Chapter 9

I quickly dressed the next morning in the clothing I was provided and went to the dining hall, my bow and quiver slung over my body. I knew I was with friends but I wasn't foolish. You always had to have a weapon on you. You never knew who would turn on you.

The morning meal was glazed chicken and eggs. It was a decadent meal and it left me completely satisfied.

A furry elf emerged from the East Wing and led everyone out of the hall. I tried not to gape at the elf's appearance but I did stare a lot. We went to the "loading dock" where we met our dragons. Umaring hummed when he saw me and I hugged him around the neck.

With my hand on his snout, I told him; I have to tell you something later.

Ok, tiny dragon.

He sensed the urgency in my mind and snorted in my face. I laughed and mounted. The furry elf had mounted behind Eragon on his sapphire coloured dragon.

I remembered from a story telling that her name was Saphira. Saphira looked over at me and I felt her mind brush mine. There was no revulsion in the touch, there was curiosity. She already knew that I was a dragon hybrid. Shielding my conversation with Umaring as we took off, I quickly showed him what happened.

Once I told him, his memories became cloaked as well with the magic of the Eldunari.

He growled a little but otherwise didn't react much.

I had a feeling that you were, but I didn't think that your kind was possible.

I nodded. Me either.

I felt Umaring looking in my memories and he chuckled loudly when he found the memory of me being in the wrong baths.

Oh, Elvana, looks like you've caught the eye of someone.

There was laughter in his comment but there was a twinge of something else.

Oh dear Umaring, are you jealous? I asked him, not shielding my own laughter.

No. But it was clear that he was lying.

We landed at the shore of the lake. Once everyone dismounted, Saphira left with the rest of the dragons. I held back until I was in the back of the group. A dwarf appeared beside me and held out his hand. "I'm Erik. Nice to meet ya, Dragoneyes."

I raised my eyebrows but took his hand in a firm shake. I noticed that of all the dwarves, Erik was the smallest. He didn't really talk with the other dwarves either, he was usually by himself.

"Thanks. I'm Elvana," I said haltingly, giving him a smile.

Eragon called the lesson to order. "Alright everyone! Today Blodhgarm will be teaching. Have a good day!" He backed away and Saphira suddenly swooped in, picking him up.

The furry elf, Blodhgarm announced; "So, today we're doing some basic elemental magic. If that goes well, we can make it more complicated. Pair up and I'll tell you what happens next."

Everyone started to find partners. Since we were right beside each other, Erik and I became partners. We spread out along the shore and waited. We first started with water magic. We had to make a ball of water and then freeze it.

My fellow Riders started to chant in the ancient language, including Erik. I looked around and then put my hand out. I knew what I wanted from the water. My mind surged for the energy of the water and a sphere of water as big as my head rose from the water and floated above my outstretched hands.

I willed it to freeze and immediately fingers of ice began to race across the sphere. It dropped into my hand and I hefted it. Erik looked over at me with an expression of wonder. Others were looking at me, their eyes narrowed. As I looked at the sphere, fingers of something else ran along the frosty surface. Blodhgarm had abandoned helping one of the Riders and watched with the rest, fascinated and shocked.

The sphere became heavier in my hand as the surface of it changed. Then I recognized what I had done. I had turned the sphere into diamond. A furry hand clamped onto my shoulder. "What exactly did you do? What did you say in the ancient language?" Blodhgarm demanded.

I shrugged under his hand. "I don't know. And I don't need to use the ancient language to use magic," I said to him, almost whispering the last.

He nodded and his nails dug a little deeper into my shoulder. I was even taller than the fur covered elf. I towered over most of the Riders except the Urgals and Erebos himself.

My eyes strayed over to him and I felt the bite of blush spreading along my cheeks.

"Okay! Let's move one!" said Blodhgarm, clapping his hands. We practised earth, air and fire magic. I especially excelled at the fire and air magic. Finally, Blodhgarm announced that we were going to spar with elemental magic.

I tried to hide the excited twitch in my muscles. We all lined up and it started. The humans and elves did better in magic than the Urgals and the dwarves. I noticed that Erebos excelled in his sparring match against a fellow elf.

When it was my turn, I was paired against a haughty human girl. She was one of the many Riders that thought that they were better than anyone else. I was going to teach her a lesson.

We faced off and before we started, I quickly whipped off my boots. My toes curled into the wet sand. The girl summoned a wall of earth to come my way but I waved it off with a quick wave of white fire. She changed to water and started to pelt icicles at me. I sensed that water magic was more her forte.

