Summary: Lorelei and Myara discover lost dragon eggs in the Spine. After the eggs hatch, they leave their home to travel to Surda in search of the Varden, but Lorelei is captured along the way. When she is thrust into the dungeons of Uru'Baen, she meets Murtagh, and vows to set him free. Miraculously managing to escape, Lorelei reunites with Myara, and they reach the Varden, where they join Eragon and Saphira and become stronger than ever before. But they can only relax for so long before Galbatorix makes the first move in the beginning of the end.
Here we go with my first Eragon story. The journey starts just before the villagers flee Carvahal.
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The snow was thick on the ground of the Spine as Lorelei knelt, sighting along the shaft of her arrow. Her target, a large buck, was stationary, pawing at the frozen ground in hopes of uncovering the dormant grass beneath. As the silent hunter drew back her bowstring with bated breath, a sudden cry split the silence, causing her prey to bound away. The arrow buried itself deep in the wood of a tree nearby.
"Lorelei!"
With a cry of frustration, the girl trudged over to the tree and yanked out her arrow.
"Lorelei, come here! Quick!"
Lorelei stomped through the trees to the spot where her blood-sister Myara stood with her back to her. Shaking the arrow at her, the frustrated girl growled, "What is it now, Mya? You just scared away a nice large buck, and…"
The words fell silent on her lips as Myara turned around. In her arms was a large, beautiful ice-blue stone. It was unlike any stone Lorelei had ever seen before. About a foot long and oval, it was perfectly, unnaturally smooth. One flawless color with darker blue veins spider webbing over the surface.
Lorelei stared from the stone, to Myara's face, and back again.
"Wha…how…What is it?"
Myara shook her head.
"I don't know, but there's another one. Look."
She stepped aside to reveal another stone of deep violet. Lorelei stared at it. Stepping forward, she couldn't help but feel as if something were drawing her to it. She crouched to pick it up and almost dropped it in surprise. It was warm. For the slightest moment, she thought she heard a squeak issue from the stone, but when she pressed her ear against it, she found it to be as silent as any other piece of sediment.
Standing up, she saw that the veins that ran over the stone were the purest silver, and she couldn't help but marvel at the stone's beauty as she ran her fingers over it. She could've spent all day goggling over the stone, but Myara nudged her and said, "we need to get going, Lore. There's a storm coming in."
Further inspection of the sky proved her comment right. Black clouds were approaching fast.
"What do we do with these?" Lorelei asked, staring at the stone in her arms. She was loathe to leave it behind, but it could belong to somebody else, and they might come looking for it.
"Finders keepers," Myara said with a grin, and gently slipped her stone into her pack. Lorelei did the same with a smile of her own, and the two girls soon made it back to their camp. They quickly uncovered the game they had killed and hoisted it over their shoulders; one deer each, with a few wild hares. And so, they began their long trek down the mountain. The farther they went, the warmer it got, and soon, there wasn't even a hint of frost on the ground.
The dark clouds followed their journey, and by the time they made it back to the little cottage they called home, the sun had set, and the stars were quickly being extinguished as the clouds hid them from view. When Myara opened the door, a distant rumble of thunder and a bright flash of lightning followed them in.
Setting their catch down on the table in the back room used as a larder and preparation room, the girls stripped down to just a shirt, tunic, and breeches, now free of the need of winter clothes. Myara tossed her pack to Lorelei, who set them on the table in their kitchen, then rejoined her sister. For the better part of two hours, they skinned, gutted, cleaned, and prepared the meat, and finally stored it away, leaving only a small bit out for their supper. There was little conversation during the task, but the silence was comfortable.
"Can you take care of the packs?" Lorelei called to Myara as she grabbed some vegetables from the larder. Her sister, who had been disposing of the innards after cleaning the hides and pelts, called back, "yep."
Lorelei took the raw food to the kitchen, where she immediately set about making a stew, singing softly to herself as she worked, dicing vegetables, shredding spices, and chopping meat.
"Mya, can you get the fire?" she called over her shoulder as she reached up to get the pot that hung over her head. There was a muffled call of "brisingr," and suddenly, flames sprung to life in the stove.
"Thanks, love," she called, and resumed throwing things into the pot. The use of magic was not at all unfamiliar to her. Myara had introduced her to it when she had found her, two years before. Myara had no recollection of who she had been before Lorelei found her, just her name, and the knowledge of the ancient language, and magic. Myara had taught Lorelei the ancient language, but the girl herself had no aptitude for magic. Though neither of the two had any idea as to who she was, or where she came from, Lorelei had noticed that the tips of Myara's ears were slightly pointed, and her eyes carried a hint of a slant, leading her to believe that she was descendant from elves.
