AN: I know I was oh so mean! But it all gets explained this chapter, hopefully. :P I thought that CP was stupid for making Arya Queen too…so that was a no-no that HAD to be changed. I'm flattered for those who think my writing is good. My brother should get just as much credit as me, though. Enjoy! Anything you recognize belongs to CP, not us.
A great but terrible dragon reared up in the smoke, its red eyes contrasting greatly with the gray scales. Shuffling through Saphira's memories, Eragon grew more and more confused as the dragon flitted through the cloud. It appeared as if the dragon was made purely of metal.
Saphira, how is that possible? Eragon gasped, stumbling towards his dragon. Through her memories, Eragon saw that the cloud was not a cloud at all, but smoke. The smoke came from large metal devices that Eragon had never seen before. They tore down the trees with monstrous claws as they pawed through the forest.
Arya must have seen this memory as well, because when Eragon looked over at her her face was livid and she was shaking. Fírnen was growling and consoling his Rider by nudging her and licking her face, keeping sure not to cut her with the barbs. "How far away are they from Ellesméra?" Arya asked Saciah, who slid off Fírnen and landed next to the elvish Rider.
"About a fortnight. They are ancient beings, also a creation of the Grey Folk. They were like us once, pure and peaceful. That was before the Great One, our old leader before Surion, found dark magic. It is no magic that you will see in Alagaësia." Saciah glanced over at her companions, who had taken a stand next to her. Arwë looked extremely worried, but Desmos held a mask of indifference.
"That is little time, if we are to have aide. Arya, we shall scry Nasuada and Orik immediately and tell them to round up as many troops as we can. Saciah, you and your companions are to teach us anything that you think could defend us from these horrible creatures. We also have to train Vanir, and find more Riders." Eragon swept his hand over his face in despair.
There's so much to do, and no time to do it!
I know, little one. We will have to multitask. Saphira flapped her wings momentarily before settling back down and eying her Rider warily.
"Come. We have much work to do. Saciah, you and your group should go about doing what you can to protect the trees in Du Weldenvarden. The elves love the forest almost as much as we love ourselves, and would not handle the deaths of our leafy friends kindly." Saciah nodded in agreement to Arya's words, and the three wordlessly disappeared through the trees.
Eragon bit his lip, watching Arya handle the situation. She was good at it. Better at it than he was, at least. She glanced over at him once she dismissed Saciah and company, and when she noticed Eragon staring, she emitted a tight smile.
"Shall we go to Vanir first? He has a right to go what is to transpire," Eragon said.
"Yes. We will go to him first, and then scry Nasuada and Orik." Arya held out her hand, a mysterious gaze set upon her. "Care to take a run with me, Kingslayer?"
Eragon's fingers curled around the elf and a faint grin sprang from his lips as they took off into a run. Saphira and Fírnen were going to meet Eragon at the Crags of Tel'naeir. The run was refreshing, and it put his frazzled emotions at ease, if only for the moment. Arya seemed deep within thought, and Eragon did not deprive her of that moment.
They arrived at the Crags of Tel'naeir fairly quickly, and Vanir was waiting for them there. Evarínya was planted at the elf's side, her eyes unmoving as she waited. She had grown quite large for the month that they had been gone, and she was extremely long. She was still unable to ride at the moment, but she would be able to carry her Rider when war came.
Based on Vanir's hard glare, Saphira or Fírnen had told Evarínya about the metal monsters and she in turn told her Rider.
"How soon will they be here?" Vanir pressed forward when Eragon and Arya came into sight. He stormed up to the two, and then searched their faces for answers.
"Two weeks," Eragon answered, a whistling sigh escaping his lips as he rubbed the nape of his neck. Saphira curled up on the ground next to the cliff, and Fírnen joined her, their eyes heavy with exhaustion. They had been flying a lot the last couple of days so Eragon and Arya let them rest.
"Two weeks? How are we supposed to be fit to fight and have enough reinforcements to hold our dear forest from perishing?" Vanir waved his hands around, hysteria clinging to his voice ever so slightly. Evarínya nuzzled him and a silent conversation passed between the two of them, during which Vanir took a couple deep breaths.
"We are going to contact Nasuada and Orik, and then we are going to train you." Arya pressed her hand to Vanir's shoulder, and he gazed at her. "Never give up hope. Those metal monsters will not best us yet."
Vanir and Arya seemed to have a silent communication, just by locking their eyes, and Eragon attempted not to get jealous. Finally Vanir nodded in a quite inhumane way, and then cleared his throat and stepped back a couple feet. "I will you, wherever you may need me Arya Svit-kova and Ebrithil." Vanir pressed his first two fingers to his lips in honor, and Eragon's ears grew hot at the mention of him being master now.
"Murtagh has informed me of this unnatural cloud." Nasuada stared at the three Riders with relatively calm eyes, and Eragon ground his teeth in frustration. He was glad to hear of Murtagh's return, and his black haired brother was to join the three of them in Du Weldenvarden as soon as he was ready to leave. Nasuada had been extremely pleased to hear that one of Saphira's eggs, and that one of them had already hatched. Saciah, Desmos and Arwë had also joined them when scrying Nasuada, and they met her acquaintance with relative ease.
