Before we get started, I implemented a time jump. To me, the entrance into the city and finding out that Arya is a princess and meeting the queen wasn't necessary for this fic. Plus I wanted to get to this part. Hehehe. Enjoy!
Briar felt her mouth drop as she watched the gold dragon hang in the air, buffering them all with gusts of wind. She could tell by its size, which was far larger than Dwervevindr and Saphira combined, the dragon was hundreds of years old. Its Rider was garbed in white robes which shone against the gold scales in the dawn. She felt Brom's finger close her mouth and she looked at him. There was a look in his eye and she knew that he had known about this Rider. Had known all along that his daughter and her companions had not been alone against the Foresworn. This was his master. It was the reason why Brom had not been required to make the oath the others had been forced to.
The Rider descended from the dragon's right leg. He was an elf older than her father. His silver hair didn't move as he walked to them. Briar touched her fingers to her lips and said the greeting, nudging Kylie and Eragon to do the same as Eragon announced that he had come as asked to which the Rider had answered with his name, Oromis. Briar had heard that name before, long ago that she had never been sure if it had been real. That's when Islanzadí spoke up harshly.
"You knew of their existence and yet you did not tell me? Why have you betrayed me Shur'tugal?" Oromis turned from them to her.
"I kept my peace because I was uncertain if any of them would live long enough to come here; I had no wish to give you a fragile hope that might have been torn away at any moment." He said calmly.
"You had no right to withhold such information from me!" She spat. "I could have sent warriors to protect them in Farthen Dûr and escort them safely here."
The rest of their conversation was lost to Briar as she turned to face the gold dragon who had turned to her from Kylie to examine her.
"We are well met, Briar Irissdaughter. I am Glaedr." His voice shook her to her core, making her feel a slight burn in her shoulder as it moved. Briar touched her lips.
"I am honored, Master." She said respectfully. Glaedr turned his attention to Dwervevindr. The two male dragons looked at each other, the younger standing stiff as the elder examined him as well and sniffed around him.
"All you know of your race is what your instincts have taught you." The gold dragon rumbled. "Like your companions, you smell of human. But there is more to you than most can see. You have tapped into an ancient magic recently and it has changed the way you view the world. But, you have the heart of a true dragon within you." Briar looked at her dragon, brow raised but Dwervevindr didn't look at her. She would have to ask him about it later. Glaedr turned to Eragon and Saphira. After several more minutes, the Riders mounted the dragons, Kylie joining Briar and Dwervevindr. Oromis turned back to the crowd.
"Come along, Brom. You are needed as well."
"Yes, Master." The old man said and climbed onto Saphira with Eragon. The four dragons took to the sky and left the cliff and the city behind. No one spoke as they followed the white cliff northward from the city. Briar could feel Dwervevindr's pride as they flew. He had been praised by an elder of his race for saving his Rider. After several miles, they landed in a clearing on the cliff. A path led from their landing site to a hut between two trees, one of which straddled a stream.
"Welcome to my home." Oromis said as he jumped from Galedr's back to the ground. "These are the Crags of Tel'naeír. Being out here, it allows me to thing and study in peace. Come Brom, I need some help."
The two older Riders disappeared into the hut and then returned moments later with enough stools and flagon of water for all of them. They all sat and drank their water. The young Riders waited for the elf to speak. Briar admired the view for a moment before turning her gaze to her father. There seemed to be a burden lifted from him that had been there for many years. Now that she knew his secret, he would be able to tell her more of his stories, of growing up training as a Rider. She noticed her father watching them and she ignored him and turned her attention to the day and let it fill her with a peace that she had not had in many days. She hadn't felt this had peace since she had been living in the Spine while Dwervevindr grew to a size that he could carry her.
"You have all learned the value of patience well. That is good." Oromis broke the silence. Briar blinked a few times. She had been reliving her missions and trying to find the skills that she would be able to use as a Rider.
"You can't stalk a deer if you are in a hurry." Eragon was the first to answer and Briar and Kylie eyes each other. Oromis looked at them.
"A spy must have patience if they are to learn anything from their enemies." Briar said.
"True enough." Oromis said and reached for Eragon's hands. He examined them and made remarks about what he was used to wielding and everything about the young man. Then he turned to Briar. He made note that she was careful and driven and willing to take risks. Briar saw Kylie bite the inside of her lip to keep from saying anything. Then he did the same to Kylie, noting that she was, of course, still early in her training and would be continuing it under Brom.
