Previously: on Shur'tugalar
Seraphina is starting to be a bit of a mouthful to say-
You picked it.
-so I'm going to start calling you Sera.
Brom had difficulty blocking the elegant swipes of her branch. He simply dropped his stick after five minutes. Miranda flicked her stick up to his throat. "Dead," she stated simply. Confused, she looked him in the eye. "You're a better swordsman than that; I can tell. What's wrong?"
"Miranda," Eragon whispered, "it's your eyes."
Ok, I've been watching Stargate too much. Hehehe... Well, here's Ch. 9! I went a little crazy on the chappie name. P.S. Selena is NOT Eragon's mother!
Chapter 9: Secrets R Us
Miranda looked at Eragon, Brom, and then the dragons. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "Well, for one thing, they appear to be- oh, how do I put this- swirling?" Brom said it like he was asking a question.
"What's that supposed to mean?" the girl demanded. Miranda was starting to panic. Seraphina, it couldn't be tonight.
I doubt it. Whatever happened to Sera?
Oh, forget about it. It must be the full moon tonight, along with the high tide. She sighed. I miss the ocean. But what exactly are my eyes doing? Seraphina sent her an image that focused on her eyes. They were-like Brom had said- swirling with different colors, showing hues that related to her emotions. There was her normal calm brown, but there was also blue to show her happiness, green to show her love for the oceans, red to show her pain and fear. "I-I'll be back in a couple minutes," she stammered, and ran out of the camp. I can't let them see! She heard footsteps and ran even faster. Sending out her mind, she found a pool of water not far from her location. Eragon was closer now. Time to step on it, she thought, and ran faster than any human could. Finally! Miranda reached the pool just before Eragon did. How does that boy run so fast? she wondered.
Eragon ran to keep up with Miranda. Gosh, she has speed. He began to sprint, then stopped to keep from colliding with her. She was walking into a pool he knew well from the many times he'd swum there. As she heard him, she stopped walking and dove into the water. "Miranda!" Eragon yelled. He thought he saw a slight glimmer under the surface. Miranda's voice echoed in his thoughts. Leave me be, boy.
Boy, huh?
Yes. I need-
To what?
Too many questions. I need to be alone. Go back to camp; I'll be back by dawn.
No.
Yes.
No.
ERAGON!
Oh, alright. You'd better get back by dawn.
I just told you I would. Eragon jumped in alarm as he saw eyes snap open from under the surface.
Quit creeping me out.
Oh, do I scare you?
No. You just surprised me.
Well, I'll surprise you even more if you don't get out of here.
Fine. What should I tell Brom?
Exactly what I told you.
Bye.
Goodbye, Eragon. I'll be back by-
Dawn, Eragon finished. Miranda smiled.
When she thought Eragon had left, Miranda finally leaped six feet out of the water. As she dove back in, she thought she heard a gasp, but it must have been her imagination...
As soon as Eragon was certain that Miranda was not looking, he ducked behind a tree and watched the pool. He gasped as Miranda jumped six feet out of the water. Instead of her usual legs, a shimmering white tail sprayed droplets of cool water everywhere. As if that weren't enough, there were golden symbols etched on her arms and face, and more glowed through her shirt.
Miranda kept swimming, even when the ground should have stopped her. Instead, her presence had created a great tunnel in the floor of the pool. She could see a faint silver light at the end of her path.
Astrogar waited impatiently for his sister to emerge from the river where he and his twin had often played. "Ben!" someone called out. Like Na'imah, he didn't usually go by his given name, but by a chosen nickname. Come on, sis, it's almost time for the singing... he thought worriedly. Just then, his sister blasted out of the water, splattering him with droplets. "Hey, sis. Nice landing," Ben greeted. Na'imah glared at him. "Hey, just because I still haven't figured out how to land on my fin doesn't mean I'm inferior-"
"I never said it did."
"Well, at least I am not stuck with an element like stone."
"That's not my ele-" Miranda's eyes widened. "It changed? But I thought that was just some legend!" she cried. Unperturbed, Ben continued: "-ment. It's water, now." Miranda raised her eyebrows. "I guess you really are Mama's boy, now," she teased. "Hey!" Ben yelled. But before they could leap at each other's throats to play fight- Miranda was standing on legs, now- a small figure launched itself at Miranda. "Miranda!" cried her little sister, Aaliyah. "It's good to see you too, Bekah," Miranda laughed. "Rebekah, come- oh!" A petite woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties gasped at the sight before her. Miranda had time to get up and dust herself off from her seven year old sister's pounce before she was embraced fiercely by her mother. "I love you too, Mama," she murmured, breathing in Lashawn/Heather's sugary cinnamon smell. Suddenly, she was hit by another, larger embrace. "Daddy!" she cried. Harvir/ Travis told her, "It's good to see you, darling."