In the room they used for their bedroom, Myara unpacked a few trinkets from the forest, the dirty clothes, and the stones. Setting the violet one on Lorelei's bed, she took the silvery blue one in her arms and gazed at it, lightly running her fingertips over the satin-smooth surface. A soft crooning emanated from the stone, and Myara dropped it in surprise. She waited to hear the loud crack of the broken stone, but only a dull thump followed. Looking down, she saw that the stone was still intact, and had not even a scratch on its beautiful surface.
Myara bent down to pick it up, and tapped her fingernail against it. A quiet, pure ringing followed. It sounded as if the stone was hollow. She lightly shook it, but nothing seemed to move inside of it. Before she could investigate any more, however, Lorelei called from the kitchen, alerting her that the stew was almost done. Sighing, Myara placed the stone gently on her own bed, and headed to the kitchen.
Lorelei was stirring the stew when Myara entered.
"Just a few more minutes," she said absently as Myara collected two bowls and spoons and placed them on the table. She then wandered out to the larder in search of a flagon of cider, but as she passed the bedroom, she heard a thump. Alarmed, she unsheathed the knife hanging from her belt, and cautiously nudged open the door with her foot. Peering around the corner, she saw, not an intruder, but the violet stone on the floor.
"What in the…?'
She strode over to the stone and picked it up. Looking around the room, she saw nothing else that she deemed suspicious, and replaced the stone on the bed. Casting one last look around, she closed the door again, and headed for the larder, shaking her head. As a loud peal of thunder sounded, however, neither of the two girls heard the loud squeaks that came from some hidden being inside of the mysterious stones, or the cracks that followed.
After a warm dinner, the two girls retired to their room, and sat for some time on their beds, holding their stones. Lorelei absently ran her hand over the surface of the stone, and noticed with a start a crack that wasn't there before. It was hair thin, and her fingers couldn't discern any space between the two sides, so she passed it off as another vein, or something of the like. Myara, however, with strangely acute senses, felt the minute crack, and upon trying to prise the stone open, failed miserably.
Sighing in frustration after minutes of endless tugging, she gave up, and set the stone down on the floor beside her bed. Rolling onto her side, she blew out her candle, and grumbled a goodnight to Lorelei.
Lorelei also sighed, and placed her stone next to her bed as well. She returned the goodnight and blew out her candle, casting them into total darkness, save for the occasional flash of lightning outside the window. All too soon, the pounding of the rain lulled her to sleep alongside her sister.
A few hours later, the stones started to stir. An occasional jerk turned into a constant, violent rocking, but the noise of the storm kept either of the two girls from waking up. Suddenly, simultaneous cracks issued, and small pieces of the stone dropped away, allowing small snouts to poke through. The violet one was able to poke a leg out also, and soon, it was free of its capsule. It sat on the floor, licking a bit of membrane off of itself, as the blue one fought to escape. Soon enough, it too was free.
The two creatures looked around and sniffed the air, then made their way over to their respective beds. Hooking small claws into the fabric of the bedding, they clumsily managed to climb up beside their objective.
The creatures sniffed the girls on the beds, and were satisfied that they were the correct beings. Then, by pure happenstance, the two creatures curiously touched their snouts to exposed skin at the exact same time. little did they know, miles upon miles away, another creature was cautiously touched by its conscious master.
Lorelei and Myara were violently roused from their journey through the dreamland by a white-hot, searing pain that burned its way through their bodies. They sat straight upright, sending the creatures they had yet to notice tumbling to the floor with squeaks of surprise. With a groan of pain, Myara clutched at a spot just below her collarbone as Lorelei's hands few to her forehead.
Slowly, the pain ebbed from their bodies and settled as a slight throb in the places where the pain had originated. The sisters looked at each other in shock, and then gasped.
"What is that?" they asked at the same time.
"What?"
Lorelei scrambled up and retrieved the mirror from its place on the shelf. She stared openmouthed at her reflection. Under the fringe of her hair was a silvery mark in the shape of a sideways crescent moon. Her fingers jumped to her forehead and felt the slightly raised mark. It shone brightly through her dark hair and didn't pale or go away when she rubbed at it.
Myara grabbed the mirror from her hand and looked at her own head, where there was an astounding lack of marking.
"It's on your chest," Lorelei whispered.
Frowning, Myara tilted the mirror to see the silver mark just below her collarbone. It was about the same size as Lorelei's but in the shape of a many pointed star.
"What is this?" she breathed in amazement.
Any reply Lorelei might have managed to give was cut short by the outraged squeaks below them. As they looked down in surprise, their jaws hung open. There, on the floor in front of them, were two baby dragons.
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Whew. There's the end. Please review, and let me know if you liked it!
-Piratemuffins
