Chapter 2

When we had reached the small hut, I told Ryszard it was okay to land in front of Brom. When he landed he looked straight at Brom and said to me, "So this is the mysterious Brom I have heard about for years on end," turning to look at me he asked, "Please tell him I am honored to finally meet him."

Turning to Brom, I tell him, "This is Ryszard, he says he is honored to finally meet you."

Lifting an eyebrow, Brom replies, "It is me that is honored to meet you Ryszard. It has always been a dream of mine to see a dragon before I passed away," finally turning to me, "Where did you find his egg?" he asks in pure bewilderment.

"Somewhere hidden in the mountains, it was carved into the side of the mountain and is filled with many mysteries. It is where I found my weapons," I reply, "We need to decide what to do know that there are people looking for me. I am guessing they are from the Empire or you wouldn't be acting this way, correct?"

"Yes," he confirms, "I believe they are Ra'zac, they work for King Galbatorix," taking a look around him, he asks, "Have you ever heard of the Varden?"

As we move into the hut to take a seat at the small table, I think of the small mutterings and large conversations I had overheard in my travels of Altaria. Ryszard lays his head by the outside wall so that he can look inside the room through the window. "I have heard of the Varden, some bad things, but mostly good. They are a rebellion group that fights against the rule of Galbatorix. They do everything they can to overturn him but do not have the outright power to do so. Why? Do you wish to go to them?"

Sighing, Brom runs a hand through his hair and replies, "It is an option. Probably the most likely one. Do you have anything against it?" He turns to look me in the eye and then Ryszard.

Asking Ryszard in my mind, "Do you think it is wise we go? We would be giving up our freedom to go wherever we want, when we want to."

"We would, but thinking about all of the lives we could help and save makes me want to go straight there. We have always talked about fighting against Galbatorix and getting the revenge for all the Dragon's and their riders lives that we could. This is just an opportunity to do so," he says completely right.

"Okay, now that we have decided we are going, should we show Brom the blue egg?" I ask him.

As Ryszard turns to look at Brom trying to judge his character, I think of all the times I have trusted Brom and how he never betrayed my trust. Seeing this, he says, "Yes, I think we should. But only about this one not the others. That should be later after he has proven we can trust him with one,"

Looking at Brom, I can't help but smile as I say, "We will follow you to the Varden. But there is something you must see before we leave."

Frowning, Brom asks, "It's not far is it? I would like to leave as soon as possible. I don't want the Ra'zac to pick up on our trail."

"No it is here with us," I tell him as I stand up and walk over to the closet. Sitting right where I last placed it, is the egg. Picking it up and slowly turning around, I show it to Brom.

Startled as I have ever seen him, he abruptly stands up and moves over to me. "Where did you find it?" he asks in an almost scared voice, "This week when I was hunting," I reply, "I had just shot a stag when this bright light blinded me. When my vision cleared, there it was, sitting harmlessly on the forest floor besides the stag."

Running his hand over the egg, he asks me, "Can I hold it?"

There was such a longing in his voice that I had to let him. He took it with a gentleness that would make you would think it was a newborn.

Ryszard wonders, "It looks as if he has seen the egg before."

Indeed when I look closely at Brom, his eyes have a certain sheen of recognition in them as they gaze at the egg. "You've seen it before, haven't you."

Surprised, he looks up at both of us and says, "Yes, I have," sighing he hands me back the egg. I place it in a bag I grabbed from the closet I will be taking with me on our trip. He continues saying, "This changes everything. That egg was stolen from the King by the Varden many years ago. It has been taken all over Alagaesia in search of a rider to help the Varden's cause. The person carrying it is the elves ambassador to the Varden. It is worrying that he would send it away. The only reason he would do so would be because he was trapped."

Frowning at his words and taking everything he told me in, I ask, "Why does this change everything?"

"If Galbatorix gets inside the mind of that elf, he would know everything he would need to overthrow the Varden and maybe the elves as well. I can not leave him in there possession," he says while thinking things over.

"Well it looks like we are going on the hunt for an elf now," Ryszard says as he picks himself up and goes to take a drink from the small pond by the hut.

"Okay, where would they be holding the elf prisoner?" I ask, standing to retrieve the bags of supplies I would be bringing on the journey. "We should not tarry while time slips away."

