The next morning Díanel woke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. After the feast of last night an elf had shown him to his room, which was the biggest one he had ever slept in. It was all made out of wood, as it was song inside a tree. There was a big bed, an even bigger window and a separate bathroom and there even was a study. The walls were decorated with paintings and tapestries which showed beautiful elves and mighty dragons. Some depicted fights and others showed times of peace, or so he guessed. A particular small painting interested him. It showed a female elf with long copper colored hair playing a harp. In the background was a dragon flying over an frozen lake.
Again there were knocks on the door. He rushed out of bed to open the door. In the hallway stood an elven maiden, who seemed uncomfortable by the fact that Díanel didn't have a shirt on. He had a muscular build due to years of working in the smithy and he was quite a formidable swordfighter back home. There was a small bit of dark hair growing on his chest. Damn elves and their stiff formality, he thought by himself. "Excuse me" he murmured as he walked back in his room to put a shirt on. When he got back to the door the elf said: "I'm sorry for waking you, Díanel-Finiarel, but the queen asks you to join her in an hour. There is food ready for you in the dining hall. If you wish, I can fetch you some new clothes." "Thank you, that would be most welcome." He replied, as he quickly thought of all the travel-worn clothes that he had with him.
As soon as the servant lef,t Díanel started to undress and went to wash himself. In the bathroom was a big hole in the floor, which could be filled with hot water by pulling on a string. He did not know where the water came from, but he enjoyed his bath nonetheless. After a while he could hear the servant walking into his room and when he got out of his bath there was a neat stack of new clothes.
He picked dark blue leather trousers and a silver tunic to wear. He was even given an expensive looking belt, which was also dark blue and spun with silver thread. He wore this over his tunic.
After studying himself in the mirror Díanel walked to the dining room and had breakfast with some of his companions, that were those that were not still hangover from the dangerously delicious and strong elven drink, Faelnirv. They exchanged stories that they heard last night and were short of words to describe a night with the elves. The elves were masters of art, be it singing, dancing or storytelling. It was amazing to watch them perform. But at the same time they deeply lacked simple interest in fun. A laughter was barely heard, nor where the elves interested in the humans. Despite all the beauty they behold, there was something lacking in the core.
After Díanel had finished his yoghurt filled with fruits and nuts, he was summoned by the same elven servant. She asked him to follow her outside, where queen Arya and Fírnen were waiting for him. Díanel noticed that Fírnen was wearing a big leather saddle.
He opened the elven formalities with the queen, who replied: "Díanel-Finiarel, I do not care for elven formalities and stiffness. Please treat me like you would treat Roran or another human who you respect." "As you wish, Arya-Dröttning, good morning to you and to you, sky-conqueror. Thank you for the clothes, they fit perfectly." Díanel replied, a little at unease.
Last night he talked with the queen about a broad range of things, though she didn't want to bring up her past again. She again had hold her distance like all elves did. It was like she had two faces that could switch at any time. This caused Díanel to not know what to expect of her this morning.
"As does the armor of my winged friend. As long as you are our guest in Ellesméra, you do not have to thank me for anything. I will pay you and your family with the price we agreed upon, but forever will they have my thanks and are you welcome in the cities of my people as long as I am queen. For nothing is worth more to me than the protection of the partner of my heart and mind."
Díanel didn't know how to reply, so he just made a bow and murmured that she honored him with her words and that he would distribute her thanks to his father and uncle and their apprentices.
Have you ever desired to fly on the back of the mightiest of all hunters? "I dreamed often about it, though I would never give voice to this desire." Díanel replied surprised. It still felt strange to have a foreign mind in his.
"Then please, take my hand." Said the queen as she climbed on Fírnen's back. She held out her hand and Díanel took it to take place behind her.
He couldn't believe he was sitting on Fírnen, the third oldest dragon alive. Behind the beautiful queen of the elves. His friends at home would never believe this. He could smell a scent of pines coming from Arya.
His thoughts were forcefully disrupted when Fírnen took off with a mighty jump. Díanel let out a scream of joy as the dragon and his riders gained altitude. They flew over many, many trees, mountains, lakes and even settlements, which Arya pointed out in his mind. Speaking out loud was too hard because of the loud noise of the wind.
After an hour they landed on the clearing in the middle of Ellesméra. Next to where the dragon eggs were placed on their small island, where there were no elves singing at the moment.
He told Arya and Fírnen how much joy flying with them had brought upon him. He was short of words to explain his gratitude. It was one of, if not the, most amazing experience in his life.
