stone stole the brothers' attention and broke their embrace. For a minute, the two had shed the weights placed upon their young shoulders by the expectations and judgment of an entire continent. Here they stood, beyond the edge of the world, in their new home. The sound of stone being torn from the ground continued. Thorn was impatiently tearing at the rocks between his mighty claws. It has been a long flight, we must eat. Come Saphira, let us hunt our new prey. A brilliant sapphire eye, as wide across as most men are tall, swung into Eragon's view. "Go on then, but stay safe", he shouted to the two excited dragons. Fine warning coming from you little one barked Saphira, you fall into trouble every time I leave you on your own. With a chuckle, Eragon slapped his hand against the scales by her snout, go Saphira, let the entire land learn to fear you. Murtagh must have had a similar conversation with Thorn. The red dragon tucked his wings in and leant back on his hind legs. With a thunderous clap, he lifted himself into the air and leased a river of crimson flame into the air. Answering back with a roar of her own, the pair of dragons took to the skies and wheeled north over the banks of the lake.
For a while, Eragon and Murtagh watched them go. Once the sound of their wings had faded into the distance, Eragon turned to Murtagh. "Let's explore". Over the course of the afternoon, they traversed much of the lake's southern shore. What they found encouraged them. There was a plentiful supply of fruit in the trees by their camp and the water of the lake looked clean. Murmuring a few words in the Ancient language, Eragon raised an orb of the water, and released it a second later. "It's safe to drink." "Let me just check for myself" said Murtagh. An orb also rose from the lake to his hand. He turned it in the air, inspecting it. Eragon wondered why he was smiling. Suddenly, Murtagh shouted jierda and with a flick of his wrist sent the orb spinning towards Eragon. It burst on impact and the icy cold water splashed against the boy's hair. Eragon felt Saphira's amusement through their link. "And here stands the mighty Shadeslayer, vanquished only by water" joked Murtagh. Eragon did not think to retaliate, "For so long Saphira and I feared that you and Thorn might be lost to us brother. It makes us happy to see you both recovering from your time under the Dark King." We cannot express how happy we are to have you and Thorn besides us Murtagh-brother-of-Eragon, added Saphira. Murtagh rolled his eyes at these words, "it seems as if your feelings for Arya have brought you into touch with an emotional side. Enough of this talk, let us spar and we can really see if you are glad to have me here." The two Rider's prepared their blades and faced off. Unknown to them, their dragons returned midway through. They fought long and hard, with a grin on their faces that betrayed their joy at the others presence. As sparks flew from their swords, the clash of metal rang out across the water as night fell on their first night in their new home.