Chapter 1
The Silver Egg
"Come on, Storm! We have to hurry!" yelled the elf dragon egg courier, Birka. It was raining and the she-elf's black riding outfit was soaking wet. The gray-black mare's mane and tail was dripping with rainwater.
Birka was on her way to Agabithia from the dwarf city Tronjheim. She was just on an important mission for the Elven king, King Thranduil. In her lap was a pouch that contained a silver dragon egg, which she held onto tightly and frequently looked at.
She had already traveled ten leagues from her recent resting spot and had another two leagues to go; one league to reach the border between the forest Du Weldenvarden and Agabithia, then another league to the capital city, Agabithia City.
"We're almost there, Storm! One more league…" Birka's voice trailed off into the evening sky as she saw the beginning of the Ilian River, the only and longest river in Agabithia.
After an hour of continuous riding, Birka finally made it to one of the four main gates of Agabithia City. Inside the city wall was a foot soldier named Reese. He greeted Birka and escorted her to the palace.
Reese knocked on the door to the king's study and opened the door when a voice said, "Enter."
"Your Majesty. The dragon egg courier, Birka," announced Reese.
"Thank goodness! Let her in, Reese," exclaimed the voice of none other than King Thranduil of Agabithia.
Birka slowly walked in, curtsied, and said, "Your Majesty, here is the dragon egg, just as I promised. The Varden were a bit angry about giving it up." She then placed the pouch on the desk in front of King Thranduil. The pouch instantly opened and all three elves stared in awe at the glistening silver dragon egg.
This is the future of our country! We must keep the egg in the courtyard, protected by spells. Also, tell everyone to bring their families to the courtyard. Give each family a certain day and time, thirty minutes apart. We need to see if the egg will hatch for someone, which means that you, Reese, will help Birka to watch over the egg," explained King Thranduil.
Reese twitched at the thought of watching over something as powerful as the egg, but reluctantly said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
King Thranduil rewrapped the egg in the cloth and handed it to Birka, saying, "Birka, I'm putting you in charge of the egg Reese, once the egg hatches, bring the Rider and the dragon to me right away. Understood?" Birka and Reese nodded. "Well, that is settled. You may leave," concluded King Thranduil.
"Oh! Reese, may you please send my children to me? They are probably in their common room," King Thranduil remembered quickly.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Reese answered right away.
"Thank you."
"Ha! I won!" bragged the eleven-year-old Princess Thirrin. "I won! I won! I won! I won!" Thirrin got up off the floor and danced around the room.
"Oh, shut up, Thirrin!" complained the fifteen-year-old Prince Legolas. He loved his baby sister a lot, but sometimes he wanted to wring her neck. Legolas also stood up and looked at the window where his other sister was seated on the window seat.
The usually loud middle child, thirteen-year-old Princess Arabeth was quiet. Legolas knew something was wrong.
"Ara, what's wrong? You're too quiet, more quiet than normal," asked Legolas, concerned for his sister.
"What? Oh! Nothing, Legolas, nothing," Arabeth answered, distracted.
"Ara, you're lying! You know that I am not stupid. Now, what's wrong?" pressed Legolas as he sat down next to her.
Arabeth sighed. She knew her brother would find out some way or another. "Fine. I'll tell you." She sighed again and continued in a rush of words, not even stopping to breathe. "Well, I just can't wait till Birka comes back with the egg. I would love to see it and maybe it'll hatch for me," she finished, taking a deep breath.
"Oh, Arabeth," moaned Legolas. "You, of all people, should know that Father will never let us near that egg. The only way that Father will let us near it, is if he had no other choice. There are many people in Agabithia. It will probably go to the other cities before Father agrees to let us go near it. By than, it might have hatched." Legolas did not want to discourage Arabeth, but rather explain things to her.
Arabeth thought for a moment, staring into her lap. "Well…What if…"
"What if what, Arabeth?" Legolas asked sternly.
Again, Arabeth sighed. "What if Mother forces Father to let us near the egg?" she finally asked.
"I doubt it, Arabeth."
"Why?"
"Mother can't even talk to Auntie, much less Father. I would not blame her. After all, Auntie and Father are siblings," laughed Legolas, but still sounding serious.
Auntie, or Queen Islanzadi, was the children's only aunt. She lived and ruled in the Elven city, Ellesmera. The only thing the children liked about visiting Ellesmera was seeing their cousin, Arya. Arya, of course, was the princess of Ellesmera and became more and more like the children's uncle, King Evandar, Auntie's husband. Arya was the same age as Thirrin, but acted more like Arabeth's age than eleven-years-old.
