Chapter 6
The dragons flew at a much more leisurely pace on the way back, extending their travel time greatly. Despite the constant questions, however, none of them would say anything more about the mysterious stones.
When Kale attempted to discover the stones secrets for himself, by probing it with his mind, he found unbreakable barriers around them, preventing him from learning anything. The most unusual thing was that the stone's secrets weren't being protected by the dragons, the barriers were, instead, similar to the ones he had felt protecting Jerome and his dragon.
Kale also used his connection with Dirash to try and probe for the information, but found that Dirash had shielded that part of his mind closely. However, he did sense, anger, fear, confusion, and apprehension all flowing freely from Dirash over the subject.
Finally after four days of travel, their mountain hideout came into view, and a surge of anticipation flooded through the riders and into the dragons causing their pace to increase; though it was still nearly dusk when they finally reached the mountain.
"Alright, what are these things?" Aéron asked as soon as his feet hit the ground.
It is late, Eíon remarked. We should wait until morning to discuss them.
Kale was about to object when Dirash let out a low defiant roar, they have waited enough, they need to know the truth, NOW!
There was a slight pause, as no one dared oppose Dirash, then Ellsmer spoke up, Alright, I'll begin.
They are called Eldunarí, or in this language, heart-of-hearts. They are part of us; as dragon's we are born with one, and it will grow with us, and if we choose such, decompose with our bodies when we die. However, we also have another choice; we can choose to transfer our consciousness, our minds into the Eldunarí. Once this is done, even after out bodies die, our minds will endure forever or until the Eldunarí is broken. Ellsmer began.
Eíon continued, once a dragon has transferred their consciousness into their Eldunarí, it will glow with that dragons color, indicating its consciousness' presence, and, if the dragon chooses, the Eldunarí can then be disgorged from the dragon's body. This has many useful applications as you can imagine, such as allowing a dragon and Rider to remain in contact even on opposite ends of Alagaësia.
It is also very dangerous that Galbatorix should have possession of these Eldunarí. Kale, you have felt the immense power that these Eldunarí have. Where it comes from, we do not know, but it sustains the dragon mind within. This does at least explain Galbatorix and the Foresworn's augmented strength, if they have been using Eldunarí we too have vastly underestimated their power. Dirash said.
Ellsmer finished, We are lucky it seems, that Jerome didn't challenge any of you directly with magic, or you would no longer be here.
There was complete silence for a moment while the riders let that information sink in. The concepts they had just thrown out were daunting indeed.
Finally Aràzàdí asked, "Why did Jerome have so many Eldunarya? Wouldn't the other foresworn have wanted their own dragons' consciousness?"
"I don't think they have them." Aéron spoke, "Remember about a year after the Battle at Doru Araeba, The Banishing of Names. During the trip back, Kale, you told me about the feel of that Dragon, beast like, nothing like Dirash or Eíon, or Ellsmer. When the dragon's banished their names and identity, I think they destroyed their consciousness, and without that, there is no Eldunarí."
We cannot say for sure if you are correct or not, but it makes sense with what we know of them. Eíon replied
"So whose Eldunarya are the forsworn using?" Aràzàdí continued.
We will only know that by conversing directly with them, but it is likely they were stolen from the Riders whose dragons had disgorged their Eldunarya to them. Dirash answered.
"How do we do that?" Kale asked, "Talk to them that is. I tried to acess one of them when we flew here, its mental defenses are too strong."
Persistence was Ellsmer's answer.
Persistence became their exact strategy. For the next three months they rotated the Eldunarya around so different people were working on different ones every so often. They would gently probe the minds of the dragon within, doing their best to keep from trying to force their way in. They would also repeat a phrase in the ancient language, over and over: 'Greetings ancient dragon, we are free dragons and Riders. We have liberated you from Galbatorix and the accursed Foresworn. Please shed your barriers and converse with us." Their attempts seemed to be in vein; the five Eldunarya remained secluded behind their iron defences.
Then, after three months of work, Dirash finally managed to convince the largest Eldunarí to begin communicating. It was bronze in color and almost as big as Kale's head. When he called them over, both Dirash and the Eldunarí broadcast their conversation so that everyone could hear them.
Who are you? How did you free us from Jerome? It asked.
We are Dragons and Riders free of Galbatorix's tyranny. As for your freedom, we attacked and slew Jerome and his dragon almost three months ago; you have been with us since that date. Dirash answered.
Thank you, Dragon, for our freedom, and killing that traitor for us. The dragon spoke again.
We must ask, what do you know of Galbatorix's army and plans, of the Foresworn in general? We must know more about them if we are to continue our quest to kill them all. Dirash asked.
If I answer you, you must swear you will do what I ask of you when we are done. The dragon warned.
We agree. They all spoke mentally in the ancient language.
I will tell you what I know then. Galbatorix has secluded himself in his castle recently, we believe he is working on more of our kith, breaking into the minds of other Eldunarí, he has hundreds at his disposal. His army masses, there was talk of Jerome leading them South toward the new Surdan nation. Now I suppose that will fall to another, probably Garrin. Few of the Foresworn are actually left. Now that Jerome is dead, seven are left I believe. The other five were driven mad after the banishing of names.
You should also know, Galbatorix has three Dragon eggs in his possession, stolen by Morzan during the final days of the Riders. Recently, another force has begun to pester the King. I hear reports of a single man interchanged with an entire force, the Varden, but I do not know exactly who this man is, only that the King very much wishes him dead.
To this end the King has acquired the services of two Shades: Ivarn, and Durza. They stalk the land doing the King's bidding. Don't be surprised if they don't begin to hunt for you. This is all I know. The dragon finished.
The information he had unloaded upon them made them feel uneasy. Two shades, and over a hundred Eldunarya at his command, Galbatorix was indeed a much more powerful foe than they had foreseen.
Kale became acutely aware of his own energy level raising. Unsure where it was coming from, he checked his own jewels making sure he wasn't accidently draining it from them. He found that the energy stored in his belt and sword was also increasing by drastic amounts. Finally when they could hold no more the energy steam ceased. With a quick look around Kale noted that the other Rider's had experienced similar things.
We have given you all we could, we have completely saturated all the jewels the Rider's are wearing, and it should be enough to fight for some time, even against Galbatorix himself. Now for our request, we have been forced to serve Galbatorix and the Foresworn, to fuel their evil, and defend their minds. We no longer wish to endure, our Rider's have been lost to the void, and now we wish to go as well. Crush our Eldunarí. The Dragon said, in as serious a voice as Kale had ever heard before.
Are you sure this is what you want? Dirash asked.
As one, they all confirmed their answer, Yes, and do not linger.
Kale quickly formulated the proper spell, and used his voice to tell the others. Together they muttered the fatal spell, "Jirda du Eldunarya" The Eldunarí themselves offered the strength for the spell, and one by one, the hard casing around them turned black and shattered.
