The sun rose slowly over the sleepy valley, casting a purple hue across the familiar landscape. Eragon quietly rose from his bed. He carefully slipped on his elven boots and padded silently across the room to the huge window on the far wall. He looked out at the horizon, his eyes tracing along the peaks and dips of the surrounding mountains.
With a nostalgic sigh, he remembered the day when they had first found this island only twenty years ago.
Saphira and Eragon had been flying ahead of the boat, loftily soaring above the world. They were vigilantly searching for a potential place to settle down. At that point it had been at least a week since they had left Alagaësia. It had been slow traveling with the lagging boat in tow. Eragon shared Saphira's desire to soar ahead of the elves, flying free until they found the destined location. However the possibility of unknown dangers were constantly lurking. Despite the fact that Blödhgarm and the others were quite competent in magic and able to defend themselves, the dragon eggs and Eldunarí were not. Were anything to arise, Saphira and Eragon would need to be there in a moments notice. The preservation of an entire race was invested in that boat's precious cargo, taking precedence over any other desire anyone else had.
It was around midmorning when Saphira gently nudged Eragon with her mind.
Little one, look.
Eragon followed Saphira's gaze. The Edda River had curved northward as they strayed farther away from their homeland and deeper into the unknown wilderness. Below them the river emptied into an enormous basin. It the center of that basin was a jagged island. There were sandy beaches around the outmost perimeter, but around 50 feet in that sand quickly disappeared, converting to towering cliffs. Eragon's curiosity spiked immediately. He expanded his mind down to the boat.
Blödhgarm, Saphira and I are flying ahead to check out an island we see. The river empties into a basin about 10 miles from your current location.
Thank you, Shadeslayer. Go on ahead.
With that confirmation, Saphira sped on ahead towards the island. When they arrived, she first flew around the perimeter of the landmass. Eragon saw that cliffs surrounded the entire way around. Inside the cliffs sprung mountains, almost as large as those in the Spine. Saphira angled downward now, flying inland. Eragon cautiously opened his mind to the scene below him, searching for life. He was taken aback at the thousands of spikes of energy which indicated large mammals. He quietly slipped into the consciousness of one the animals at random to discover it was a deer. Jumping from consciousness to consciousness, the majority of animals were, in fact, deer. He was surprised that after ten minutes of searching to discover there were no predators on the island.
That's a good thing. Saphira interjected.
What is? Eragon asked, jolted back into his own consciousness at Saphira's words.
It's good there are no predators. That is a role a dragon can fill. Eragon chuckled as Saphira's stomach then proceeded to let out a hungry rumble.
I think you're just hungry, Saphira.
In response, Saphira began to descend towards the island. Eragon spotted, amidst the mountains, in the very center of the island, was a gap.
Fly towards that center part over there.
As they flew over the gap, Eragon gasped. Below them lay a thriving, green valley. A river ran right down the middle of the valley, trees blanketing the land. Eragon spotted a clearing for Saphira. With a quiet whoosh Saphira landed on the ground. Eragon unfastened his legs from the saddle and slid onto the grassy earth. He inhaled a breath of rich, clean air. For miles around he could feel only the presence of woodland animals. Recalling a spell Glaedr had taught him while scouting, Eragon began to cast a series of long, complicated phrases in the ancient language. The spells were used to detect if there was any poison in the air, water, or earth. They also could detect whether there was any source of magic nearby. As Eragon finished the last one he felt a slight drain on his energy. Eragon realized that every single spell had come back with positive results. This land was safe.
I like this place. Saphira finally breathed. It feels safe.
After a moment Eragon responded with a newly discovered fervor. No, it feels like home.
Good morning, little one.
Eragon came back to reality as Saphira came up behind him, nudging the back of his head with her snout.
"Hello Saphira", Eragon whispered aloud. He turned around and lovingly ran his hand down the brilliant blue scales on her neck. Saphira hummed affectionately in response. Without another word Eragon climbed onto her back and she leapt out the third story window. She unfurled her majestic wings, steadily rising into the air. Eragon breathed deeply, enjoying the sensation of the wind tickling his face and mussing his hair.
They glided into the early morning air. Below them sprawled numerous buildings. At the far end of the valley was a solid, stone structure where the Eldunarí were housed. Inside the building were cubbies for each one, with chairs scattered around the base of the room so students could go consult with the dragons. Besides that building was a multiple story structure that had been sung out of the trees. This was where the dragon eggs were kept.
In the twenty years since they had settled on New Vroengard, 107 dragons had hatched. 17 of those 107 were linked with riders. The remaining 90 were wild, free to roam the island and do as they pleased. Dotting the walls of the cliffs surrounding the edge of the valley were many inlaid caves. Some riders chose to take a cave and with magic enforce barriers against weather . Most would smooth out the walls as well as burrow deeper into the mountain to enlarge to space. Others lived in rooms sung from the trees, not unlike the halls of Ellesméra.
The youngest riders lived in a large hall located on the East side of the valley. This hall was built from stone, one of the largest buildings constructed since they had arrived. It was built in a style that merged both elven and dwarf architecture, creating a unique building that had both flowing lines and solid structure. It contained hundreds of rooms with large openings where dragons could fly in and out at will. It was built in the hope of eventually reaching the paramount of glory and numbers that had existed in the previous generation of riders. However as of this point many of the rooms lay empty, waiting to be habituated.
On the East side laid fields where all the food for the valley was grown.
No one was yet awake as Saphira and Eragon glided over the land. They came to the edge of the valley and flew over the mountains. They continued to fly until they reached the westernmost part of the cliffs. There they landed on the shelf located on the top of the cliff. Eragon jumped off Saphira's back and gazed out into the distance.
He spotted the place where the Edda River poured into the massive lake. The lake reminded him of Dras Leona. It was so large that often Eragon couldn't even see the other side. Right above the mouth of the river, Eragon spotted a flash of vivid red soaring through the sky.
Eragon did a double take to see a bright red dragon flying towards them. Below the dragon was a boat flying a familiar flag.
Looks like we have company
A/N Thanks for reading thus far. Let me know what you think! Love, Bae (Bright Auburn Eyes)