Disclaimer: I don't own it. None of it. Wish I did, but I don't. All credit for original story line, characters, and world go to Christopher Paolini.
Chapter 2: Riders: Old and New
When Eragon was 40 the world changed again. His family was still happy, healthy and thriving. No, his world changed in a whole new capacity.
To everyone's surprise and joy, the last dragon egg which had been jealously hoarded by Galbatorix for over a century finally hatched, all people celebrated with wild abandon. The Riders, it seemed, had returned.
Eragon was delighted to have a new student, though wary of the changes it would mean for him, Saphira, and the future of the world. The Riders had grown confident before, proud, and all together too powerful. It had been their downfall. This, above all, could not happen again. There had to be limits, restraints placed on their power over the people and the land.
The dragon, green of scale and emerald of eye was named Verdenci. He was a magnificent beast, and grew quickly. His disposition tended to be cheerful; a stark contrast to the solemn personality of Glaedr. He constantly wondered if it was a natural difference, or only a difference in the situation of the world he was born into. He was born into a world of companions. Though there were not many, there were enough that he did not feel alone. He was ever confident, and prone to joking as often as not.
As for his Rider, she was a girl of 19 named Petrya. Her hair, a deep brown, always seemed to glow. She told Eragon once that it had never done that before. It was the first sign of the magic working upon her. Her eyes were blue, a color so deep they were almost violet. All of this made her a very popular love interest among men the land over.
Eragon realized the impact which a female Rider could have on his life. He wanted dearly to see her as a love interest, but knew that it would have to wait. She was a new Rider, and he had to instruct her lest she kill herself with her new-found strengths. "It would be inappropriate. I am her teacher and she my student. And I must be wary. Loneliness is not, in itself, a cause of a relationship nor should it be the basis for love," Eragon told himself.
Petrya was an enigma. She seemed flighty, but Eragon knew it to be a front. She pretended innocent, but her motives ran deep. She played a dangerous game, but played it well. She had been born to a family of well-to-do merchants. She was not exactly rich, but was raised among various members of nobility that came to treat with her father. She knew her parents expected her to marry well, and had been taught the rules of the power game from a young age. She knew how to work people, manipulate them into getting what she wanted.
She could be dangerous Eragon said to Saphira.
Aye. She will have to be watched over, and you must instruct her well. Point her moral compass in the right direction. Knowing these matters in itself is not a crime, so long as she does so for the good of the nation she answered.
Eragon nodded, but made no other comment. So far, she had shown a strong will to help the people. It became more apparent that while she had a tender heart for the poor and suffering, she had a guarded opinion of the wealthy. She had had money growing up, yes. She also grew up watching how people with money could corrupt a legal system, using their power to benefit themselves regardless of who it hurt.
Murtagh had survived the war, but the torment the entire ordeal had thrown him into was palpable. Most people still felt only scorn towards him, and next to no one trusted him. Again and again, time after time, Eragon reminded him to be patient. Time would show them. Soon, in generations to come, the story would change.
"You will be celebrated as one of the greatest Riders ever. For you overcame the control of a tyrant and threw him down. You were forced into evil, but emerged a changed man. You did and have done all you could for the people living here. They will see you as a man who suffered greatly, but did all he could to preserve the sanctity of our position," Eragon told him. Murtagh would nod along, but Eragon knew he did not believe him. Time would show him though.
Thorn was another matter altogether. "The Mad Dragon," the people had started calling him. The effect of Galbatorix's magic on him, the pain it had caused, had changed him in ways that could not be undone. Although the elves had done all they could to reduce the condition, Thorn was easily excitable. Anxious, irritable, and sometimes paranoid he was not one to easily interact with the others. It seemed fitting as Murtagh was all too happy to join Thorn in the want of solitude.
While the people called Thorn mad, Eragon pitied him. He had had an unimaginable life-altering childhood. Forced to grow beyond his years physically, no one could ready him for the impact the attempted mental growth would have on him. It was barbaric; an abomination. It made Eragon angry just thinking about it. A child with adulthood forced upon him without his will or consent. A childhood ripped from him the minute he was hatched…
Saphira, Thorn, and Verdenci had a complicated and complex relationship with one another. All three knew that the existence of their race depended on them. Saphira herself struggled to find a mate in just one of them. She would spend a few decades with one, and then prefer the other. Neither seemed to mind terribly much; it was the nature of their race. The wild dragons did not mate for life. The strongest males mated with the most fertile females. The Riders' dragons tended to find companionship more important, so they courted each other for longer amounts of time.
Over the years, several eggs were hatched, but left to be wild dragons. Saphira instilled in them the necessity of cooperation between the races. They had a certain amount of freedom; it would be disastrous to their race if they ignored the balance the races had reached.
Later, she explained, we will give to the Riders, though less than before. Mistakes must be avoided, lest history repeat. For now, we must focus on bringing dragons back into the world.
And so it was…