"Yeah, you're right. Auntie is just too strict and wants everything her way or else. Mother just needs to learn not to be shy," Arabeth said after a moment of laughing.
Thirrin walked over and plopped herself on the floor, exhausted from dancing. "What are you two talking about?" she asked the same moment that someone knocked on the common room door.
"I'll get it!" yelled Thirrin as she got up and ran towards the door. She opened the door and said, "Oh! Hello, Reese. Here, come in." Thirrin glanced at her sister to see her reaction.
Arabeth, still sitting on the window seat, had her mouth wide open and her eyes were huge. Legolas smiled at Thirrin, laughing silently to himself as Reese walked in.
"Hello, Prince Legolas and Princesses Thirrin and Arabeth. Your father sent me to get you. He wishes to speak with all of you," the sixteen-year-old foot soldier passed on.
"Thank you, Reese, for telling us this," Legolas answered while lightly tapping Arabeth's arm, who instantly closed her mouth.
All three children walked towards the door and made their way to their father's study. Thirrin was humming an Agabithian song to herself. Legolas had his pointer fingers in his ears, trying not to hear Thirrin. Arabeth was behind them, thinking.
When they got to the great mahogany study door, Legolas knocked and opened it when he heard his father say, "Enter."
"Children! I am so glad you came!" King Thranduil said, enthusiastically, and hugging each of his children.
"Hello, Father!" Legolas, Arabeth, and Thirrin said in unison, each with his or her own enthusiasm.
"Oh, Legolas! You look like a young king, like me when I was your age. And Thirrin! Oh, you look like your beautiful darling mother. Arabeth! You are starting to look like your dear Auntie, Queen Islanzadi, and that is something!" complimented King Thranduil.
Thirrin hugged her father, who swung her around and gave her a kiss before putting her down. Arabeth stood near the door, slightly blushing. Everyone always said that she looked like Auntie, but she never believed them. Now that her father had said it for the first time, she was starting to believe everyone else!
"Now, children, I have something important to discuss with you. It's about Birka," the king said reluctantly.
All of a sudden, the children burst into voice, each asking their own questions, some questions being repeated!
"Children!" yelled King Thranduil. "That is enough," he continued, his voice pleasant. "Do you want to hear Birka's story?" the children's father asked after a short pause. He waited until the children each said yes to call, "Birka, please come forth."
A dark figure shifted in one of the corners. As the figure came closer, the children saw that it was Birka the elf dragon egg courier.
"Hello, children! It is so wonderful to be back home. Arabeth, my friend!" Birka laughed, truly glad to with the children. "Please, children, sit down and I'll tell you what happened on my journey for the silver dragon egg.
After the children were seated on the sofa, Birka got a chair, placed it in front of the children, and sat down. King Thranduil also brought a chair over and sat down next to the children with Thirrin on his lap. He had yet to hear Birka's story.
King Thranduil, Legolas, Arabeth, and Thirrin were quiet as Birka told her story. It was an hour later when Birka finished her story.
King Thranduil went back to his desk chair, while saying, "The egg will be kept in the courtyard, children. In addition, I forbid you to go near the courtyard, unless it is the last choice I have. Understood?" The children nodded. "Good. Legolas, Arabeth, and Thirrin, you are dismissed. Birka, please stay. I need to talk with you."
The children got up and walked back to their common room.
It was six months later and the children were in their common room. Thirrin was going in and out of her pink bedroom, each time wearing a different gown and asking Legolas and Arabeth for their opinions. The eleven-year-old red head always looked magnificent, but she always wanted people's opinions of her in her gowns.
"Okay, here I come!" Thirrin yelled from her bedroom. She slowly walked out, looking like she was gliding. Her gown was a frilly pale pink color and the jewelry was white gold, her favorite.
"Ohhh… how pretty, Thirrin!" Arabeth teased, her little sister blushing.
"Oh, Arabeth! Thirrin is beautiful, magnificent, marvelous!" Legolas also teased. Now Thirrin was bright red.
Legolas and Arabeth kept on teasing Thirrin until someone knocked on the door of the children's common room. Arabeth and Thirrin looked at Legolas, whose turn it was to open the door.
