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Niyene felt remarkably safe with Jonah riding beside her. He might be young, not much older than herself, but it was obvious he knew what he was doing. The way he had dealt with the creatures had been very effective and he would be able to defend both of them, if necessary. Apart from that, something that was less essential but still nice: he could perhaps give her some answers to all of those questions she had had ever since she found the egg.
"Where are we going?" she asked him. She had given him the lead, because she did not have the faintest idea herself. She did not know Alagaësia at all outside of her own village and some neighbouring towns. Only now she realised just how little she had seen of the world and that she had not experienced anything of note in her twenty years. It seemed like things were changing rapidly where that was concerned, though.
"I'll make sure we're safe and well away from the shapeshifter demons. The moment I'm sure we're not being followed anymore, we'll attempt to go to Ellesméra. I think they will be overjoyed when they hear there is another Rider, and a dragon that has not fallen into enemy hands.."
"What is Ellesméra?" Niyene wondered.
"It's the capital of the Elven kingdom, in the woods in the north of the country. Not reachable for mere mortals, apart from those they want to let in."
"Like you?"
"I have once done the queen of the Elves a great favour." he said, as if that explained everything. What kind of person was he, anyway?
"Jonah.. my head is spinning, it's just so full.. or actually, no, it's not. There are so many gaping holes that need to be filled. I want to understand everything. About dragons, about me, about you, about everything that is happening. Because my life has been turned upside down in no time at all."
"I would love to answer all your questions, as many as I can, anyway, but I believe I should first inform you that we're being followed.."
Niyene shrieked. "Not again!"
"Don't worry too much. This person is riding in about the same tempo as we are. Whoever it is, he or she is not likely to catch up with us any time soon."
"How do you know?"
Jonah laughed. "Nothing mysterious. I looked behind me."
Niyene rolled her eyes and turned her head so she too could see the dot near the horizon.
"Let's go left at the first intersection and see if he keeps following us, if that's okay with you?"
"Uhuh." Niyene muttered. She did not like this situation at all.
To her great frustration, the individual followed them into the side path, so her suspicion that they were really being followed was only made stronger.
"Let's not worry too much, ask your questions."
"Well, okay.. this is the question that's bothering me the most. I don't know if you can answer it, but still. Why me? Why? Why was I chosen to be a Dragon Rider? I don't know anything about dragons. I thought they were extinct, if they had existed at all and weren't just a legend. I have no talents besides horseback riding and baking cakes and I've spent all of my life as an ignorant soul in a rural village. I just don't understand why a dragon would choose me, out of all people."
Jonah laughed again, apparently what she said was very funny. She snorted, slightly offended by his reaction.
"Yes, sorry, but I want to know."
"Niyene, don't be so pessimistic. Dragons are among the oldest creatures of the Earth. They're a symbol of magic, power and wisdom. Not a single dragon chooses his or her Rider without a reason." Apparently, that was all she was getting for now.
"Good. I think it's about time you tell me who you are, because it's a mystery to me why someone your age possesses so much knowledge and experience."
"You think so? Why, thank you. I think it's because of the life I've led so far. I have never stayed in one place for long and have gotten to know this world while roaming. I have met certain people that have changed me forever and they have given me all the knowledge and taught me all the skills I have now. Apart from that, I'm not extraordinary. I'm no Rider, for example." Niyene could not see his face since she was paying attention to the road in front of her, but the wink was obvious there.
"Fine, so you would rather remain mysterious?" Niyene said, not satisfied with this vague story.
"Of course." he replied. "That will encourage you to ask more questions. It wouldn't be any fun at all if you were satisfied by my first answer, and lost interest after that."
She sighed. He seemed nice to her but also strange, very different from Ayod for example who was always straight to the point and never spoke in riddles.
Niyene looked behind her, to check if everything was all right. "Jonah?" she yelled, panicking. "The rider is catching up with us!"
"Then we'll have to accelerate." he said, and he urged his horse to move more quickly. It made little difference, the mount of the pursuer was way faster than their horses, and before she knew it Niyene heard its hoofs hitting the road right behind her, the sound resonated in her head.
She felt desperate. It could be anyone, and somehow she knew the shapeshifters were not the worst fiends in this realm.
