TITLE: What Goes Up Must Come Down
AUTHOR: PullPush
SUMMARY: Koníka, a sixteen year old Elf, finally gets her turn to try to hatch a dragon egg. To her amazement, one does hatch for her, and she begins for Dragon Rider training, albeit a different start than most new Dragon Riders...
RATING: T for eventual violence and suggestive themes.
CHARACTERS*: Koníka^, Alíks^, [Queen] Arya and Blagden.
*Characters in this chapter.
^Original Character(s)
PRONUNCIATION
Arya – Ar – ee – yuh
Koníka – KOH – nee – kuh
Alíks – Uh-leeks
Ellésmera – EL-ez-meer-uh
Alagaësia – Al –luh – gay – zee – uh
A/N: This chapter is longer than I planned, but I decided to add a paraphrased version of the Riders' history near the end as a time fill, thanks for reading! This is the first time I've written third person, so any CC on that is appreciated.
Koníka looks her left hand, grimacing. There's a silvery mark on it. What happened? She asks herself, letting her hand drop back to the ground and staring at the wooden roof of the tree she was in. There's a warm weight on her stomach, she realises, looking up. There's a tiny black and silver reptile on her stomach, slumbering peacefully. Queen Arya is looking down on her with an interesting look on her face.
"What happened, Arya Drottning?" Koníka asks, speaking in her native tongue, the Ancient Language, which is spoken by all the Elves of Alagaësia.
"It seems that a dragon has hatched for you," She replies, also in the Ancient language. "It looks comfortable there, don't you think?" she asks, gesturing to the creature.
Koníka nods and slides the dragon carefully off of her stomach, afraid to wake it. Then she sits up and examines it more closely. Its scales are so black that they look like the night sky, what with the Erisdar lanterns mounted on the walls, adding light to the otherwise pitch scales. Unlike most dragons, the dragon had another colour, silver. It's under belly and wings were shiny, like the silver band on Queen Arya's head.
Arya watches, then says, "Strange colours, to be sure. For the dragon's safety, I recommend you keep it a secret from the other Elves until it's big enough to look after itself, understand?"
"Yes, Arya Drottning. Do you mind recounting was happened? I do not remember." Koníka says, lifting herself effortlessly from the ground and picking up the dragon cautiously, in case it bites her.
"I will," she says, sitting on her throne. Koníka sees the white raven, Blagden, perched nearby.
"Earlier, you came in, in preparation for your turn with the dragon eggs. Everything was going as per norm, until, after sitting with the eggs for a while, the black egg with white veins shook a little bit. After that, you picked up the egg and sat it in your lap, and poked it. I told you to stop, and you did. Then, this dragon," she gestures to Koníka's dragon again. "Hatched and you touched its forehead, fell unconscious and the dragon went to sleep on you."
"I was the first time I had even seen a dragon sleep on someone, thus my expression earlier." She finishes, and Blagden cries, "Wyrda!" which means 'fate'.
"Oh," Koníka replies, and the now-woken dragon snaps its teeth at her. "What now?" She asks her queen, looking at the black-haired elf woman.
"As I said, keep it hidden. Resume with your weapons and magic training, and don't forget to leave Ellésmera to hunt," she says dismissively, and Koníka leaves, grimacing inwardly about having to continue her lessons with the rest of the young Elves.
Koníka grasps her sword, a thin, long blade for practicing with. It has a protective magic bubble around it, so no one kills anyone else. Another Elf her age, Lífin, walks up to her confidently.
"I am going to beat you," He swears in the Ancient Language, which means that he cannot lie.
Koníka keeps her face calm, and they take their positions and await their signal. "Begin!" shouts their master, Glaen.
Lífin flicks his blade, which is identical to Koníka's at the female elf in front of him. Koníka deflects it and feints a blow at his ribs, instead changing course for his right thigh. Lífin hits it away with deceptive ease, and while Koníka's sword is still moving away, tries to rap it against her shoulder.
Koníka ducks, then turns and swings her blade at his knees, which he jumps backward to avoid. Lífin goes for her head, but she hits the moving sword across to her left, standing upright again in the process. Lífin uses a dirty trick to defeat Koníka, kicking her ankle out and holding his blade to her neck. Koníka does not protest, but instead examines her injured ankle.
Luckily, it only sprained. Any wound inflicted by an Elf could easily be more serious, so Koníka murmurs, "Waíse heill," and stands, waiting for her lecture.
"You did not clam yourself, young one. Your mind and body must be a still pool, and you must not let your emotions affect what you are doing, lest they cause you to act to hastily," he says to Koníka, and then turns to Lífin. "You did well, but you must remember to not mock your own, and while we are in training that tricks like that are not allowed. Both of you may store your swords and go to your gramarye lesson." He dismisses them, leaving Koníka feeling rather abashed, as usual after a combat lesson.
Faeríl sits in her clearing, waiting for her students to arrive. I'm going to teach them scrying today, she thinks happily to herself, striding over to a pool of water that she had set up for her class. Glancing into the flat mirror of water, she sees herself. Her silvery hair hangs over the pool, her hazel eyes staring at herself. How unnerving, to be staring at oneself. Very unnerving indeed, she muses.
Sensing her students' arrival she turns around. She sees her prodigy, Koníka, striding at a comfortable pace toward the clearing, her black hair streaming behind her in the gentle wind, her green-brown eyes dancing happily, despite her efforts to keep herself expressionless. I wonder what happened to make her so joyous. Faeríl wonders, but doesn't dwell on it. She has more important things to do.
Once the class has assembled, Faeríl says, "Welcome once again, my students! Today we are going to learn the dream stare. Or, in the human tongue 'scry'," She explains. Faeríl always throws in some human words to her lessons, to spice it up.
