Chapter Ten - New Pack-Brother
The day dawned glorious and beautiful. It had poured and stormed all night, cleansing the forest. As dawn approached, the skies cleared and took the glowing colors and hues from the rising sun as it stretched across the land. I sniffed the air appreciatively. The world smelled fresh today, and full of possibilities. I was currently standing guard with Murkle, a dark brown wolf with splatters of black in his fur. He was a nice wolf; talkative, friendly, and understanding. When the time was needed, he was a great fighter and a very serious person to be acquainted with.
The two of us sat guard and I sat in a squat, resting my feet and legs. I stared out into the forest, watching for any signs of trouble. A flock of birds flew over-head, but otherwise not much else disturbed the rest of the peaceful forest. I glanced around and was watching a nearby raccoon scramble into a bush when I felt a light shimmer on my consciousness.
Suddenly I had the sensation of my ears popping, only it wasn't my ears. Suddenly I felt as if I wasn't alone in my own head. I thought about it for a moment and only one thought came to me. The dragon! I asked Halken to take my spot as guard as I ran to the back of the cave, where the orange dragon egg lay in the shadows. I carefully pulled it into the open and watched it with caution.
The egg was cracked, but hadn't opened all the way yet. I sat back as the egg continued to crack. Suddenly, a part of the shell burst off into the air.
After a moment of rattling, the egg completely shattered into a million pieces. Rolling around on top of those shell pieces and trying to gain its balance, was a baby dragon.
The baby dragon was very unsteady as it stood up on all four legs, smiling in a peculiar way. The baby dragon's scales were a vibrant orange that would probably glow in the sunlight. It was a peculiar shade of tiger's eye. The edges of its wings were slightly blackened, as if by flames, and in some place its torso and its legs. The dragon was only as long as my fore-arm, but it had a strange sense of intelligence, dignity, and nobility. It had large orange spikes going down its neck and the end of its tale was very soft and feathery. Its small wing membrane felt like soft, old parchment and was still damp.
For a baby dragon, it already looked very strong. It was funny too. It hiccupped and tripped over its wings, falling down again. I laughed lightly. The dragon looked up and growled menacingly in its little voice, and after a moment, smiled at me again and it seemed to chuckle. It tried to take another step forward and then fell on its belly and started rolling around, giving off a strange squeal of a laugh.
I grinned to myself. It really was cute. It came up and started sniffing my legs and then jumped up on them. Its claws weren't sharp yet, luckily. I hesitantly reached a hand out towards it and as the dragon's head touched my hand, a bright orange light glowed between his head and my hand before it dissipated. It felt like someone had just burnt my hand or taken a dagger and stabbed it. I almost passed out, but managed to stay awake and face the pain. I looked at my hand and saw a huge scar on my palm. It went in a spiral at the bottom of my palm.
I remembered DarkShadow's teachings about baby dragons and how riders get their marks on their hands. I smiled at it, pleased that I didn't pass out like most do. I patted my dragon softly as I thought through names for it. I smiled at the baby dragon again and got a pan of water for it to drink and gave it some meat to eat.
As the dragon ate, I settled back to watch it. When it had finished, it came to rub up against my side and settled down to rest in my lap. It yawned lightly and promptly fell asleep. I stayed there, watching the dragon sleep with a mixture of awe, wonder, peace, and happiness. After about two hours, the dragon awoke with a tiny yawn and stared up into my eyes with its strangely orange eyes that burned like a living flame.
I smiled at it and lightly brushed it's consciousness with my own. It jumped up for a moment, but then settled back down. I knew at this early stage, it would only understand pictures and Emotions, but that was alright. I pushed an Emotion of pictures on it and said this is home. I forced the will of those two words into action and found the dragon's acceptance. This is home. Its thoughts repeated. I was shocked. Mind speech didn't usually show up until a while later.
I am Sheilan. I told the dragon through its mind. I pushed the will of my name and a picture of me, and it understood. Sheilan it said. I smiled at it. My smart little dragon.
The dragon got up and began to wander around the large cave full of wary wolves watching its movements. I looked at them all meaningfully and joined them watching my baby dragon move about the cave, often tripping over its own feet. It went to sniff each wolf in turn happily, and once it had smelled them all it seemed to laugh happily. When it sniffed DarkShadow, however, it seemed intensely curious about the strange glowing wolf. It sat down before the wolf and watched it in complete stillness. After a moment it broke free of its statue-like pose and grinned at the wolf, who grinned toothily back.
As the days continued to wear on, the baby dragon began to become included in the rest of the pack and followed me wherever I went, often joining me in whatever I had to do.
After the first few days, I had no worries about it being attacked or eaten. The dragon doubled in size the first week, and four days after that it was as high as my thigh. I was careful to get it to understand the goodness in our pack's wolves and the badness in any other pack's wolves, along with the danger of humans and their habitats.
