Guy I am so sorry I haven't updated in such a long time- I had to get used to school and everything along with my actual publishing of a book (which will be out in 2010) and homework and shit. So… Here's the next chapter. Hopefully I will get up another chapter soon.
Disclaimer: CP owns Eragon. And my shift key is broken. Still. Shit.
Arya gasped at the concept of her birthday being that day. She quickly included the years of her coma. "I am… one hundred and twelve?" Eragon nodded. "And Kaïdon is going to be… thirteen in three days?" Again, Eragon nodded. "And you haven't seen him in person since the battle?" Eragon shook his head, a frown beginning to form on his lips. "Is it because of my condition?" Eragon tentatively nodded.
Roran put his hand up to signify to Arya that she was to stop interrogating Eragon. "Eragon hasn't seen his son in the same amount of time as you. He didn't want to bring you to Ellesmera and cause a riot. He also did not want your son to know that you could have died any day. He kept contacts limited and the last time he did see Kaïdon was about two years ago on the mirror. He did this solely for your protection and because of Katrina becoming a Rider. Do you not see reason, Arya?"
Arya's eyes went into a trance. "I see your point." She snapped her head for a moment and was back to normal. She began to open her mouth but shut it again, forgetting what she wanted to say. Her eyes lit up stupidly as she remembered something else. "When will we be going back?"
"As soon as I am confident your strength is enough." Eragon said. Arya was about to protest but Eragon held up his hand. He motioned towards Katrina and Sorcha. Katrina leapt onto her gray dragon's back nimbly. Eragon pulled himself onto Saphira. "Let me see your skill in the air."
Arya got a mischievous smile on her lips and jumped onto Bhronnë's back, landing just as she had before she had gone out; perfectly. Welcome back, little one. Shall we fly?
Yes. Arya felt Bhronnë purr slightly and launch himself into the air. Suddenly Sorcha and Saphira were flying at him. He dodged easily and Arya gasped at the feeling of weightlessness for a moment before gripping her bearings once more. Just a bit surprised. I haven't flown in such a long time! Arya enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness immensely as she effortlessly threw spells at her opponents. Bhronnë slammed into the ground, which was Arya' cue to get off and draw Wyrda abr Fyrn from her sheath.
She faced Katrina and swung her blade around. Katrina tucked her copper curls behind her ears, revealing points of an elf. Her face also looked much like an elf's since last time Arya had seen her. Arya noticed Katrina had a Rider's blade, but it was gray and inscribed with the name Justice. It must have been with the egg, I guess. She clashed her sword with Katrina and found her strength astonishing. Sparks flew along with the screeching of metal to metal.
Performing a flawless series of moves, Arya caught Katrina guarding her mind. Arya took the distraction and compiled her father's go-for-the-kill move, switching her sword suddenly to her left hand and pinning it to Katrina's throat. Eragon came at her with a lunge, yelling his war-cry. Arya parried the badly-planned slash and yelled, "Try, I'm not new to this!"
She swung her blade to Eragon's leg and he barely blocked it. Arya pushed down on her blade, forcing Eragon's towards his leg. But he knew that trick and jumped away, removing his blade at just the right time to leave it with an uncontrolled swing. Arya quickly regained her sword correctly and lunged above Eragon's head, back flipping over him and clashing her sword to his in midair. She landed in a crouch and stood, holding her sword to his throat and knocking his blade out f his hand. "Two dead." She smirked, not even the slightest out of breath.
Katrina complimented Arya's swordsmanship and they both strung their bows. Arya pulled back her bowstring and released, landing the arrow through a tree with a red dot on it and onto the ground. Katrina also hit the mark, Eragon following with just as perfect of a hit. Eragon nodded his approval and unstrung his bow, the two other Riders doing the same.
"All right. We can set off for Ellesmera tomorrow if you like. I will just need to teach Jacob the proper way to greet elves as he wishes to see his cousin. Roran, you may also come if you like but you will be riding on the back of Sorcha with Katrina."
Arya nodded. "I need to go look for something now, however. I will be back in less than an hour."She ran off into the forestry and began to search with her mind for what she knew would be there.
Coming to the area where Galbatorix had fallen, she began to lift dirt with magic. Slowly it began to pile up on the opposite side of a tree until the pile was taller than Arya herself. Finally she saw a glint of pale black and held the magic to lift Galbatorix's sword from the roots. The name, Evil, was no longer inscribed onto the blade.
