Hello! Welcome to "Twice the Lightning struck." As written by CJNova and my friend PsychoSammi. This is an alternative to Paolini's story. We're following the life of the third Dragon Rider, Eragon, Murtagh and several others. See if you can guess who the Stalker is! I, CJNova, will write the first two chapters, and PsychoSammi will write the next two, switching back to me for the next two, etc etc.
Disclaimer- If we owned the books, we would NOT be writing these stories, would we now? That's just counter-productive :P
Bold Italics – A Stalker, who is after Maya. Throughout the story you may, or may not, guess who it is. If you do please don't ruin it for the other readers
Its Just The Beginning
A roar touched my ears, alerting me to the arrival of an immense opportunity. Quick as a fox, I made my way to King Evandar's side, darting around the Urgal in an attempt to get to the King. The stupid creature blundered sideways, swiping at me and crunching the bones of Lord Vioran underfoot, allowing Evandar to slice the creature's head clean off.
Fleeting despair ran through me as the Urgal fell to the ground, dead. My opportunity was not going well – the King was still alive, even if greatly wounded. He was reaching out to me with his mind, grateful for my distraction, so I took another chance and darted forward, slicing with all my might. The King gave a satisfying choking sound as he crumpled to the floor, his blood rushing too fast for him to heal.
With a smug flicker, I disappeared into the trees to plot my next moves.
3 months later…
Tense silence filled the city of Ellésmera. No elf spoke a word, all paused in respect as the last notes rang out. The midwife shook, unusually weak and tired, as she handed the baby to Arya, its cousin. In a large bed sung from oak, lay Lady Ilana, Keeper of Secrets, widow, new mother, and recent deceased. Above her hovered Queen IslanzadÍ, holding her hand and studying her face in an attempt to find a flicker of life in her sister's face.
When none was forthcoming, she allowed a single sob to pass her lips. The midwife left, and slowly volume returned – the elves began their mourning for the past noblewoman. Inside, IslanzadÍ shut her eyes against the mournful notes drifting in on a warm breeze. They lulled the baby to sleep, and instilled a sense of grief in Arya.
With a flutter of swan feathers, the Queen strode to Arya and inspected the baby cradled within her arms. Though she looked like her mother, there was no love for her niece in her heart. She recognised the duty left by her sister, though.
"Take the child to bed. She will stay here and be taught." IslanzadÍ ordered, dismissing the ambassador. Arya nodded respectfully and left, taking the unintentionally offensive child with her. With one more sorrow filled glance at Ilana, lying spread on the bed like she was asleep; IslanzadÍ followed her own daughter and went to make the necessary arrangements for the body to be sung into the earth.
4 years later…
"Arya! Arya, look! Du niernen!" Looking up from her book, Arya observed the child bounding towards her, carefully cradling a flower within her grasp. The orchid had grown large, with strangely coloured petals – from the innermost part; it was infused with the colours of the rainbow, ending with a soft pink at the tips of the petals.
"It's beautiful, Maya. Where did you find it?" Patiently, Arya sat as the child began to weave the flower into her long black hair, a silver rose already braided into her own silvery-fair locks.
"I didn't. I made it, like I made the rose." The child replied innocently.
"You made it?" Arya frowned. "From magic?"
"Yes. Audr du fell. I found another orchid and wanted to bring it to you and show you, but I couldn't bring myself to kill it. So I copied it." Wide dark eyes studied Arya as she dealt with the information that the child could already form such complex magic. "Was I wrong to do that?" The eyes got even wider still. "Will the Queen be mad at me? Oh, Arya-elda, I didn't know I was doing anything wrong! She can't punish me for that, right?"
"Theyna, child. Everything will be fine." Arya ran a soothing hand through the child's silvery hair, affectionately calming her. The child lived to please, but IslanzadÍ had a foul temperament when it came to her, and none of the other elves were willing to go against IslanzadÍ and openly acknowledge that they liked the girl. Thus, she spent a lonely existence running between Arya and the outside world full of wonders, keeping herself occupied with reading in the libraries and dancing along stripes of sunlight.
