Alyssa jealously stared at the newest arrival to the Riders. In the week since Karin had been chosen in Teirm, Alyssa had been avoiding the girl, but it wasn't easy. The girl, or Karin, was a street rat, but she was still two times prettier than Alyssa with long, thick hair and a tall, slim body. Alyssa had expected the other human Rider to be friendly, but Karin was anything but welcoming. Right now Karin sat across from Alyssa at an urgal feast celebrating the Rider's arrival and the egg ceremony.
"Isn't this food good?" asked Karin biting into a chunk of meat. Alyssa shuddered at Karin's poor table manners and used a small knife to cut into the meat. The meat was good. It was roasted to perfection and served with some kind of sauce that was mildly spicy, but Alyssa had eaten better back home in Gil'ead.
"Girls," shouted Nírna, the leader of the small Rider group, "Finish up and go help Hagen setup for the egg ceremony." Why do we always have to be the ones who set up? Alyssa wondered, Can't she take a turn for once?
Alyssa was about to voice her objection, but Karin said, "Yes, Nírna-elda." Karin had been trying to make the prickly Rider favor her, but Alyssa secretly suspected that it would take more than a respectful title to make Nírna like anyone. Karin stood leaving behind her half-finished meal and Alyssa stood also with one last look at the delicious meal.
Walking out of the pavilion that the urgals had created for the feast Alyssa asked Karin, "Why did you say that? We could have tried to get her to make Lyra or Ilbryn do it!" Karin shook her head as though Alyssa was a stupid child.
"Lyra and Ilbryn are elves," replied Karin, "Nírna will treat them better because of it." Lyra and Ilbryn were two elves who'd just had eggs hatch for them. Is Nírna really that prejudiced? wondered Alyssa.
The girls continued to the clearing where the egg ceremony was to take place and were met by Hagen, the dwarvish Rider.
"What are you two doing here?" asked the Hagen scratching his mostly bald head, "Did Nírna send you here to help me?" Karin nodded affirmation. She didn't talk much when she didn't have to, "Don't worry too much about Nírna's harshness," continued the dwarf, "She doesn't like you young ones very much."
"How old is Nírna?" ventured Alyssa,
"Let's see," replied Hagen, "I think she just passed her one hundred eighteenth year. Could be nineteenth though. I gave up trying to keep track of how old I was decades ago, much less Nírna." Could anyone really be that old? wondered Alyssa.
"Is she like this to everyone?" Alyssa probed hoping to find whether Nírna favored the other elves. Alyssa wanted to prove Karin wrong.
"Aye," replied the dwarf, "She just delegated the two new elves to dig latrines with Asha. As I said earlier, she's harsh, but she's one of the best Riders." Alyssa smirked at Karin knowing I'd been right, "Come on, girls. Let's work now," came Hagen's voice. As Alyssa returned to setting up a table and she could feel Karin's glare burning through my back.
Ilbryn dug his shovel into the ground while Lyra groaned next to him, "Why couldn't they have had a dragon do this?" she asked in the ancient language, "Couldn't they have done it with magic or at least have let us use magic?" Ilbryn had been listening to her complain since she had been chosen by her purple dragon, Jielarth, in Osilon .
Do all elves from Osilon complain so much? asked Oria in Ilbryn's mind. He still marveled at the touch of his dragon.
I don't think so, Ilbryn replied to his forest green dragon, Ialo never complained so much. Ilbryn gave his memories of his friend Ialo to Oria.
Her dragon is just as bad. Jielarth is lazy. Yesterday he asked me if he could eat some of my kills! Can you imagine?
Perhaps the Riders will be able to cure them of their ways.
Hmm, Oria considered Ilbryn's words, perhaps.
What have you been doing while I toil at this latrine? inquired Ilbryn, digging a bit deeper into the soft ground, still damp from a recent rain storm.
I went hunting and caught a few small birds, Oria told her Rider smugly, Would you like to eat one?
No thank you, replied Ilbryn, You'll find that no elves from Osilon all the way to to Ceris will eat any meat. You'll have better luck with Karin or Alyssa. They have not been Riders long enough to care about eating meat. I feel sorry for Karin at times. Her dragon is still too young to communicate as we do. I liked to watch the other Newling Riders. Lyra tried to avoid the humans at all times as though they were something lesser, but the humans tried to avoid each other as well. Alyssa was nobility and Karin was just a girl from the streets.
Why do you two legged people discriminate between race and social class? asked Oria, I know little of dragonkind, but I am sure that such nonsense will not be tolerated.
I hope that everybody will be able to work together in Mor'ranr, Ilbryn thought, There are two eggs left yet. If we get a dwarf and an urgal to join us then we will have representatives from all four races. Ilbryn felt Oria consider his idea and decide she liked it. He felt her purring like a cat over their connection. I love having this connection, he thought, How did I live without it?