I blocked it with air magic but that didn't seem to be enough. I backed into the water and raised my arms. I heard the rumble of water behind me and I clapped my hands together. A wall of water rose around me, blocking me from anyone. Just for fun, I froze it. That way, the girl would have a sporting chance.

Just as I thought, the girl melts the ice with fire. I can see her smirk through the melting ice. I closed my eyes and summoned my white fire. An inferno whirls around me, melting the rest of the ice.

Her brown eyes lighten with the light of the fire and you can't mask the look of powerlessness on her face. The fire disappears and I stood tall, giving the girl a challenging gaze.

No one says anything until Blodhgarm calls for lunch.

Eragon lead me to the armoury in the North Wing, which was cleverly hidden. I noticed that there was another door leading to the Eldunari in the North Wing. In the armoury, the wall was lined with Rider swords. I touched the glittering red blade of one sword while my eyes wandered. All of the weapons in this room made my blood hum in excitement.

I spotted a white sword and walked up to it. All of it was stark white. Something about the sword felt unsettling and I felt a slight heat shiver of fear under my skin.

"Its name is Islingr. It was the blade of Vrael, Umaroth's Rider until Galbatorix took it. He re-named it Vrangr. Vrangr suits the sword better but you can choose what you like. Umaroth gives his blessing for you to take the sword."

I knew that it meant a lot for Umaroth to let me take his Rider's sword. I grabbed the sword and found that it felt natural in my hand.

"If you need alterations to it, you'll need to go to Ellesmera."

I shook my head. "I need no alteration. Islingr is perfect the way it is."

Eragon nodded and clapped his hands. "Let's hurry so we are not late for aerial combat."

I smiled and followed him out to the loading dock. Umaring waited for me and I hopped on.

Ready? He asked.

Always.

He jumped off the loading dock and we descended rapidly. I whooped in joy and then Umaring rapidly pulled up. We met up at the shore of the lake again. I quickly strapped my bow and quiver to Umaring's saddle and made sure Islingr was secure in its sheath.

Everyone took off and the air thundered with the dragons' wing beats. We soared away from the lake and went towards the forest. Some of the wild dragons appeared and they circled us. One dragon with amethyst coloured scales went right in my face, its snout pressed lightly into my nose. It snorted in satisfaction and I felt its mind brush against mine. Then it backed away and snuffled Umaring.

Giving that Umaring was really interested in the purple dragon, it must have been a female. Then the dragons left.

"So we'll separate into teams and then one person from each team will take turns fighting the other team's person. Then learning will finish for the day."

I ended up on Erik's team which was nice. I met his dragon, Miremel, a brown dragon whose scales reminded me of dark soil. It didn't have the gem like quality like the others but Miremel was very beautiful.

I was chosen for the first spar. And with my luck, my opponent was Erebos. Astride his black dragon, he withdrew his black sword. I took out mine, the white sword glowing brightly in the sun. We circled and before we could clash swords, Eragon added; "Fighting from dragonback is an essential skill for Riders. The most skilled of Riders have been said to be able to fight from a dragon's tail. Good luck!"

Immediately, Erebos and his black dragon flew toward us. When he was about to strike a blow, Umaring dove for the trees. Erebos followed. Turning in my saddle, I thrust out a hand, creating a wall of fire. The black dragon growled in surprise and pulled up short. Then Erebos disappeared suddenly from sight.

The black dragon slammed into us with a growl. I almost fell from my saddle as Erebos threw a swing at my head. Growling, I met his blade and our cross guards locked.

We pushed against one another but no one moved an inch. Our eyes were locked, it felt like we were in our own world. Cloaking my thoughts, I sent an idea to Umaring. He agreed quickly and we dislodged from Erebos and his dragon. Umaring ascended quickly with the black dragon trying to keep up. Umaring whirled and tucked in his wings. I unstrapped my legs from the saddle as we hurdled towards Erebos and his dragon.

I knew with the abilities I had inherited from my mother that I wouldn't get fatally injured. I jumped off Umaring and rocketed towards Erebos. I wrenched him from his saddle and we plummeted towards the forest. Getting a good hold on him with my legs, I raised my sword and pressed the tip of it where his heart would be. I won.

Eragon called an end to the spar and our dragons swooped in and grabbed us before we hit the ground.

As we soared, I couldn't hide the giant grin on my face. But then a feeling of foreboding crept onto me, followed by itching under my skin.

Hey everyone! This is what I got right now. I'm writing as fast as I can to update more! Please give feedback! :)