After a moment of silent deliberation, Brom says, "I believe they would be keeping him in Gilead. It houses the most secure prison in most of the Empire. That would probably be the best bet."

As we walk outside, I strap all of the bags to Ryszard's saddle and climb up. Looking down at Brom standing on the ground, "Are you waiting for an invitation? We have a long journey ahead of us."

Huffing out a laugh, Brom climbs up the side of Ryszard and straps in, "I never thought I would be sitting in one of these on top of a dragon. How did your make it?"

As Ryszard takes off I answer him in our minds, "In a small village by the coast there was an old man selling saddles. I asked him how he made them and for a couple months he taught me how. I am not perfect still to this day, but I think it is sturdy enough for 2 people to sit upon and ride. It also is comfortable for Ryszard so we have no problem with it."

For the next couple hours we fly in silence. As Brom takes in the scenes of the Spine on a dragon's back, Ryszard and I talk about all that has happened in the last few hours that has most likely changed both of our lives forever.

"Do you think we made the right choice to follow Brom today?" he asks me, "Do you think he is as trustful as he seems?"

"One thing I have learned about Brom is that everything is rarely as it seems. But I do trust him. I might go as far to say that I trust my life in his hands. He took me in when I had nobody left and Roran abandoned me. He could have kicked me to the streets, but he always accepted me with open arms and no judgement," letting out a sigh that was taken by the wind, I run my hand along his scales while I think on his other question, "I do think we made the right choice today in following him. We have always said we would fight against the Empire if given a means to do so and this just happens to be it."

"Yes, you are right. I will miss the freedom to just leave everything behind and go explore something new whenever we have the urge to do so," he says wistfully.

"Then just think of this as a new adventure. We are about to go into new territory for the both of us. Neither of us has been on the other side of the Spine before," I think as we glide through the mountains and watch the streams go by, knowing that we wouldn't be seeing these lands for a long time.

As we set up camp that night, I ask Brom, "How long do you think the journey will be to Gilead if we fly there?"

As he takes the time to think over this, I start making a fire for us to keep warm during the night and to gives some more light as the sun goes down. "Probably ten days, maybe more. It is hard to say for I have never flown between the two cities. I am going to go get us dinner. I won't be gone long." He takes off into the forest with his bow and arrow as I go around and pick a few herbs and berries from the surrounding area.

Once he is back, he quickly skins the two squirrels he caught and puts them over the fire to roast. "Tell me, how is your magic coming along?"

Looking over at him, I answer in the ancient language, "Not bad. I have gotten better from a year ago. I know my limits and what I can achieve. I have been trying to do things with less words to get more control over them. Every night I put energy in the gems I have."

He looks satisfied with my answer, "Good, keep doing that. How is your bond between the two of you," he asks.

Looking into Ryszard's eyes, I think of the last two years and what we have gone through together and all that we have shared. There is nothing we do not know about the other. "There is nothing we keep to ourselves. Everything is shared between us. Every thought, every feeling, nothing is left out. Wherever we are, apart or together, we know what is happening to each other. I could tell you there is a fly by his ear that is bothering him and he wants to stretch his tail out just this much more. He says he can tell that I can't wait for the food to be done and that I would really like a bath right about now. Nothing escapes our attention about the other."

"Good," he replies, "Let us eat and then sleep. I would like to leave early tomorrow morning."

Sleep that night came easy. When I awoke and started to get up, Ryszard lifted his head and I told him, "I'm just going to take a bath. I will be back soon," and he laid his head back down.

On my way back from the small river that was only thirty or so yards from where we had set up camp, I arrive at the camp feeling refreshed to see everything packed and ready to go. Brom handed me some bread and cheese to eat and I handed him the waterskins I had filled up at the river. "Let us go," he said, "The skies are clear at the moment. Hopefully they shall stay that way."

Over the next few days, this was the routine. Waking up, eating breakfast, packing and flying for the day, to only stop at night for some sleep. I would practise speaking the ancient language and my control on my magic while in the air to pass some of the time away. On the eleventh day of this routine, we were almost to Gilead during the daytime. We landed about an hour away from any civilization as we had decided to wait until dark to sneak into the city, so that we would not be noticed as easily.