As he thought it the human Rider Asha came over to check on his progress, "What have you been doing this entire time, Newling?" she demanded. Ilbryn sighed. He'd be there all night without magic.
Suddenly he got an idea, Oria, he called across his mental link, Come here and help me dig this hole. He felt Oria get up and begin to walk, Why don't you fly? he asked her.
I am too close for it to be useful, she replied. As she thought it Ilbryn saw her come out from the trees where she'd been eating. She was the most magnificent creature Ilbryn had ever seen. The color of the trees in Du Weldenvarden she was only four feet tall, but she was elegant and strong with delicate wings and a long, graceful neck and beautiful, amber eyes.
She trotted over ignoring Lyra and Asha's stares. With a few powerful scrapes with her claw she dug deep enough to make a good latrine.
Thank you, Ilbryn told Oria, Fate has smiled on me by allowing me to know you and be partnered with you. Oria rubbed her snout against his head and Ilbryn felt her love over their connection.
"You two work well together," said someone breaking their thoughts. Startled Ilbryn looked over his shoulder and saw the speaker was Nírna who had been watching the pair work together, "Your connection is already very strong even though you've only been together for a few months. I am quite impressed." Lyra glared in jealousy at Nírna's strong praise. Her dragon sidled over too, hoping for more approval.
As they spoke Nírna suddenly cried, "Egg thief!", and spun around. A dark figure was trying to slink past them unnoticed. Nírna drew her sword and ran after the figure as Asha grabbed her bow.
"Stay back," the human Rider told the Newlings. Oria reared onto her hind legs like a horse and let out a roar that could be heard to everyone in the urgal village. Asha shot the thief just as drunk urgals began stumbling out of the pavilion where they'd been feasting. Another shout from the area with the eggs told everyone that there were more thieves. Nírna's gargantuan dragon rose up from the woods with Hagen's yellow dragon right behind.
I will bite anyone who tries to get near us, said Oria swinging her tail back and forth. As she said that, another unknown conscious touched Ilbryn's mind. He threw up his defences and unfortunately blocked out Oria too. The other mage battered against Ilbryn's walls, but he held strong. As he gained confidence he threw in an occasional attack. Oria watched with concern knowing what was going on but not able to help. In the end Ilbryn got control of his opponent without too much of a struggle.
That was easier than it should have been, thought Ilbryn, What do I do with the mage now that I've caught her? It took some control for the young elf to hold his opponent's mind. The enemy mage was trying to escape his mind. Suddenly the mind twisted away from his. The enemy didn't attack again, but Ilbryn was ashamed that he had not been able to stay in control.
"How are you?" asked Asha striding up to Ilbryn,
"One of them attacked my mind," replied Ilbryn, "And I even defeated her and had her in my control, but she got free. I apologize for my failure and promise I will do better in the future."
"Are you quite done now?" inquired Asha looking unimpressed, "You did well, Newling. I doubt that Nírna could have done better when she'd been a Rider for about a month." Even with Asha's words, Ilbryn knew he had failed.
If I'd just practiced more before I'd been chosen, he thought desperately searching for an excuse for his idiocy,
Be at peace, Oria comforted him, Do you think that any of the other Newlings would have been able to defend against the enemy mage? If you must place blame, place it on me. If I had helped you we could have been stronger together.
Indeed, thought Ilbryn, This is a lesson: We are always stronger together. With those thought Ilbryn managed to get through the rest of the night.
Padia grimaced; her master would not be happy with this turn of events. Padia had only just managed to get away from the elf Rider who'd held her captive with his mind. Once again, she had not been able to get the eggs that her master so desperately wanted. Now Padia had to contact him and inform him of her lack of success. Padia had been barely a girl when she'd been taken in by her master, and she owed him everything, but he punished failure harshly.
Over her small mirror fragment she whispered her spell. The mirror shimmered and changed. Where once it had reflected her face it now showed a small, underground room with a few bare furnishings. Her master did not have much, but he hoped to change that through Padia's efforts.
Her master came into the room wearing a dark cloak as he always did when communicating via mirrors, "Have you managed to get the eggs yet?" he asked,
"No Master," she replied, "Inus was unable to sneak in and cause a big enough distraction for the rest of us to steal the eggs," replied Padia,
"I am getting most impatient, Padia," replied her master, "First the failure in Teirm and now this. We need more eggs."
"I apologize once again for Teirm, Master," Padia said, "My contact had no way of anticipating that an egg would hatch for the girl. Fortunately, she is still unaware that we were the ones who hired her."
"I don't care about that. I want results,"
"Yes Master," Padia dutifully answered. Why can't he see I'm trying my hardest? she thought, but all she said was, "I will do better in the future."
It was mean of me to start a fanfiction the day before I went on vacation, for that I am sorry. I had the idea and then I had to start writing right away. As I forgot to say it in the first chapter, I do not own The Inheritance Cycle or any of its characters. Thank you for reading up to here! Hopefully you like what I am doing.