"Your majesties!" Duchess Iliana ran toward them. She smiled, then grinned as she saw Miranda. "Selena!" Miranda cried, using her friend's nickname. The twelve-year-old duchess was a close friend of hers. "Hey, Zephyr," Selena grinned again. The private nickname was something of a joke, since it meant gentle wind, and Miranda often misjudged her strength. "You were saying, Iliana?" Heather usually called Selena by her given name. Miranda exchanged glances with her best friend and made a face. After a suppressed giggle, Selena contiued, "I don't mean to seem pushy, but the singing is about to start, and you are needed, Na'imah." Miranda rolled her eyes. "But of course," she said, speaking in her native tongue. Note: this is referring to the wind speech that Miranda knew from the cradle, not the Ancient Language. "I know, it's irritating when duties pull us away from truly important things, but-" Selena replied in kind.
"Isn't restoring the elements just as important?" A haughty voice demanded. Miranda and Selena winced in unison before turning around to find themselves nose-to-nose with Count Kaamil and his parents, Count Kamali and Countess Kalista-they never revealed their chosen nicknames, if they had any. They came from a long line of snobby and rather vain people, which explained their names. Kalista means "most beautiful one", Kaamil means "perfect", and Kamali means "perfection". Look up the meanings of some of the names of my other characters! They were wearing charms to allow them to understand the wind tongue. "Give me those," Miranda snarled, extending a hand. A breeze lifted them over the heads of the nobility, bringing them into her hand. As she pocketed them, the Three K's, as Miranda and Selena liked to call them, looked angry. "You have no right!" Kamali growled.
"I'm sorry, but I can't hear you when you mumble," Miranda informed him. Selena and Ben stifled giggles. Turning to Kaamil, she told him, "Yes, it is important, but I've been abassadoring in Kalenia. I happened to miss my family and friends." It was the Council's desired cover story while she worked in Alagaesia, as they needed to keep it quiet. "You mean you've been serving as an ambassador," Kaamil corrected snobbishly. Whatever, Miranda thought. She felt alone without Seraphina's familiar presence. Very alone. "Whatever happened to restoring the forest?" Miranda asked impishly. Kalista looked irritated. "Yes, we wouldn't want the elements to diminish," she said smoothly.
"And you're to lead the dances, as well as start the singing," Selena reminded Miranda, returning to wind speech. "Ahem," Ben cleared his throat. A small crowd had gathered. "Time to change," Selena nudged her. Miranda nodded and ducked behind a tree, allowing her power to alter her clothes and hair. When she emerged, her mother smiled in approval. She had let some of her hair's growth seep back into her head, so that her now-free hair was waist length. Her auburn mane had various curls and waves, framing her face. She wore, instead of her linen breeches and shirt, a white dress that reached to her mid-calf. The sleeveless gown would allow her to move freely during the dance. She wore delicate silver earrings to accompany the tiny diamond teardrop pendant resting on the hollow of her neck- she never took the necklace off. Barefoot, she walked to the center of the clearing. Every wind elemental in the clearing gathered around her, waiting for the first notes of song to fill the air. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs to the limit, and broke out in song. The other women and girls joined her, filling the clearing with the harmony to a melody the men and boys soon formed. Other elements soon added their own songs, filling the meadow that was their meeting place with song. A ripple of movement coursed through them as they changed to their true selves. The fire did not even singe the grass and the trees, because of two things: One, the plant elementals had an extremely strong will to survive. Two, the fire elementals had extreme control over their element. Miranda sang her heart and her soul into the song, but still, she could see the fire was weakened by single missing presence. But who? she wondered.
Eragon rose an hour after dawn to the smell of cooking meat. Miranda? he wondered. He discovered he was correct when he sat up, with one small difference: her hair. Her customary braid was undone, and her hair much shorter, being only waist length. "Good morning, Eragon. Did you sleep well?"
"Don't you ever just say 'morning'?" Eragon retorted.
"Yes, but it's more fun to make you feel annoyed," she replied, a twinkle in her eyes. Eragon rolled his own. "Where in the name of heaven did you go last night? And what was going on with your eyes?" he demanded, becoming more serious.
"I beg your pardon?" Miranda cocked an eyebrow. I hate it when she gives me the look.