I got my dragon to understand why it should only hunt in the Spine like the rest of the pack. As each day went by, the mental link we shared grew stronger and I was able to communicate with it for a distance of four leagues. Its mental intelligence got stronger as well. At first it learned many words from me, but soon it picked up on the language and was conversing with me eagerly wherever we were. Sometimes we would sit in the cave together, talking and talking. At other times we would walk around the forest, the young dragon padding along at my side.
As the young dragon began to mature, its squeaks of laughter became roars of laughter, and it's soft humming became a low rumbling sound. After a month, the young dragon's shoulder was as high as my elbow. In that period of time, it had become a powerful beast, its scales tougher than any armor in the world and its teeth as sharp as daggers. During our walks, the young dragon would often fly around above me, weaving through the trees with its roaring laughter.
I noticed as it grew larger and our connection got deeper, that it's thoughts took on a different, deeper tone, one of a male. The voice was gentle and soothing at times, and others was rough and edgy. Usually though my dragon was fairly happy. When I would return, he would jump up at me and curl around my legs, making a deep rumbling sound that was close to humming.
As we were taking our nightly stroll through the trees as we always did, we stopped in a clearing where he could fly around with ease. I sat at the base of a rowan tree and thought through a list of names for the dragon. Our thoughts were so well connected that he began rejecting names as I thought them.
After a moment he landed beside me with a muffled thump and lied at my side, watching me with his flaming eyes.
"Well, let's see. There's Jura, Hirador, Fundor, Galzra, Briam, Ohen, Gretiem, Beroan, Roslarb, Valinor, and Ingothold." I listed off a variety of names after that, and he rejected them all, saying they did not fit right. Like a scale out of place. I almost ran out of names when I remembered one that I had thought a good name, but almost forgotten about.
"Alright, how about Eridor?" I asked, expecting the same no as before. Instead I received silence. I glanced over at my dragon and saw him lying there with a frown on his face. He blinked once and he smiled that strange smile of his, and said Yes. I am Eridor. I smiled up at him and stood, hugging his neck. He began his humming sound and it seemed to fill the forest around us.
Another two weeks passed by quickly as the snows of winter continued to blow around. Game became harder to find, but when we did find it, we killed as much as we could. My hunting skills along with Eridor's had improved amazingly. I could kill a deer in an instant, often using magic. Eridor would simply squish it.
Eridor had grown even larger in the time allotted; his shoulder was just above my head, which meant when his neck was up in it's usual small curve, he was a good two feet taller than me. I finally felt as though he was big enough for me to ride. As I was thinking about this one day, I thought about how rough his scales were. They were sharp enough that they would probably rub me raw. I grimaced. Not a cheerful thought.
I considered making a saddle, but then thought There's no fun in that. Besides, the saddle would restrict Eridor's movements, which would make it pointless. Perhaps I could do something to the insides of my legs, toughen my skin there more, so it would not be rubbed raw by Eridor's hide. I knew then what I should do. Smiling, I focused on my legs and soon my thin pale legs were covered in red wolf fur with the thick skin under it as well. That would easily protect me. I glanced at my legs.
The fur they were covered with ended on the bottom of my ankles, but didn't touch my feet. The color was the same red as my hair, but without the white streaks. Since my feet were often bare, the bottoms of my feet had hard pads similar to that of a wolf. My hands were equally as thick-padded, though it was less noticeable in the visible spectrum. I decided to cover my arms with the same fur, only I made it much, much thinner. It was a thin layer that was meant for looks, although I did enjoy the softness. It ended at the end of my wrists, leaving my hands bare.
I had a thick strip of the same fur that ran up each of my sides, until it reached near my shoulder, where it went up and over my shoulder to come back to the front. The tips of my elf ears had some fur on them, though people would have trouble seeing it at first because of my hair. I smiled when I saw my reflection in a pool of water after I was done altering my appearance. I was part elf, and part wild beast. I smiled at my reflection, my large canine teeth showing and my yellow eyes glowing. My appearance was beautiful to me and the wolves, but to two-legged creatures I would probably seem terrifying. I smiled at the prospect.
There's one way to make new friends. I commented to Eridor dryly. He chuckled darkly. Eridor often stayed to rest outside of our cave now, whereas I slept inside with the wolves. Eridor and I's bond was strong enough that while I wished he could fit in the cave so I could relax peacefully, I would not forfeit lying with my pack-brothers and -sisters. Eridor understood this, even if he didn't like it.
A few days passed after I had changed to the fur. I loved the fur more and more as each day passed. It was helpful and wonderful. I flew with Eridor and taught him how to do tricks in the air and battle tactics he would need some time later. DarkShadow's training was definitely coming in handy. Suddenly I felt a shimmer in the air outside the cave, and ran with the other wolves to watch the outside expectantly. Suddenly a bright light flared and disappeared, and in it's place stood LightShifter, the glowing white spirit wolf.