"Oh, alright!" Legolas complained, getting up and walking towards the door. He opened it and came face to face with Duke Jareth and Duchess Sarah's eldest daughter, Lady Pru. Lady Pru was a year younger than Legolas and looked like the true elf that she was born as.
Arabeth and Thirrin started giggling when they realized the reason behind Legolas gawking. Lady Pru just looked at the two young Princesses as they both started to have fits of laughter. Thirrin was lying on the floor, almost in tears of laughter. Arabeth was almost in tears, too, but she was in her chair, clutching her stomach.
"Uh…um…yes, Lady Pru?" Legolas finally managed to say, signaling his sisters to shut up.
Lady Pru kept looking at the two young princesses as she said, "Oh! Well, your father and mother sent me to get you. They both need to talk to you and it's important. Your mother also said that I am to accompany you, as I am your mother's lady-in-waiting." Her voice sounded as if she was singing, which was one of the reasons why Legolas liked her so much. Legolas also knew that his father would approve of Lord Jareth's eldest daughter for his wife and, maybe, future queen of Agabithia. Lady Pru had no idea that her father and the king talked in private about having their oldest children betrothed, but the betrothal was not yet final.
"Thank you, Lady Pru," Legolas said. He thought for a few seconds, then said, "May I have the privilege of escorting thee Lady Pru?"
Lady Pru was taken aback by Legolas's words and his sisters were astonished at his boldness. Lady Pru finally answered, "You may," and took Legolas's arm, smiling happily.
The four of them walked in the direction of Legolas, Arabeth, and Thirrin's parents' common room. In about ten minutes, they were in front of the mahogany common room door. Legolas knocked and entered the room beyond the door when a female bell-like voice answered, "You may enter."
"Oh, children! Thank you, Lady Pru, for fetching my children for me," Queen Celellian said joyfully. Lady Pru curtsied and backed into a corner to give the royal family some privacy, as was custom.
Queen Celellian hugged each of her children in turn. The children noticed something different about their once quiet mother. She was more talkative and seemed, perhaps, older. The children knew that their mother was a human queen in a mostly Elven country. In fact, she was the only human queen in the history of Agabithia. All of the queens before her were, of course, elf.
When King Thranduil, back then Prince Thranduil, first net Celellian in the woods near the small human town of Carvahall, he fell in love with her at first sight. Since it was rare for elves to marry humans, Thranduil put an immortal elf spell on Celellian. Celellian's parents, Albus and Minerva, noticed small changes in their daughter, like the small points on her ears, her now fair hair and skin, and her tall height. Celellian's once alto voice became mixed with a strange, yet beautiful, soprano bell-like voice.
Even though Thranduil had put the immortal elf spell on her, Celellian still showed signs of mortal aging. The children knew their mother was not completely immortal, since she was born mortal and it was impossible for a born mortal to turn completely immortal and vise versa.
When much talking was done between the queen and her children, King Thranduil appeared from behind a door and came up to his wife and children. The blonde-haired, almost white, elf went straight to his dark-haired wife and kissed her. Then he glanced at his children, who quickly sat in the three black Elven leather chairs that stood in front of the big mahogany desk. King Thranduil took the seat of the chair behind the desk, while Queen Celellian stood behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
Finally, Thranduil took a deep breath and spoke, "children, do you remember six months ago when Birka and I told you about the dragon egg?"
All three children nodded and Legolas asked, "What about the egg, Father? Did it hatch?"
"Not yet, my son Legolas. Not yet," Thranduil answered. He looked at his wife and continued, "Your mother has urged me to take drastic measures and allow all three of you near the egg. As much as I do not want to, I am afraid I have no choice. Come, children. Let's go to the courtyard." Thranduil stood up and walked to the door, followed by his wife and children.
As they ventured through the quiet corridors, none of them talked or even made a sound, except the shuffling of their shoes on the marble floors.
Finally, they were standing in the sunlit courtyard with the silver dragon egg resting on a low stone table. King Thranduil was the first to speak, "Your mother and I have already been next to the egg and it did not hatch for us or even for anyone else. Now, it is your turn. Legolas, you first."
Legolas walked closer to the egg and touched it. Everyone stood near by, waiting for something to happen. Legolas stared at the egg, trying to find a single crack in the shell, but there was nothing. After a few minutes, he finally turned around and walked up next to his sisters, shocked that the egg did not hatch for him.
The family stood there in silence. Finally, King Thranduil spook, "I am so sorry, Legolas. I thought for sure it would hatch for you. Thirrin, you're next."
