Chapter One: Make Friends! (Or at Least Allies)

Taliesin had her tail loosely wrapped around my neck and was perched on my shoulder, which seemed to be her favorite position (during the day at least, at night she preferred curling up on Saphira). She had also attacked my hair ribbons and tangled them into a mess. After a scolding from me, she left them alone and contented herself with playing with the laces of my shoes and batting at falling leaves.

Taliesin chased after a butterfly, jumped and used her claws to dig into the bark of a tree to propel her upwards. Then she got cocky and tried to jump up and land further on the tree which resulted in her landing on the forest floor with a thoroughly disgruntled expression as she watched the butterfly fly away.

I laughed. She looked at me with a betrayed expression and jumped up onto Eragon's shoulder instead, pointedly ignoring me.

I could feel flashes of irritation and slight embarrassment from her.

"I can feel her, or at least her emotions."

Eragon glanced at me. "It's probably because you are used to communicating with Saphira. You're more sensitive to the bond than I was."

It was strange having something so alien fit seamlessly into my mental landscape.

LINE BREAK

The first meeting between Taliesin and the elves did not endear them to her. Like usual the sentries greeted us with bows drawn, proper protocols needing to be observed and all that. Taliesin leaped from my shoulder and landed in front of me, wings outstretched, teeth bared, and let out a growl. Three bows lowered immediately, the rest following suit after a few tersely barked orders. She only relaxed after several minutes passed without them redrawing their weapons. Then she ignored them. (I was starting to see a pattern here and prepared for a future of the silent treatment whenever we argued.)

The leader glanced at my marked palm and said a respectful "Argetlam." We were soon on our way to the capitol.

LINE BREAK

Arya greeted us just outside the city. I was preparing the, "Guess what? I'm a Dragon Rider now!" speech when I saw the green dragon and Arya's marked palm. My eyebrows shot up and I revised my previous thought of Taliesin as the first dragon of the new age. She uncurled her tail from my shoulder and ran to greet him, touching her nose briefly to his before she walked back to me at a much more sedate pace.

Eragon, Saphira, and Raisa. We welcome you back to Ellesméra.

His voice was deeper than I expected and he seemed a little…unsure? Not an attribute I would normally associate with a dragon.

That was when I noticed that Saphira was eyeing Fírnen with interest and her body language had changed. Well then, this was going to be memorable. I shifted some so I was blocking Taliesin's view as Saphira launched herself at Fírnen.

Taliesin squawked and when she attempted to get around me I said, "You are much too young for this."

Saphira with more consideration than she usually showed, led him out of sight and earshot. Which left me, Eragon, and Arya standing in a clearing with an inquisitive hatchling who had her claws fastened onto my dress. Awkward.

A/N Hello! So the chapters of this story are going to be around 500-1000 words long and will skip around in time more than my previous story. For the next chapter would you rather: go back in time and focus on how Eragon and Raisa became betrothed and relationship type stuff, flash a little forward to them actually beginning to rebuild the Dragon Riders (which is going to be the basis of the plot along with relationship type stuff), or no preference? Let me know in a review! You guys are awesome.