"Stop, I am no enemy!" a woman's voice yelled, and Niyene froze. She knew that voice, it was a beautiful, clear, exotic voice with a compelling undertone. Jonah seemed to have lost his distrust and made his horse slow down, forcing Niyene to do the same. The female rider passed them and stood on the road before them. She removed the hood of her green cloak and looked at Jonah first, and then for much longer at Niyene.
"Greetings, Niyene Shur'tugal. My name is Arwýn of Ellesméra. You already know me, more or less. I have tried to help you in visions."
Niyene smiled a little, she felt shy in the company of this woman. She was so.. different. Very graceful and delicate, almost like she was not human at all. She wasn't, she realised with a shock.
"Jonah, always a pleasure to see you." the woman's expression changed from distant and polite to that of someone that meets an old friend again after years of separation.
"Likewise." he said. He jumped off his horse in one fluid movement and helped Niyene dismount, who was still a little sore from the shapeshifter attack.
"I'm glad you're all right, Arwýn. You were playing with fire, sneaking into Galbatorix's palace, just the two of you. Not that I had expected any different from the mistress of blades." he said once Arwýn was back on her feet, and winked at her.
Arwýn frowned in response, not understanding Jonah's words.
"I was in on the mission. After you left to trespass on hostile ground, the Elves informed me you were planning to send the egg into this direction and asked me to keep an eye out for the egg and a possible Rider in case it had hatched already. I'm glad I found her just in time. The enemy almost got her." Jonah explained.
"Yes, I managed to escape in the end. Vreth.. wasn't so lucky." the Elf spoke sorrowfully, and she looked at the ground. It was clear she did not want to talk about this event, so Jonah did not ask any further questions.
"So, where is he? Or she, of course." Arwýn asked Niyene, changing the topic.
"Your dragon, Niyene." she said when Niyene remained silent.
Niyene woke from her contemplative trance. "Oh yeah, him. At least I think it's a him? He's in my saddlebag."
Arwýn's gaze followed Niyene's pointing hand to her bag with the vent holes, hanging from her horse's right flank, and her eyes flashed in anger.
"You put.. your dragon.. in your saddlebag.."
"Yes." Niyene whispered, and she cast her eyes down. She did not know how to deal with this woman, certainly not now she was this mad at her even though they had only met minutes ago.
Arwýn squinted and did her best not to shout the worst swear words she could think of. She ignored Niyene, walked over to the horse and tore the saddlebag open. The purple dragon, that barely fit into the bag by now, was visibly annoyed. He did not turn his head to see who was opening the bag, but opened one eye and focused it on Arwýn. Then he closed it again and did not pay any further attention to her.
Furiously, Arwýn turned around. "Have you had him out of that bag yet, Niyene?"
"Well, errr.. We were fleeing all the time, and.." Niyene stammered, but she couldn't manage to say any more than that.
"Have you made contact with him?"
Niyene coloured red. "Err, well, actually.."
"Niyene, this is unbelievable. Don't you realise that you've stuffed a dragon into your bag? A dragon! Our only hope against Galbatorix! You should feel honoured that he chose you as his Rider and not some other.. Argh!"
Arwýn stamped her feet and walked over to her horse while she muttered something along the lines of "..banish from Alagaësia."
Niyene wanted to object. Arwýn had arrived mere minutes ago but had already given her this rant because she hid her dragon in a bag. She wanted to explain why she had done that, why it had been safer to keep him in there. But this Elf had such an aura of might around her that she was afraid to argue with her.
Niyene and Jonah watched while Arwýn mounted her horse.
"Jonah, I, err.. I feel so guilty. Can't you convince her that.. please?" Niyene whispered to him. Jonah stared at Arwýn. Judging by his face, he was uncertain of whether or not he would be able to do that.
When Arwýn turned her horse away from them, he rolled his eyes, waved his arms in the air and approached Arwýn.
"Okay, wait a minute, you. Don't you understand why she hid her dragon in that bag? We were being pursued, attacked by those.. shapeshifter things! Don't you get that it just wasn't safe to get him out of there, while we were surrounded by enemies. Can't you just.. calm down and explain some things to her about dragons. You owe her that much."