"Now that is done, would you like to see if one of these dragons is willing to be your partner-of-mind-and-heart?" The queen asked him. "It would be the greatest of honors if one is, though I doubt it since I have touched dragon eggs before." Díanel replied with hesitation.
"Do not despair, for I've travelled with the blue egg of Saphira for months, dragons wait for their right partner, which can only be one. Even though I was not the right one for Saphira, I was for Fírnen. Just as you might not have been the right one for some of the other dragons still in their eggs, you might be for one of these. We have just recently exchanged them with our former ones, which had already travelled through all the races without hatching. There is no way you have touched these eggs before, so you might as well just give it a shot now that you are here." She ended with a gentle smile.
Díanel realized that this could be the last time he would ever be able to touch a dragon egg. According to the human ways, only children from the age of ten till reaching full maturity, which happened at the age of twenty-three, were allowed to participate in hatching ceremonies. He would turn twenty-three later this year and it was not yet sure if the eggs given to the humans would reach Carvahall before that time. He had already forced himself to accept the fact that he would never be a Rider. But now the queen of the elves and her mighty dragon gave him a chance.
"How long may I spend with the eggs?" Díanel asked the queen, still with the human ways in his mind. "As long as you like, Díanel-Finiarel. If you wish you can sing to them or meditate between the pedestals. Some elves like to tell stories of great powerful dragons and riders to the eggs. Not to convince them to hatch, it is a sign of respect for the unborn dragons. So do as you please. I have to return to my duties as queen, but I would ask you to join me for dinner tonight." Arya said, before she and Fírnen took their leave.
Díanel noticed that he was all alone in the open space now. He felt tension building in his body as he walked towards the well. He took off his tunic, belt and shoes. He was now just wearing his leather pants and a thin white undershirt. He shivered in the cold morning air. The sun was already gaining altitude, but it was not strong enough to fight off the cold that the clear night had brought.
He shivered again as his left foot touched the water surface. The water was as clear as the glass they sometimes forged back at home and as cold as the never-melting snow on top of the mountains of the Spine. Díanel cleared his thoughts and convinced himself that he was pure of soul, he had no foul intentions to the eggs, he merely wanted to see if one of them found him worthy enough to be their rider. He swam across to the island without anything happening. As Díanel crossed the curtain of water drops, showered down by the fountain, he found himself magically dried. He felt uncomfortable by this sudden feat of magic, but was also thankful.
Díanel gazed upon the eggs: the large white one, the warm orange one and the furthest away of him was the silver one. He took a deep breath and walked towards the white one first. He placed his right hand on top of it and closed his eyes. The surface felt remarkably smooth and cold, like marble. He remembered this from the few other eggs he had once touched. He tried to focus his thoughts on the egg, but he never had been able to reach out with his mind. After half a minute he stopped trying and pulled his hand back. Another deep breath.
He turned and put his right hand on the orange egg. The color reminded him of molten steel, even more than it did when he saw it first yesterday. He noticed the red little veins covering the egg. Díanel noticed that this egg wasn't as cold as the white one, or that could just be his imagination. Again he tried to clear his thoughts and focus on the egg. Again nothing happened.
Díanel felt his confidence shrink. He was so sure that one of these eggs would hatch for him. The elven queen and her dragon themselves had invited him to touch the eggs. He grew sad knowing that without a dragon he would never have a chance with the girl on his mind again. Ismira. Even though he liked flirting with the girls coming to Carvahall, Ismira was the only one occupying his thoughts. They had been together for a while, before she touched a dragon egg and it had hatched for her. She came to say goodbye once and he had not seen her ever since. That was three years ago. Díanel had thought of asking queen Arya about her, since she most know about how the riders on the island were doing, but he did not dare. Ismira had probably forgotten about him.
He turned to the last egg. The one with the silvery color of starlight. Maybe this was what stars looked like from up close. Díanel could imagine millions of these eggs placed in the sky, being out of time and place of this world. But still favoring it with its light. Oh, how he always found comfort in the stars on his bad days. Days like this. Maybe this star in front of him would give him comfort as well.
With regained hope, Díanel stepped towards the last egg and placed both his hands on it, closing his eyes again. This egg felt even cooler as the white one, as if it truly just came down from the cold night sky. This time he didn't try to focus his thoughts on the egg. He just let go of all his thoughts. Just like he did when he was watching the night sky. He felt small and irrelevant to the turning of the world. In this calmed state of mind he remained. He lost all sense of time and place. He was just there.
