Author's Note: Much to Hisota's dismay, she doesn't own the original ideas for this story, as it sole belongs to Christopher Paolini. The ideas of control of elements of Hisota's original character belongs to Dragon of Twilight and were tweaked by ObsidianTheatre, as was the plotline in this fan fiction.
Exiting Angela's shop hastily, I stood in the street, squinting until my eyes adjusted to the beam of the Sun. Taking slow, deep breathes, I tried to calmly absorb the information Angela and Solembum bestowed upon me. Stumbling away almost intoxicatedly, I found myself wandering into a small, quiet tavern. I took a seat by the bar, and ordered some beer. I gulped it down as quickly as I could, letting the alcohol seep into my stomach, and bloom up in my chest. My thoughts were scattered from being fearful of what I had discovered of my future. Deciding that seeing Saphira would help push tranquility into my mind, I stood up and pulled out a coin to pay.
Suddenly a sloshing full mug of beer fell before my vision; I turned towards the owner of the hand arm hanging onto the mug to find a drunken man sitting beside me.
"Sit-down boy," the man yelled "you seem to be a good listener of tales, and do I have a tale to tell you!" He swayed flailing over his chair. I reached out to steady the man. Lashing out like a snake he clutched my elbow and pulled me down into my original seat. "You have heard of the tales of the Dragon Riders haven't you?" he asked, I hesitated, scanning around the pub to see if anyone was taking any notice. No one. I nodded. "Ever heard of a species called Nymphs?" I raised an eyebrow in question. Nymphs? I have heard of Elves and Dwarfs and Dragons, but never before have I heard of Nymphs!
"No" I replied "please, sir, tell me about these Nymphs." The man chucked and brought his mug of beer to his lips, taking a mouthful and set the goblet down.
"Long before the time that the Humans, Elves and Dragons formed a contract to create the Dragon Riders, Nymphs thrived in the land of Alagaesia. The Nymphs shared the cursed forest of Du WeldenVarden with the Elves. Many say that Nymphs are just as powerful as Elves, one of the reasons King Galbatorix wants to expose the hiding place of the Nymphs.
However, unlike the Elves whose powers are unknown to me, Nymph's powers are to be in control of the elements of fire, water, earth, and air." My eyes widened, this man knows much about the Dragons and Elves.
Careful Eragon, he may be telling lies. Saphira warned.But I doubted that.
Saphira, something tells me....he is revealing the truth, Elves? Dragons? He knows too much, I must ask Brom about these Nymphs.
"Control of the elements? How?" I pleaded. The man chucked again.
"Buy me another glass of beer, and then I'll tell you more" Disbelief poured into my veins, I began to protest.
"Nymphs are born with one element in their blood" a haunting voice rang lucid in the heavy air of the bar. My head swerved around to see a clocked and hooded figure seated on the other side of me. Their figure and voice distinctly was female. "The element is represented within their left iris, red for fire, blue for water, green for earth and yellow for air. As Nymphs grow, they learn to harness the extent of their abilities to being able to conjure ice spears, uprooting vines, or, to even fly." The figure continued to speak.
Nymphs...Saphira mused and I thought only Dragons can have full rule over fire.
"However, great power comes with great price. For being able to retain the power, Nymphs must pay a certain amount of energy to rise and to create, if the power is returned intact; the energy will also be; but, if the power has been tainted, then the energy will also be destroyed, cutting the Nymph's lifespan down."
"Hey!" the man's drunken voice cried. "You wench, stole me of another beer!" He stood and stumbled over to the figure who had already stood up. I also rose from my seat.
Eragon! Be careful, you don't want to get too involved.
"What are you hiding under that hood lassie?" The man said, and as quick as he grabbed me, he gripped the figure's hood and jerked it off. The man cried out in surprise.
I gasped; the girl's skin was white and almost transparent. Lacing up her neck were slender, wispy blue streaks of veins, scaling up to her chin and disappearing behind her purple tinged cheeks. Dark circles wrapped underneath her eyes. Her brow was concealed beneath a heavy fringe of hair, as the rest of the scarlet tresses streamed down the back of her head and vanished underneath the cloak. But, the most predominate feature of her face, the most poignant trait were her eyes. Her glowing eyes.
Her right iris is purple...her left is.....green. I murmured to Saphira. I felt the astonishment Saphira had. The man dashed out the tavern, frightened of the girl's ethereal appearance.
"N-nymph....?" I muttered out loud. The young woman's eyes flickered towards my face before she held her hand, her indigo marked hand up to her face, palm up, and puffed out. Lilac powder waffled into my face; I coughed and waved my hand to drive it away. Unfortunately, I had already inhaled some of the substance; my thoughts became less clear, as my vision followed. My limbs no longer belonged to me, as they toppled out from underneath, bringing my face closer to the ground. My last thought was of Saphira calling my name before my mind tumbled into depths of Oblivion.