"No, Jonah. Come on! I can only imagine the way that dragon feels! And besides, you know plenty about dragons. You can tell her yourself. Bye."
Arwýn wanted to spur her horse and ride away, but Jonah stopped her horse and directed a piercing gaze her way.
"Arwýn, don't forget that I have done you a favour once, as well."
This made her hesitate a little. Several times, her eyes flashed from Jonah to Niyene.
"Why does it have to be me that helps her? You can bring her to Ellesméra and find someone there who can tell her all of that." she said.
"Well.. do you know why I want that?" Jonah said, and he quickly grabbed her hand. Although he was very fast, Arwýn was even more so, and she pulled her hand away before he could grab it.
"What are you doing?"
"Remove your glove." Jonah demanded.
"Why? Nothing to see there."
"Are you sure?"
"Haha. Yes. I am."
"Well, then it doesn't matter, does it?"
Arwýn sighed and pulled on the fingers of her glove. After that, she dropped the glove on the stones and showed her slender elven hand to Jonah.
"See, nothing to see here."
"Hmm, then I am sort of curious what's in your bag." he said, and while he did he pulled on the flap of Arwýn's shoulder bag.
Arwýn groaned while Helvetia cheerfully peeked out of the bag, glad to get some fresh air. She looked around, and after a while, she noticed Jonah. She pulled up her lips so her sharp teeth were showing, and puffed in his direction so he got smoke puff in his face.
Jonah coughed. "See, that's why I wanted you to tell her. You have a young dragon, as well. You could train together!"
"Hello, there is no way I'm going to.. with her.. you can't think that.." she hesitated. "All right. Until we reach Ellesméra. But after that, she is on her own."
Jonah grinned and turned to Niyene. "You're in luck. One of the best smiths of the Elves is going to teach you how to fight, going to teach you the Ancient Language, and she's going to tell you how to train your dragon."
Arwýn rolled her eyes, dismounted again, and placed her belongings on the ground. Helvetia crawled out of her shoulderbag and sat down on Arwýn's shoulder.
"Good, Niyene. Let's start with taking your dragon out of your bag."
Niyene pouted. She had already ruined everything with Arwýn, but was she to blame? She had done everything to protect the dragon, even left her whole life behind, her mother, her best friend, everything and everyone she cared about. Or had she only done that to save her own hide? She had not 'made contact' with the dragon yet, which Arwýn blamed her for. To be honest, she wasn't sure what she meant by that. Talk to him? Perhaps she could ask Jonah. He seemed to stand up for her, so at least she wasn't alone. Arwýn had walked over to Niyene's saddlebag and wanted to take the dragon out.
"No, wait, I'll do it." Niyene protested.
Arwýn coughed in an exaggerated fashion. "Oh, now you can take care of him?"
Niyene did not answer, she had nothing to say in her defence. All she could do from this point onwards was make sure Arwýn wouldn't start to hate her even more than she already did, because she needed her to make sense of it all.
With two hands, she reached into the bag and took hold of the dragon. The creature looked at her intensely with its large eyes. Niyene wanted to look away, but forced herself not to. She pulled the dragon out and noticed it had gotten quite heavy already. A lot larger than the young dragon she had hidden in her closet, he was probably about half a meter now. It wouldn't be long until he wouldn't even fit into the bag anymore.
"It's late." Jonah observed. "And it was a pretty intense day for me and Niyene. Let's make camp and continue our journey in the morning."
"If that is what you want." Arwýn said, but it was obvious she actually didn't agree.
They found a place in the bushes where there was enough room for the horses, dragons, and themselves.
"Keep your dragon close." Arwýn spoke without looking at Niyene. "It's not a horse, not some mount you can bring to the stables. The dragon is the other half of the soul of a Rider."
Niyene carefully picked up the dragon, afraid Arwýn was going to scold her again, and placed it on the moss next to her makeshift pillow.
Jonah and Arwýn got into her beds, for as far as you could call them that, and it didn't last long until they were gone. They can sleep under these circumstances? Unbelievable.
Niyene rested her head on her folded arms and stared at the leaves above her that were being rustled by a gentle breeze. She felt calm, but wide awake. Her eyes were about to fall shut at last, but she felt something pushing against her arm. The dragon had gotten up and pushed against her upper arm with his snout. She rolled to her side and leaned on one arm.