"It's not a cloud, Nasuada. Its smoke," Eragon said, exasperated, waving his hands around as if that would convince her of the situation. Her dark brows pressed together in confusion, and she tilted her head to the side.
"Explain."
So he did. Using Saphira's memories, he explained what the dragons had witnessed. A great metal dragon was breathing flames through the air, and Saphira had even glimpsed at its Rider; a man made entirely of smoke. The form of the Rider was human, but he rose to the heavens as if he were part of the smoke around him, and his eyes glowed red. The man had spotted Saphira, and as soon as the sapphire dragon locked eyes with the strange man, she watched Eragon fall to his death. Now, that was preposterous of course, because Eragon was alive and conversing with Nasuada, but he emphasized the concerning matter at hand.
"That is rather concerning. Saciah," Nasuada turned towards the starlight haired woman, not at all threatened by the icy grip at which Saciah held her prey. "Eragon said that you knew of these creatures. What are they?"
Saciah paused for a moment, and a terrible rage filled her face that was so intimidating it seemed to light the very air around her on fire. But that rage was short lived, and Saciah's face returned to the stony gaze that beheld her most of the time. "They are also creations of the Grey Folk, like I and my companions. We were all posted with the job to do one sole thing: protect Alagaësia from unnatural forces. Galbatorix was not of our concern; he was a human, a twisted and insane human, but a human nonetheless." Saciah's eyes glazed over, and everyone in the room listened to her with the uttermost interest. Even the dragons were listening, which was rare.
"I won't go into detail, as it would take far too long to do such a thing, but I'll just say this: our leader, whose name I cannot utter here, found a dark place beyond the borders of your land. There, he found unspeakable magic. It twisted his mind and left him at the will to cause others grief. That is why Saphira thought she saw Eragon die." Eragon's gut twisted in his stomach at that image, and Saphira whimpered in the pain of what she had thought she had lost.
I love you, Saphira.
And I you little one, Saphira mused.
"The leader, as well as several of his followers, has the power to cause you to hallucinate, seeing your greatest fear." Saciah glanced over at Arwë, but her back was turned, so she settled on looking at Nasuada again instead. "I fear that if he reached Ellesméra, the elves won't stand a chance. Eragon has asked that you rally up your troops and march to Ellesméra, for the sake of the elves and their beloved home."
Nasuada sat silently for the longest time. For a second, Eragon thought she was going to reject, as he openly saw the fear in the young Queen's eyes. However, she pressed her hands on the desk in where she sat and merely said, "We should be there in a week. A fortnight at the most. We'll be cutting it close. Very close indeed. You are dismissed, as you must be preparing for this attack as soon as you can." Nasuada promptly ended the conversation there, and Eragon turned to the others.
"Well that went well," he commented, flashing a small smile at Arya, which she returned.
Ebrithil, when do we start training? Evarínya's voice wiggled its way into Eragon's mind, and he was surprised to hear the voice of a child. Even Saphira's voice hadn't sounded this innocent. He probed at the young dragon's mind for a time, and then recoiled. The guilt he felt for throwing such a young dragon into war so soon was simply unfair.
Eragon sighed. Tomorrow at dawn. Saphira will take you to the air to practice some aerial moves.
As you wish. The young dragon mentally bowed and retreated from Eragon's mind. Eragon padded up to Arya and the others.
"Shall we contact Orik then?" The others agreed, so they scryed the dwarven king in his mountain home. His initial reaction was that of shock, and then of doubt because he did not think the dwarves could march that quickly across the Hadarac Desert. However, he agreed that they would march immediately and get there when they got there.
Eragon was satisfied with what had transpired today. A great darkness may be looming on the horizon, but things were looking at moving forward. Not only with his life, but his romance and his teaching as well. Since the humans, dwarves and elves were all going to be in the same place, it posed the perfect opportunity to attempt to locate some more Dragon Riders.
We still have to go back to the Vault of Souls and get those also, Saphira said, reminding Eragon of the other eggs that they still. With a start, Eragon realized he had forgotten all about the Vault of Souls. He cursed silently to himself.
There was so much to do, and so little time to do it. At least this time around, the fate of Alagaësia was not only resting on his shoulders, but rather a few young Dragon Riders as well.
AN: It's kind of short and kind of sucks, but I was faced with baaaad writer's block. Also, I HATE Nasuada. Like, a fiery passion type of hate. It's bad. So I'm sorry if I make her seem like a total brat; I will try my hardest not to! Oh, so my brother and I have decided that whoever posts the 75th review gets to choose the next Dragon Rider, whether it be someone we already know or an OC! The 100th reviewer gets to add a scene into the story of their choosing, within reason of course. :D We will PM the winners of these two competitions as soon as the winner is revealed to us. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!