She gestures to the pool behind her, and then to some wooden bowls. "Please, take one bowl, fill it with water, and sit in an orderly line," she says and then waits patiently for her students to complete the request. "As with all magic, you must concentrate on your subject. In today's case, it's the bowl of water," she explains to her class. "Once you are confident that you are ready to try the spell, focus on a person or thing that you wish the stare, then say 'dream stare!'"
Faeríl hears a quiet chorus of 'dream stare!' and smiles to herself. Gramarye is fun, but dangerous, to teach. That is why I'm here, she chides herself. They could do it on their own, they know the words.
She walks along the line of students, peering over their shoulders to check that they have done the spell correctly. If they have not, she gives them a helpful push in the right direction, instead of scolding them; she doesn't approve of Glaen's methods. She reaches Koníka and peers over her shoulder and sees a black and silver speck before the younger elf ends the spell abruptly. "Why did you end the spell?" Faeríl asks, peering at the now plain, reflective bowl of water.
"I cannot answer that, master." Koníka replies stiffly.
"Why not?" Faeríl asks curiously.
"Because I am bound by my word to Arya Drottning." She replies, once again in an uncomfortable tone.
"Fair enough. Stare something less secret next time so I may check your progress." Faeríl says, and continues along the line nonchalantly.
Koníka walks into her lonely tree, and hears her dragon nearly straight away. Maybe that was because the dragon rushes up to her and snaps its teeth over and over, trying to tell the young Rider something.
"Are you hungry?" She asks the scaly beast, and it makes a nodding motion, flapping its unusable wings excitedly.
"I thought so, I saw you in my dream stare pool and you were chewing on the flower." Koníka muses, picking up the animal. "Well, I have to keep you a secret, so... I guess you'll have to sit in my pack while we're in Ellésmera."
Koníka retrieves her woven pack and puts a blanket in there for comfort. "Get in the bag, Scaly." She says with an amused look on her face when the young dragon snaps its teeth at her for calling it 'Scaly'.
"Well, if you don't like it, what is your name?" She asks it, lowering it into the pack and twisting the stone piece that was woven into the simple pack as a latch for keeping it closed. The dragon doesn't answer her, which she doesn't find very odd. But I DO wonder how long it will take until it think-talks to me... She thinks, setting out into Du Weldenvarden, The Guarding Forest.
While they walk, Koníka thinks about the Riders' history, as something to take her mind off of how far she will have to walk to avoid getting into trouble about the carcass that will be left after the Dragon's meal.
The Riders were established after Du Fyrn Skulblaka, the Dragon War, which was caused by a naive young Elf that hunted and killed a dragon, causing the dragons to retaliate. The Elves tried to explain the misunderstanding, and that the Elf had thought the Dragon was just another animal, but they had no way to communicate with the Dragons and the war started properly.
The war lasted five whole years, during which both races suffered greatly, reducing their populations by hundreds to thousands.
Then a young Elf by the name of Eragon found an abandoned egg and hatched and raised it, naming it Bid'Daum. Once Bid'Duam had grown to a great enough size, he and Eragon flew around Alagaësia, negotiating with both races, starting on the road to peace.
After the war, the Dragons and Elves created the Dragon Riders, which flourished for many years. Eventually, humans were added to the pact as well. To commemorate the pact, the Agaetí Blödhren, the Blood-oath Celebration, was celebrated every hundred years.
But, after some time, the Riders grew cocky, thinking that no one could harm them. A young Rider, Galbatorix, lost his Dragon to a pack of Urgals and asked for a replacement. The Rider Council had refused his request and sent him away, sensing his mind was distorted.
Galbatorix was enraged, and used another Rider, Morzan, to get steal another Dragon, named Shruikan. Using Shruikan, Galbatorix formed the Forsworn, a group of thirteen Riders that followed him. He used the Forsworn to end the Riders and take over Alagaësia, stealing the only three Dragon eggs believed to exist.
After nearly a century, someone managed to steal a dragon egg from Galbatorix, and the Varden elects an Elf – Arya Drottningu, at the time – to transport the egg between the Varden and Ellésmera. After over a decade of smooth travel, Durza, a Shade, attacks Arya while she is transporting the egg, but she sends it away with magic before Durza can get it back for Galbatorix.
The egg goes to Eragon, a farm boy. Eragon and an Ex-Rider, Brom leaves his farm in Carvahall once the Ra'zac burn it down, killing his uncle. Eragon proceeds to save Arya from where she was being held in Gil'lead and join the Varden. Brom died to the Ra'zac on the way there though, but he makes friends with his half-brother, Murtagh, who is forced to join the Empire after being taken by the Twins from the safety of Farthen Dûr.
Eragon and Saphira, his dragon, is trained by Oromis and Glaedr in Ellésmera as Riders. They later return and have Rhunön make him a Rider's sword. After that, they proceed to capture many towns on the way to Urû'baen, which was and is now called Illirea.
In Illirea, they defeated Galbatorix and left Alagaësia, leaving some dragon eggs behind with Arya Drottning. The Dragon Riders now live and are trained on an island, coming only when needed, but never Eragon or Saphira. It has been about eighty years since then.
It had been disgusting to watch the Dragon hunt, but Koníka had stood and waited for the Dragon to eat its fill, before returning to Ellésmera and going to bed, instead of doing her language studies.
A/N: Again, thanks for reading. If you found/find anything wrong with my third person [Like saying I or Us in a setence that is NOT a thought] Please let me know so I can fix it! Review, please and thanks. I spent a while coming up with names that matched the series. It's really annoying to have to write 'í' all the time! That's all, again, point out my mistakes, because I'm sure there's plenty!
