Eragon sighed, he finished his letter with a flourish of his quill. He sealed it and tucked it in his shirt; it would be hand delivered to Arya by one of the riders he trained, who stayed on Iadrin Verma with him. His name was Bollin and his dragon was Smaug; Smaug was larger than Saphira and a burnt-orange in color. Bollin was half-human, half-dwarf; though he had lived most of his life among the dwarves. He was a bit taller than the average dwarf and a bit lanky for one too; but he was strong and a fierce fighter. More importantly he was a kind and a quick learner. He was one of Eragon's favorite students and he is the only one that chose to stay and help with all the dragons.
Eragon went down further into the mountain, Bollin spent most of his time helping out with eggs and hatchlings. On most days he was found down in the nesting cavern. There was a huge furnace inside the cavern that helped keep all the younglings and eggs warm so that the mother dragons could go off and do their own business without having to worry about their young. Not that a dragon worries about it's young very much; for as we all know they are a strong and proud race. They believe their young ones are strong enough when first hatched that nothing could harm them, except for another dragon.
He reached the bottom Iadrin Verma and looked around for his pupil. He looked to his left from the cavern entrance and smiled at the sight in front of him. Saphira was hunkered down near the furnace with five younglings in front of her; he tuned into her conversation and listened to a bit of the story she was telling them. It was about an old and powerful dragon who helped raise the dragon race to greatness; she looked up when she heard him chuckle and rolled her eyes at him. He walked further into the cavern and went to the right. Bollin was sitting down in front of a row of eggs, his back was completely straight and he looked to be meditating. Smaug was asleep in a corner, he was hugging and egg to him as he slept. He was nervous for his youngling which was to be given to the Urgals to hatch for a rider. Bollin was to deliver the egg when he went back to Alegasia.
"Bollin," Eragon called to him.
Bollin opened his eyes and let out a sigh. He stretched his arms and then shifted his legs so he could rise. He turned to look upon his master, the one who had trained him and been there for him for years. He was like the older brother he had never had growing up and he had helped learn much; not just as a rider but as a man. He smiled and walked a few steps forward towards him.
"You require my services?" he said in a playful manner.
Eragon smiled and pulled the letter from his shirt, "I need you to deliver this to Arya in Du Wildenvarden before you deliver Smaug's egg to the Urgal village. "We are going to assemble all the riders here for a meeting that is of some importance." Eragon handed Bollin the letter and a troubled look passed over his face for a moment.
Bollin took the letter and put it in a satchel he had hanging from his belt. "Don't worry, the meeting can't go to badly. All of us have one thing in common and that is we all want what is best for Alegasia and for the dragons." He turned to look at Smaug and went over to rub the scales on his snout. "Come now my dear we have to get ready to set off." Bollin was supposed to leave a few days ago so his pack was already to go and upon Smaug's back. He disliked being away from Iadrin Verma, it was the one place in his whole life that felt truly like home. He enjoyed the time he had spent with the dwarves but it was difficult growing up among them. He always had more expected out of him because he was half-human, he had been looked down upon and even ridiculed by some members of his race. Orin had taken him in though when his father had died in a battle against a kull. His father was drunk and had instigated the fight as far as he knew, which made him a disgrace upon his clan and had caused his clan not to want to take his son in. His mother had died during childbirth.
Smaug opened one of his golden eyes and let out a huff; he wasn't too happy about his egg being given away for he had loved the hatchlings mother. A feral dragon by the name of Shela, she was a light periwinkle in color with ice-blue eyes and a temper to match the blazing sun. She was prideful and vain, she had flown off soon after she laid her egg and he hadn't seen her in moons. He wished she had stayed but she was wild and untamed. She could never stay in one place for too long.
He lifted his body off the ground and unfurled his dusty orange wings. He would half to walk up to the higher level of the mountain before he would be able to fly. The elves and Eragon had sung the mountain in such a way that it was easy for dragons to get in and out of but there were only a select few exit points from where the eggs were. That way no one could come in and steal any of the eggs.
Bollin clambered onto his back and they walked up to a higher level of the mountain. Eragon kept up with them so he could see them off. They reached one of the upper levels and went to the right onto a ledge. The golden glow of the sun caught on Smaug's scales and made him blaze like he was a mini rising sun. Bollin turned in his saddle and gave Eragin a fair-well wave. He then turned back around and hugged Smaug's neck. Smaug flapped his wings in a few mighty swoops and they were off into the sky.
A/N: Hello again my dears; it has been a very long time since I've updated this story but I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter. :)