Thirrin came right to the egg, very excited, and touched it. The same moment of silence followed until she, too, walked back to the family.
Arabeth then realized that the egg might hatch for her. This thought scared her and, yet, she was excited about the idea of finally seeing a dragon. She always wanted to see one and now it was a possibility that she could own one. Arabeth stood still between her brother and sister, resisting the urge to go near the egg, waiting for her father's word.
Finally, Thranduil sighed and carefully said, "Well Arabeth, it looks like you are the last one to go near the egg. Go ahead."
Arabeth was shocked by the sadness in her dear father's voice, but obeyed nonetheless. She slowly stepped toward the stone table, which the large gleaming silver dragon egg sat on. Each step filled her with more excitement, hope, confidence, and an overwhelming dream to be the first female half-elf Dragon Rider ever. Before she knew it, she was standing next to the table, touching the egg with her suddenly white slender hand.
Everyone was again silent, waiting to see if the egg would hatch. Arabeth was about to give up hope and her dream when, out of nowhere, a crack appeared in the egg and growing bigger every second. She stood there, breathless and shocked. Her dream had been fulfilled.
Ten minutes later, there sat a small silver baby dragon on the stone table. Its big turquoise wide eyes looked at its surroundings and came to rest on Arabeth where it gave a tiny squeak. Hearing her little dragon squeak, Arabeth could not help but smile.
After a few moments of silence and Arabeth stroking her dragon, she looked at her parents and siblings. Thirrin was standing there, shocked as ever. Arabeth's mother was surprised, while her father was looking somewhat sorrowful. Legolas was the only one who looked and acted happy for his younger sister.
Arabeth whispered to her dragon that she would be right back and walked towards her father, slightly sad that he was not happy for her. "Father, I …" Arabeth started and stopped when her father glanced up from looking at something on the ground of the courtyard.
Thranduil looked at his daughter for a few silent moments before he said, "Arabeth, you have been chosen by this young dragon to be its Rider. As much as I disagree with its choice in my children, I cannot disobey its choice. The choice of a dragon is sacred to our Elven people and must be taken in the highest honor. You have been given a place of power, even more powerful than your place as princess of Agabithia. You must learn to use that power for good and to use it in the correct fashion. I am happy and yet sad that my daughter will be in danger for the rest of her life. Do you except the honor of being this young dragon's Rider? If yes, please say 'Ido'."
Arabeth heard the seriousness in her father's voice and became just as serious. She thought quickly about what her father said and answered, "I do."
Her father, for the first time since Arabeth walked towards the egg, smiled at his middle child. "Come, children and love, lets celebrate. Our country has a Dragon Rider. And not just any Dragon Rider, but the Princess of Agabithia. Arabeth, you are the first female half-elf Dragon Rider ever. Let's go and tell the whole country and celebrate."
Arabeth glanced at her brother, who understood what she was asking him. He jerked his head over towards the children's secret hiding place underneath the spiral staircase that led to the tallest tower in the castle. Arabeth nodded and slowly made her way to the staircase after telling her dragon to go up to her room and giving it a small picture of the whole way up there. After she made sure that her dragon was working its way up to her room, she met her brother at the staircase.
"Brother, what is going on with Father?" Arabeth asked right away.
Legolas thought for a little bit before he answered his sister's question. "I do not know, Ara. I think that Father is both happy and scared for you. After all, you are his first-born daughter and middle child. It is said among the elves that the middle child is always destined to do great things. I guess Father is scared to come face to face with the fact that what you are to do with your life is to be the first and only female half-elf Dragon Rider. Arabeth, just be happy that your dream came true. Now, promise me one thing, sister."
"What is that, brother?" Arabeth wondered, giving her brother a side-ways look like the ones she used to give him whenever she was curious about something.
Legolas sighed and said, "Don't give me that look, sis! Now, listen. I want you to promise me that you will live out your dream and don't let the look Father gave you affect that. Promise me!"
Arabeth realized that Legolas was serious about this and that he sounded very urgent. "You really wanted this for me, didn't you, Legolas?"
Legolas sighed again. "Yes, I really did want this for you. In my mind, you deserved this more than any of us. Between Thirrin, you, and me, you deserved this more, and it looks like the dragon thought the same thing as me. Now, do you promise me what I asked you to promise?"
Arabeth thought for a second, so many thoughts going through her mind. Finally, she answered, "I promise, Legolas. I promise."
Arabeth. I am Silverado.