The egg shifted! Díanel quickly opened his eyes and stepped back, releasing his hand from the egg. It was now as still as a stone again. But he was sure that it had moved. He gazed upon it for over a minute, but it remained dead still. Again he placed his hands on top of the egg and waited. He tried to reach his void-like state of mind again, but he failed. His thoughts were racing from Ismira, to Fírnen to the stars and the egg under his touch. He thought about his parents and the dragon island.
After ten minutes he wasn't so sure that the egg had moved anymore. It remained inanimate again, not showing the slightest sign of life. As he tried reaching out with his mind to the egg, a white raven flew over and shrieked:
"Twinkle, Twinkle, little star
Do you not see that you disappoint?
You do not have to look far,
To see what goes beyond.
Eyes are not needed
To feel what true is,
Hear as he pleaded
And fulfill his wish."
Díanel staggered back from the egg once more. He knew nothing about this white bird that could talk for some reason. Probably because of the manipulative elven magic again. He did not even care. The bird was right, he was disappointing and the egg would probably want him to leave so that the elves could sing their songs for him again.
Angry at himself for torturing himself with a fool's hope he walked away. What was he thinking, he was just a boy like thousand others, who was only in Ellesméra because his father was too busy to bring the armor himself. He was even stupid enough that the egg really moved. Oh the fool he was.
He swam back through the well, this time not magically dried when he left it. He grasped his cloths from the ground and walked towards the queens halls. He took a shower to warm up and walked to the dining halls afterwards. The flying with Fírnen made him hungry again. Díanel longed for some meat but none was available in the city.
After his meal Díanel found Aryntil and some of his companions. They decided to travel back to the Palancar Valley at first light tomorrow, hoping to be back in Carvahall for the summer fair. The rest of the day Díanel spend with the others and together they visited the Menoa Tree and heard its fabled tales. They saw the scars from when Saphira attacked the tree, trying to find a weapon during the wartime. Afterwards the group left to visit Rhünon's old smithy and even though it was impressive, Díanel wasn't fully there with his mind. He was still grumpy and wanted to go back to his normal life as quickly as possible. He went from literally flying high, to hitting the ground hard, when the last hope of becoming a dragon rider was shattered. He had accepted it before, but today everything seemed to set the stage for him. But he was mistaken.
In the evening Díanel found himself once more seated at the left side of queen Arya. He had informed her of their plans of leaving tomorrow morning and asked if the payment would be ready in time. The queen ensured him that this was of no problem, and that she was saddened to see them leave so soon. Díanel replied that he admired the ways of the elves and that they were thankful for their hospitality, but that his men longed to reach the summer fair in time. He was glad that queen Arya didn't ask about his time with the dragon eggs.
He asked about the white raven, which was sitting behind them on his stave. Apparently it once belonged to queen Arya's father, then her mother and now it was hers. She told him how it saved her father's life, who gave it the ability to speak afterwards. A side-effect was that it became capable of seeing the future and knowing hidden secrets, sometimes it gave worthy people hints and advises about their lives, be it future or past. These advises and hints where always in riddled form.
Díanel wondered why the raven, Blagden, had deemed him worthy, especially because he had called him disappointing. He doubted if he should tell Arya about the riddle the raven had given him. At the moment he wanted to ask the elven servant that helped him this morning stepped forward.
"Arya-Dröttning, Queen Nasuada of the humans asks for your immediate presence in the scrying room." The servant said as the hall fell silent. Queen Arya stood up and addressed all the attendees: "My dear guests, it seems I have pressing matters to attend. Please continue this feast in my absence and if my duties let me, I would join you tonight in the ball room for dance and song." The queen walked away through a door in the back.
A booming of questions aroused as the door closed behind the queen. After a while everybody seemed to forgot about the queens absence and was enjoying the feast again. Díanel used this moment to address Blagden, the raven: "Tell me, wise white one, why was I worthy if I disappoint?".
"I never did say that you disappoint, little stargazer. It seems you got it over your head." Blagden replied. After this he flew away, soaring low over the heads of the attendees.
This reply raised even more questions within Díanel. But lord Däthedr ended the feast and beckoned all willing to the ball room.
Díanel was not one of the willing, but his companions gave him no choice but to join in the festivities. During the time of singing and dancing, there was no time to think about Blagden's words anymore.
