CHAPTER 1 - LETTERS OF LOVE
A female elf sat in a cave reading a letter she'd just received.
Dear Ava,
I have missed you a great deal since I fled to Du Weldenvarden. As much as I would like to come and find you, I cannot leave this forest. This is because I know that Galbatorix still hunts for both of us. It is unsafe for us to join the elves and Varden in their advances against Galbatorix.
Though, I am sure that a time will come when we must forsake our hiding places and fight out in the open. When this time comes, I hope we will see each other again.
I miss you,
Oromis
PS: Glaedr says hello to both of you
Ava shifted her long blond hair and then reached for some paper. She knew that she ought to respond to the letter. Then she looked up as the bright blue dragoness, Wyrda, came striding into the cave. Her dragon looked at her calmly, scrutinizing her face with some interest.
What are you thinking about now? Wyrda asked.
How to reply to the letter I just received from Oromis-vinr, Ava replied. Glaedr says hello to you by the way.
Why don't we go join him? I am sure he longs for your company, Wyrda asked.
He says in the letter that Galbatorix still hunts for us. It would be unsafe, Ava said. As much as I want to do that I must listen to caution, as you must as well.
I do not think he realizes my strength. I am the same age as Glaedr, and you are the same age as Oromis. We should go, Wyrda replied.
Ava thought about what her dragon had said. There was truth in the dragon's words, and it seemed to her that the group known as the Varden would need her assistance, as would Eragon Shadeslayer, whom she had read about in Oromis' letters. Standing up she said, Let's go then. I'll just write a letter to him back, and then we go.
A good idea, Wyrda replied. Let your brave mate know of our choice to reveal ourselves.
Ava chuckled and spread the paper out in front of her. She thought for a moment and then started to write.
Dear Oromis,
I write to you to inform you that Wyrda and I have thought about our options and have come a decision. We are flying out to join the Varden. First however, we are going to reveal ourselves to Queen Islanzadi.
We might drop in to see you, though we are unsure as to whether we shall. The elves and Varden need another Rider, and we will provide that Rider.
Has the green egg hatched yet? Wyrda says hello to you both, as do I.
I will write to you again soon, my love,
Ava
With that, she furled the scroll and muttering a brief spell, the scroll vanished. Then she moved across the cave and picked up the dragon saddle that she knew to be her own. Vroengard will finally be abandoned. Long have I hoped for the day that another egg would hatch, she thought.
The blue egg brang with it a female, did it not? Wyrda asked.
Yes. Saphira Bjartskular she is called. Her Rider Eragon Bromsson, is also known as Shadeslayer, Ava replied. Though I find it interesting that a human was able to slay a Shade. I know he has been changed at the Agaeti Blodhren, but I still wonder how he managed it.
He would have been helped. There is no other explanation, Wyrda replied. That will be a question to ask when we do actually meet him.
Ava saddled Wyrda and then picking up Edoc'sil Domia, the beautiful blue blade she'd been given before the fall of the Riders. With a quick bound, she was up in the saddle. The lovely dragon walked towards the entrance of the cave, ready to fly away, swift as a sunbeam towards Gil'ead.