She hoisted the blade and began to pile the dirt back into the hole, leaving a shallow dent in the ground invisible to the human eyes. Leaving the area, she sprinted back to the town and slipped the sword under the straw mattress right as Eragon came into the house. He shrugged off her anxiety since it was her first day back and reported that Jacob would be riding with her on the way to Ellesmera. She agreed, and suddenly felt tired. Eragon had to catch her as she fell, and he laid her on the mattress. He slipped onto it next to her and closed his eyes, drifting into the world of sleep listening to her even breathing.
--
Arya awoke at just past dawn to hearing her lover slip out of bed beside her. Her side was soon cold, as the morning air was filled with cool mist that even drifted into the adobe house. She stirred as Eragon said "Good morning."
She opened her emerald eyes to a dim light entering the hole in the bricks, meant to be a window. Eragon had pulled back the cloth that prevented blood-sucking insects to enter. She smiled a little and sat up, feeling a wave of dizziness almost overwhelm her. Eragon looked alarmed, but Arya put up her hand as if the tell him she was fine. She stood and picked up a mug from the table, drinking the cool water gratefully. She went to her pack and brought out a clean pair of breeches and a tunic. She changed, placing her pack on her back and nodding to Eragon that she was ready.
Katrina and Roran were waiting with a sleepy-eyed Jacob and an over-eager Sorcha on a hill. Emerald, scarlet, and sapphire forms were speeding towards the site as Eragon and Arya walked up. Arya ruffled Jacob's long hair fondly. He was close to being as tall as her, being the same age as Kaïdon was as of today. Bhronnë and Saphira landed then, shaking off the water on their shining scales. Murtagh sat upon Thorn, waiting.
It was an ordeal, getting Roran onto Sorcha. Katrina finally settled for lifting him effortlessly onto the dragon, at which Roran was surprised of her strength. She strapped his legs into the saddle before her own. Jacob seemed to have no problem. A gust of wind blew, sending his straight copper hair to blowing in the air. He was very comfortable in the saddle in front of Arya, begging his mother to not make him strap himself in. She agreed reluctantly, trusting Arya greatly with her son. He smiled, his gray eyes shining as bright as Sorcha's gray scales. The dragons plunged into the sky, on their way to the elves.
Jacob laughed, feeling free in the sky. This was exactly opposite to his father, who was on the verge of spewing. He lifted his hands off of the scales beneath him, letting wind flow through his fingers. He was amazed at the dragon's way of living. "I want to be a Rider now!" he exclaimed. The ends of his hair were close to whipping Arya's face, but she didn't mind. Her own raven hair was flying behind her like a small quilt would fly up in these altitudes.
Arya began to get tired later on in the journey. Eragon could see this, and he looked at her with a worried expression. She nodded to his mental question, instructing Jacob to stay where he was and let her strap him in. She stood unsteadily on Bhronnë's back and leapt into the air. Katrina yelled in surprise, but quieted when Eragon safely caught her. She sat in front of him, making herself comfortable as she fell asleep against him.
--
Arya stirred under the full moon, moving her head a little deeper into Eragon's shoulder. She felt his hands loosely clasped around her waist, meeting in between her legs. Just like it should be, she thought. She opened her eyes a sliver and smiled when she saw she was flying over Du Weldenvarden.
Distantly, she heard Jacob talking energetically with her dragon, as he quizzed the young male in the proper way to greet elves. Separately to Arya, he said this one would make a good Rider indeed. He is quite good at riding me. We actually just got done going through ha series of flips. He was quite entertained, the little fellow. Arya smiled, opening her eyes all the way and looking up to Eragon's expressionless face. He looked down to her and smiled, bending his neck and kissing her lightly. Though the touch was light it was long.
"We are reaching Ellesmera!" Katrina called. Arya frowned and pulled away from the kiss, leaping deftly onto her own dragon. She situated herself in the saddle and Jacob smiled at her. He was delighted at the chance to fly alone on a dragon and thanked Arya profusely. She smiled and kissed his forehead fondly as the dragons began to descend.
Elves made room on the sparring field for the four dragons. One elf didn't move, however. He was very pale, clear-skinned and handsome. He was tall, with black clothing that had small chains hanging from them. His hair was cut short and neatly in the back, but in the front it went diagonally over his eyes, with a few teal spots artfully placed in his hair. He looked much like his half uncle Murtagh, except for the elven blade he held in one hand and the gray eyes looking up at the three dragons, which landed around him. He felt completely comfortable among the great beasts, as he was Kaïdon.