Queen Arya returned, explaining that there was just some trouble with a rebel mage and they needed a spell which could magically enhance a prison cell. Díanel did not speak with the queen anymore that evening.
As soon as his companions lost sight of him he went to his spacy bedroom, though it didn't feel as comfortable as last night. He missed the open space and felt like there was no air to breath. After a while he decided that he could not sleep like this and went outside for a walk, mind still darkened and troubled with the day's events.
After Díanel wandered for a while, he found himself near the well with the small island with the dragon eggs again. He could feel the magic singing in his blood again, just as he walked by here for the first time.
The magic in his blood started to warm him up to an uncomfortable temperature. Seeing only one way to cool himself, he took off his shirt and shoes and ventured into the well. The water gave off steam when he dipped himself underneath it. He cooled down so hard that he wanted to leave the well. When he was on dry ground again he was still cold due to the water on his skin. He remembered that the little island in the middle dried his skin and so he went through the water one more time, to the little island. As he passed the rainy curtain he was dry again, just as this morning.
Díanel sat down on the floor and gazed upon the night sky, which was still absent of the moon, so the stars shone extra bright. It was a perfect night without a breeze. He could hear an elf singing somewhere in the forest-city. He did not know the meaning of the song, but it made him think of hope and it calmed his stormy mind.
After a while Díanel decided to go back to his bed and try to get the rest which was direly needed for the long return journey ahead of them. As he stood up he slipped on the wet rocky floor and grabbed the pedestal in front of him. By doing this he knocked the silver egg of his pedestal.
Cursing out loud because he had hurt his ankle, he crouched around the pedestal only to see that the egg had fallen on the rocks and bounced into the water. Cursing again he crawled into the water and retrieved the egg. Back on the island Díanel noticed that there was not a scratch on it. The egg was still as smooth as it was before. With effort he put it back on the pedestal and leaned with his back against it. His ankle hurt too much to get up and walk back to his room.
He sincerely hoped that the elves could heal his ankle, or their doomed journey would know another week of delay. He decided to wait on the small island for someone to help him. Once more he gazed upon the stars, losing himself in their countless numbers. Unknowingly he entered his void state of mind again. At some point he must have fallen asleep, but he was roughly awakened by something hitting his head, followed by squeaking noises.
He turned from the pedestal as quickly as he could, ignoring the sting of pain in his ankle, and crawled with his back against the fountain in the middle. As he gazed upon the pedestal he could not believe his eyes. He must still be dreaming. The upper part of the egg was broken and the owner of the egg looked right at him. The tiny dragon, as big as a cat, stepped out of the egg and licked the membrane of its skin. When it was done he again looked at Díanel. The little dragon stepped towards the edge of the pedestal and halted for a second, before jumping of it. It spread his wings to slow the fall, but it was not enough to break the fall.
By instinct, Díanel leapt forward and caught the dragon before it hit the rocks. He put him down and just as he pulled his hands away, the dragon pressed its snout again his right palm. A jolt of electricity raced through Díanel's veins, the pain in his ankle diminished due to the pain the dragon caused him. Díanel shouted out loud and pulled his hand back. As the pain faded he cautiously looked at the dragon. The dragon tilted its head and made a sort of giggling sound. Díanel noticed a silver oval in the palm of his hand, where the dragon had touched him.
Díanel crawled back against the fountain again and carefully studied the dragon. It was the size of the cat, and the pale silver color of the stars, just as its egg was. He was scaled on every part of his body, except for the wings, which consisted of a membrane. Over his spine, neck and tail ran little spikes. He had a small snout with big nostrils, odd enough. Its neck was long and held his head proudly up high. He gazed back at Díanel with an amused look in his silver and sparkling eyes, which were quite big compared to the size of his head.
The dragon moved towards Díanel with clumsy steps. Díanel was afraid to get hurt again but couldn't back away any further. The dragon just walked over his legs and nestled himself in his lap. Carefully Díanel placed his arm over the tiny dragon, who seemed to be very comfortable. Suddenly Díanel felt very hungry. How could that be? He had eaten over his fill during the feast. As the dragon looked upon him once more with its silver eyes it occurred to him that it was the dragon that was feeling hungry.
At that moment he could hear Fírnen and Arya arrive, followed by a group of ten armed elves.
(A/N) And there is the dragon for Díanel. What do you guys think of the hatching ritual of the elves? I like it much better than the human way. And I'm glad that Díanel got a chance to experience it.
We're now going to leave Ellesméra in one or two chapters and head off to the already famous Dragon Island.