Two years later…
Maya paused in her walk, glancing around the trees. She was in the Menoa Tree, testing her dexterity by leaping from branch to branch like a kitten building up strength and accuracy. She couldn't do it as easily and graceful as Arya – yet – but she had succeeded more than she had failed, and that was a good start. However, just then, she had heard a noise. Yes, definitely a noise.
Intrigued, she fell carelessly off the branch into the springy moss below, clambered up, and followed her senses. She wandered between the trees until she reached a young sapling poking up from the earth. A wry smile flitted onto her angular face – between the enormous ancient trees, the sapling looked exactly like she did when in Ellésmera with IslanzadÍ and Arya.
Sitting upon the highest branch of the sapling was the noise-maker. As she moved forward, her eyes adjusted, and her smile turned genuinely joyful – she had found a raven. Ravens were not rare in the forest, but this one was purely white, and large too, much larger than the others.
"Hello, Mr Raven." She sang gently, walking up to the trunk. She peered through the branches, still softly crooning to the raven as she climbed.
"Blagden is a name,
And Maya is the same."
Maya froze, looking at the bird with wonder as it lifted a claw and scratched at its head. Then, she reached out, scooped it up, and dropped down. Ignoring the indignant squawk from the bird, she pelted head-long to Ellésmera, throwing her thoughts around until she found Arya sat with IslanzadÍ in the great hall.
"Arya! Arya, this raven can talk! He says rhymes, and he knows my name, and can I keep him? Please, please, please, dröttningu?" She begged, holding the bird up for her cousin to behold. The two women stared at the unremarkable bird for a while, and then at the hopeful look on Maya's face.
"I don't believe you should keep pets, Maya. Animals are intelligent creatures – to keep them as a pet is slavery." The Queen frowned down at the young girl, whose expression fell. The bird cawed.
"A pet is what the girl needs;
All I ask in return are seeds.
If a pet you won't allow,
A familiar you will endow."
The bird rhymed, causing a charmed look to spread on Maya's face. She bestowed a delighted smile upon the two women, and Arya beamed back.
"Of course you can keep him, Maya. Does he have a name?"
"He mentioned Blagden. He is Blagden, my raven. Elrun ono, Arya svit-kona." The elder cousin smiled privately to the Queen as the child danced from the room.
"Say what you like, mother. She knows how to charm." IslanzadÍ scowled fiercely and returned to her study of the spellwork her spellcasters had presented.
The same day…
Finally, my plans were all set in place. I would travel to Ellésmera once again, this time to kill the selfish fool IslanzadÍ and enslave her daughter's mind – through her, I will rule the elven community. I, one of those they fear so much! I, one of those who caused the Rider's downfall!
But my plans, unusually, didn't go to plan. I arrived in Ellésmera intent on killing IslanzadÍ only to find her sheltering a child. Fancy – an elven child! There hasn't been one in Ellésmera since Arya was born all those years ago. The child is around six years old already, and is truly perfect.
She is slender and fair-skinned, like many elves, and has hair spun from starlight. Her eyes reflect the strange indigo colour of stormclouds before they break, but her infectious enthusiasm and astonishing beauty seems to go unnoticed by many. Indeed, she is publicly shunned by most.
I have found out, through several investigations, that her mother was Lady Ilana, the wife of the traitor Vioran. He was there when Evandar perished at my hands, and his wife followed him to the void soon after, merely living long enough to name her child before leaving this world.
I cannot kill IslanzadÍ. Perhaps in a few years, when the child has grown and can fend for herself better. For now, she needs the shelter and protection that IslanzadÍ can afford. If I were ruling Ellésmera and the elves through Arya, I would not have enough time as I'd like to be able to peruse the personality of this intriguing child. Perhaps I should wait…
Words from the ancient language used in this chapter:
Du Niernen – The Orchid
Audr du fell – Up the mountain
Theyna – Be silent
Elrun ono – Thank you
Apart from the honorifics, these should be all you need to understand Thanks for reading! Next chapter skips ahead a few years to when Maya is fifteen. Read and review please! CJNova xXx