Arya and Eragon leapt off of their dragons before they had completely landed and ran to their son. Kaïdon smiled brightly, starting nearby elves with his pure-white straight teeth as he embraced his parents. He was the same height as his parents, with as much or more muscle than Eragon.
His smiled got smaller as his eyes fell upon the male leaping off of his mother's dragon masterfully, his eyes changing to a look of kind curiosity. He shook his long copper hair out of his eyes, which were the same shade of grey. The male walked towards him, and he sized him up upon natural instinct. The male was just as muscular, but about an inch taller than he was. Kaïdon shook the black silk curtain from his eyes in a twitch of his head, revealing his true beauty. He sheathed his sword and closed the distance between him and the copper-haired male.
Jacob offered his hand to Kaïdon. "I am Jacob, your cousin. It is good to finally meet you, Kaïdon."
Kaïdon's eyes went friendly, at which the elves around him gasped again, and he took Jacob's hand, pulling the male into a quick hug. "Nice to meet you, Jacob. Shall we spar, as a gift of meeting each other?" His voice sounded just like Murtagh's, at which Murtagh himself looked surprised of when he walked up to Arya.
"Is he my clone with a different hair style?" He asked jokingly. Arya nodded slightly, letting out a happy sigh.
Katrina approached with Roran, who was unsteadily stepping on the soft grass. He leaned on her heavily. "Why not?" she said, smiling. "Hello Kaïdon, I am Katrina. This is Roran." She showed him her gedwëy ignasia as he came and embraced her and Roran. "I am glad to finally meet you, aunt and uncle."
He got into a crouch, preparing to battle Jacob. But what happened to make all the newcomers gasp was his eyes: They faded from grey to a shade of lavender. The elves who would normally spar with him took no notice, as if they were used to this. Jacob was ready, although he seemed a bit frightened at the eye color change. Kaïdon howled a war cry, launching himself at his cousin.
The fight was not long, as Kaïdon soon had his sword to Jacob's neck. Jacob had fought for longer than Kaïdon's sparring friends had expected however, so they cheered. Arya's eyes went wide at Kaïdon's skills, although she had followed his moved with her eyes. She drew her Rider's blade, beckoning to him to fight her.
He launched himself at her in the same way as he did at Jacob, but quickly added a twisted moved, which Arya had foreseen and blocked. He was surprised, but continued to swing at his mother.
They were still fighting when their bodies began to sweat. Neither showed any sign of tiring any time soon, as Arya swung and double-backed the swing, catching Kaïdon by surprise but giving him an opening. He stepped around to put his sword on his mother's neck, but she was prepared for that. He pressed his neck right up against her sword, not having time to react.
He was frozen in place. "That's a new move."
"I came up with it as I went along. You like it?"
Kaïdon nodded, removing himself from her blade. All clapped for Arya, since she was the first and only person who has defeated Kaïdon.
"Kaïdon Blademaster!" A young elf walked up to Kaïdon. "Yes, Feizen?"
"Hayden said to thank you for your company all these years and to enjoy the night with your family." Feizen must have been Hayden's younger brother, as Kaïdon said to the boy, "Tell your brother I will miss him."
Arya came and put her hand on her son's shoulder after Feizen had left. He looked to her and his eyes turned from lavender to a navy color. She found a hole in his mind barrier and asked, do you know how your eyes do that?
No. But I can tell when it happens and what color the change is. Come, I want Saphira to see her eggs.
You took care of them for me, Kaïdon? How thoughtful of you. Saphira said.
Kaïdon nodded. You'll be surprised when you see them, though.
Indeed, Saphira was surprised. Her young had hatched, all of them. They were still very little. When Kaïdon entered the room in the treehouse, they blew tiny flames of their scale color: Teal, navy and gold. The dragons were old enough to breathe fire, mate and speak, but had not grown because they were awaiting Riders. Well, all of them except the golden one that is. Apparently she had given Kaïdon the gedwëy ignasia just the other day. He showed his mother and told her his dragon's name: Gwyna.
Hey guys, here's a guide on pronunciation. I think I forgot to put that in there last time. Oops. It may be awhile until next chapter, sorry this one was so late.
Feizen- FAY-ZINN
Bhronnë- BHRON
Gwyna- GWI-NUH
Sorcha- SOR-CHA
Kaïdon- KAY-DONN
I appreciate reviews.