"What?" she whispered. A weird sensation filled her, as if someone was rummaging through her thoughts, and she grabbed her head, confused.
- Why have you ignored me? Acted like I was not there? You've insulted me. A proud, indignant voice sounded in her head, and not just her head, it was like it could reach her soul. Was the dragon doing this? It sure seemed like it. Niyene wanted to turn back and pull the blanket over her head, but fleeing would get her nowhere. She needed to face him eventually.
"I.. I just didn't know what to do with you." Niyene said, trying to keep her voice down. "I was afraid. All of this is new to me.. So perhaps I did things I shouldn't have done, like keeping you in that saddlebag all the time."
- Pff, I was starting to get used to it.
"Still, it was wrong, and I am sorry."
- I'll forgive you.. someday.
"I'm glad. I thought I had ruined everything with everyone, especially with you and that Elf Arwýn."
- I won't get tired of you that easily, I'm stuck with you, you see. Which doesn't mean I'm not offended anymore. I will be for a while.
Niyene sighed. "I'm sorry, okay! I just didn't understand anything about all of this.. at first I was just Niyene, the baker's daughter.. and now all of a sudden I am.. Niyene, Dragon Rider who needs to save the world? I don't even know how! Not so long ago I didn't even know dragons existed!"
Niyene had raised her voice a little bit too much, and was worried she had woken her sleeping companions. Arwýn rolled over and was facing Niyene now, but luckily she was still asleep.
- I'm fully aware of that. You know nothing, nothing at all of what's going on in the world outside of your own little village. You're a blank piece of paper, Niyene of Kivimetsän, and maybe that is exactly the reason I chose you. Why don't you think about that for a moment.
The dragon curled up and closed his eyes. Niyene went back to the same position she had been in previously, incredibly befuddled. She had just had a conversation with her dragon, but what did she know about him? She had assumed he was male before, and that seemed to be correct. His voice was male, his whole conscience seemed male for some reason, no idea how she could sense that. Did he have a name already, or did she have to name him? I should ask Jonah about this tomorrow.. she thought, and after that she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
When Niyene woke up Arwýn was already impatiently waiting next to her horse. Jonah seemed to be in his bed still, so at least she wasn't the last one. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was not likely to get a bath this morning, and the same probably went for the following mornings..
"About time." Arwýn said. She had folded her arms and impatiently moved her foot up and down.
"And what about Jonah?"
Arwýn did not reply, but kept her intense gaze on Niyene.
"Okay, okay. I'm coming." She sighed. If it was gonna be like this.. She made her hair a bit more decent and stored all her things in one of the saddlebags.
- There is no way I'm going back in.
Niyene turned around and saw that the dragon was looking at her arrogantly.
"I wasn't planning to." she thought.
- Good.
- You can read my mind?
- Of course. Stop underestimating me. And isn't it a lot easier this way? Otherwise Arwýn could listen in on our conversations. Do you want that?
- Oh, gods no!
- Exactly.
Niyene picked up the dragon and put it on her shoulder. It was a heavy weight, but he aided her as much as possible.
"So, our Dragon Rider has finally learned you shouldn't stuff dragons into saddlebags?" Arwýn muttered sarcastically.
"You still don't get that I did that with a good reason?" She answered, tired of being submissive to this unreasonable Elf.
Arwýn ignored her and walked over to Jonah's sleeping bag.
"Wake up, we need to go." It sounded a lot less cold than the tone she used with Niyene, it was clear she did not treat anyone like that.
Jonah got up without complaining and in no time, he had stored away his belongings in his horse's saddlebag.
"We're leaving." Arwýn mounted the horse in a fluid movement and led it out of the brushwood, onto the road.
Niyene wanted to get on her horse in the same elegant way, she was a good rider after all, but failed. Apparently she could not match up to Arwýn's Elven abilities, and that irritated her. Besides, the dragon hindered her in her movements, something Arwýn did not seem bothered by at all.
Jonah jumped on his own horse and started riding. Arwýn looked over her shoulder, and started galloping. Niyene followed them, her dragon close this time.
End of the chapter! The next chapter features some characters from the books ;) stay tuned.