Go-ing to the chapel, and we're, go-nna get ma-rr-
Saphira! he protested.
I'm just kidding. Eragon detected a sudden flicker of memory.
And what would that particular memory be? he asked.
Oh, nothing.
Nothing, she says. Well, what would nothing be today? Thoughts of hunting, or secrets?
No.
Then what was that?
"Eragon. Did. You. Hear. Me?" Eragon was jolted out of his interrogation of Saphira by Miranda's impatient voice.
Saphira was saved from having to answer Eragon by Miranda's query. Sorry I told you.
What?
I'm sorry I told you; then Eragon wouldn't suspect anything.
Seraphina, don't be. It was my fault that Miranda's predicament crossed my mind. I should keep a hold of myself better.
Saphira. You were speaking of her with Eragon, weren't you?
Yes.
Why? About what?
I was...teasing him.
Alright... what did you say? If Saphira could have, she would have- oh, what did Eragon call it?- blushed. I, um, I joked with him about having a crush on her.
Well, does he?
I-
She's my Rider, I need to be able to protect her! Seraphina asserted.
Well, it seems he has a certain affection for her, but not of the kind that humans identify as romantic. I think.
Just a moment. Saphira almost tapped her paw, but then realized that the two humans would identify it as restlessness. Three, she realized, when she saw Brom waking. I think they like each other as friends, Seraphina reported. They don't know it yet, but I'm guessing that-
Yup. The similarities are obvious.
Miranda tapped her foot, impatient. Why does he keep speaking with Saphira when I'm talking to him? "Eragon. Did. You. Hear. Me?" she demanded. "Huh- oh. Your eyes were swirling last night, and you had a tail, and these glowing designs all over you."
"Boy, you have interesting dreams, " Miranda commented.
"My name is Eragon," he retorted. "And it wasn't a dream; I can guarantee that. Just ask Brom," Eragon insisted.
"What?" Brom's grumpy voice came from across the clearing.
"Well, aren't we cheery this morning," Miranda grinned. "Go back to sleep; it's nothing."
"Why should I go back to sleep? Dawn was-" Brom glanced at the sky. "Blast it; dawn was an hour ago!" he cried, and rolled up his blankets. "Well, glad to see you can tell time," Miranda commented, "but you are going to eat before we leave, and so is Eragon," she told Brom, pushing both men down with a blast of wind. The trees groaned in unison with them. "How do you do that?" Brom demanded. Miranda was the picture of seriousness as she dished out his stew. "Well, I could tell you, but you'd have to eat your soup first. And then I'd have to kill you, and a pity that would be, since you're supposedly such a good teacher." Brom glared at first her, then the soup that was now in his lap. "Well, do we have all day?" Miranda asked, beginning to eat. Eragon suddenly realized that his legs no longer hurt. Puzzled, he looked to where Miranda had been, but saw only her empty bowl. "Miranda?" he called. "Looking for me?" Eragon would have jumped, but found he could only move from the waist up. That blasted wind is still holding me down, he realized. "Where are you?" he wondered.
"Here," Miranda said, flipping down from a branch so that she hung from her knees. "Now finish eating, or are you planning on sitting there all day?" she questioned him. Eragon rolled his eyes and wolfed down his stew. Stretching, he got up and realized it'd only taken him five minutes longer than Miranda to eat. Brom had finished even faster. "We need to get horses," Brom told them. "Why? Miranda and I have the dragons, and there's always Windsoul," Eragon protested. "And I don't want to steal; it's wrong."
"There isn't a horse alive that can outrun a flying dragon, Eragon," Brom shook his head. Windsoul could at least keep up, Miranda thought.
You bet I could.
Windsoul? Oh, Sera, stop playing games.
My name is Windsoul, if you recall. I've been yours since I was born. Miranda looked at Windsoul in amazement. You can talk?
Mmm-hm. Didn't you ever wonder?
I knew you were intelligent. I didn't know you could talk!
Yup. We horses are full of surprises, aren't we?
Yup. Breaking out of her reverie, she saw that both Brom and Eragon were looking at her expectantly. "Er...run that past me again?" She turned red.
"I said, can we put our packs on Windsoul?" Brom repeated. Miranda looked at the filly. "Sure," she consented. The horse was strong, and barely noticed the extra weight. The two men walked out of the bramble, with Windsoul close on their heels, and the dragons took flight. Miranda looked around the bramble, sighed, and followed them. She had a feeling life wouldn't return to normal after this. Define normal, she thought, and ran to catch up.