The wolf was carrying something in it's strong jaws. It padded forward and placed the object at my feet. I reached down and picked it up. It was a sword in a scabbard. I looked in awe at it for a moment before unsheathing the sword from it's scabbard and holding it high.
The blade was long and sharp, the end able to cut a hair dropped on it in half. The hilt was long enough that I could use one hand normally, but if I needed to I could use both of my hands on the sword. The end of the hilt had a large tiger's eye gem imbued into it. The hilt was made of shiny silver metal and was incredibly strong yet light. The blade itself was magnificent. It went in a variety of orange shades depending on where you were looking and how it moved around. It was in a variety of oranges, all shades that Eridor had. The base of the blade was dark and blackened like Eridor as well.
I smiled at the blade. It felt like an extension of my arm; it was such a smooth transition. I sheathed it and thanked LightShifter, and then asked How did you get this for me?
I consulted with Rhunon, the dragon rider sword maker, and was able to lift her oath long enough for her to craft you a sword. Afterwards, she swore in the ancient language that she wouldn't tell a soul about this exchange; Alive or dead. It was an easy exchange, it just took a lot of time. You still must name it, though Rhunon said you could do that yourself. he said, grinning toothily at me. I grinned back.
Welcome home LightShifter. I said, bowing respectfully. He nodded his head back and asked You have been accepted as pack sister? I nodded. That makes you my daughter. Come give your pack-father a hug Sheilan. I didn't ask how he knew my name, simply ran up to him and hugged him tightly, glad to see him again. He hummed happily.
When I pulled back, he looked off to the left and asked Is this the other new pack-brother, your dragon? he asked, watching Eridor without fear. I nodded.
This is Eridor. I told him, walking to Eridor's side and patting him. Eridor bent down to look at the pack-leader with one large orange eye. After a moment he seemed satisfied. LightShifter nodded to Eridor and led the other wolves inside the cave, greeting all of them by name and with many questions and talking. When LightShifter spotted DarkShadow, he ran from the group to him mate, rubbing against her and humming in pleasure. I smiled.
Everyone was glad that LightShifter was back. That night, we all lied comfortably in the cave and listened to him tell of his travels and the news concerning the world. He told us about the Varden's victory against Galbatorix's army and Eragon earning the name Shadeslayer by killing the shade, Durza. He also told of the death of the Varden's leader, Ajihad, and the appointment of their new leader; jihad's daughter, Nasuada.
Everyone paid strict attention, knowing one small thing going on in the world could influence them greatly. LightShifter then told of the hidden existence of Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. He mentioned Eragon and Saphira going to Ellesmera to train with the hidden dragon rider, Oromis, and his dragon, Glaedr. When he was finished recounting the news of the world at the moment, every dispersed to do whatever they so wished. I went outside to go fly around with Eridor. For a while we flew around, doing complicated formations that would throw most riders with a saddle into the air.
Somehow without a saddle, I didn't budge a millimeter from my spot unless I wanted to. For me it was effortless, though I wasn't sure why. Nor did I care why. When we decided we were done, we landed back in front of the cave. I climbed down and Eridor went to sleep. I began to enter the cave, just as LightShifter was coming out. He stopped when he saw me.
I was about to come and call you down. It will soon be time for you to leave and rescue the green dragon egg from Galbatorix before it hatches. Light Shifter told me. I nodded and squatted, waiting for him to continue. He sat on the damp ground, facing me.
You and Eridor will leave tomorrow, and you shall fly in the cover of the clouds all the way to Uru 'Baen. When you get near, Eridor shall stay hidden as you sneak into the castle. Once you are inside, I will give you directions on how to get to the green egg. I will warn you when someone is coming. No spell-casters shall be able to detect you whilst you're in there. Also, you could steal many of the Eldunari for the Varden. You won't need them at all, but Eragon will.
When you find the green egg, I want you to transport it back to out front of the cave, right here where I'm sitting at the moment. Us wolves will keep it guarded and hidden until you return. Since you will have the strength, you should also attempt to transport as many Eldunari as you can here before you get caught. Then, when you've rescued as much as you can, I will help you to get out of there. If things get too bad, I may even have to join you. he directed. I nodded when he was done.
"I shall hunt tonight and eat a full deer on my own so I have the energy I need for when I get there." I told him. He nodded and turned to go back into the den, saying Join us back inside when you've eaten.
I nodded to myself and ran on swift, bare feet into the cold forest in the dead of night, searching for game. When I found a herd of deer, I didn't hesitate. I pounced on the lead deer and began to tear it apart as the other deer bounded away. When I was full, the only thing left of the deer's meat was half of a leg. Satisfied and feeling extremely energetic and up-to-stats, I loped back through the woods towards the cave.
When I got there, I went inside and joined the wolves in their usual huddle. I lied amongst them, relaxing and daydreaming as I always did until the sun Geo and LightShifter told me I needed to leave if I was to be in Uru 'Baen quickly enough.