"Under Brom?" She asked. "But he is not a Rider."
"Not anymore." Brom said, sadness filling his eyes. "My dragon was killed long ago when fighting the Foresworn."
"Don't be so hasty, Brom. You still have patience, but not the same as before it seems."
"Master?" Brom questioned even as the ground shook slightly. Briar looked at Glaedr, but he hadn't moved. From the north, a dragon with scales a shade lighter than Saphira's emerged from the trees. Brom dropped his flagon and slowly got to his feet. Briar unbuckled Undbitr from her belt and looked at the blade. It was the same as the dragon before them. Tears filled her eyes. This was Saphira, her father's Saphira, whom they had both thought had died long ago. "How are you alive?" Brom croaked as he hugged her neck.
"She was captured." Oromis explained to the young Riders. "It seems that when Brom survived, one of the Forsworn realized that Saphira had not perished after all."
"How did she get here?" Kylie asked. "If she was a prisoner of Galbatorix, who would have been able to get her here."
"It wasn't easy." Another voice entered the conversation from behind them. "A Rider by the name of Corinna had her. It was hard, but we managed it, didn't we, Gale Wing?" Briar turned slowly on her heel. That voice was familiar, a dreamy memory that she could never remember. When she had finished her circle, she thought she was looking in a mirror. The woman had the same skin tone as hers. They were the same height and they had the same black hair. The only difference was their eyes. This woman had deep blue eyes while Briar had her father's brown ones.
"Iris?" Brom's voice said in disbelief as he and his Saphira rejoined the group.
"Iris, that's mom's name." Briar thought quickly.
"Could it be?" Dwervevindr questioned as Brom pulled the woman into an embrace and buried his head into her shoulder. They stood like that for a few moments. Hot breath turned Briar's attention to the other dragon that had joined them. He had black tips on his back spikes and claws. The color of his body was aqua, a shade deeper than Dwerevevindr's.
"You have grown strong." He said, projecting his thoughts to everyone. "And you are wise. You have been fighting long and there is still more fight to come. But you are strong enough for it."
"Don't scare the child, Gale Wing." The woman scolded with a chuckle as she pulled herself from Brom's arms and turned to her. "Let me look at you." She grabbed Briar's hands and held her at arms' length. "If I didn't know better, I would think that I am looking in the mirror right now. But you have your father's eyes." She pulled Briar close and wrapped both arms around her. "Oh, my baby. I'm so sorry for leaving you." She pulled back, hurt in her eyes when Briar didn't hug her back. "There's much we need to talk about, but that will wait. You must acquaint yourself with your master."
Briar turned back to the others and saw that Eragon had his shirt off and Kylie was putting hers back on. While the family had been reuniting, he had continued with his tasks. Briar nodded and pulled off her shirt with her right hand, grateful for the under shirt. He circled her, taking note of the scars on her left side. Iris looked at them a moment before standing back with Brom. Oromis stopped at her right arm.
"What is this?" He asked.
"I am…was…the Spy Master for the Varden. The fox is how I would call the others to me. But now it is another piece to remind me of what I have done now that I have been released from my duties as Spy Master."
"I see." He said as he finished his circle. "You are not lopsided either. Are you also ambidextrous?"
"I am, Master." Briar answered. "Father taught me when I was young, in case something should happen to my left arm."
"And from the looks of it, it did." Glaedr observed. Briar touched her left arm and nodded.
"In Farthen Dûr, while Eragon fought Durza, I fought one of the Forsworn. A Rider named Corinna. She stabbed my shoulder through my armor and I couldn't use my arm. Now, it is hard to use so I must use my right until I heal. If it ever heals." Briar averted her eyes to avoid seeing the pity in the old elf's eyes. She had barely tried to use her left arm since the fight she had with Kylie the first night out of the mountains. Yes, Edurna was helping, but it didn't seem to be enough.
"You let her fight Corinna!" Iris yelled at Brom and the master and students turned to look at the husband and wife. "You know her blade is enchanted in ways we don't even know of. But you knew of this enchantment. It's her favorite."
"I didn't let her." Brom tried to counter as he took a step back from his wife. "I didn't even know Corinna was there. I was with Kai inside the city. I didn't know about Corinna until after the fight when Arya told me that our daughter had fought another Rider. It was Briar who said that the dragon was light blue. By then, I couldn't do a damn thing about it. If I had been,"
"You should have been out there in the first place." Iris interrupted. "Our daughter is injured from Durza as well and now Corinna's favorite enchantment works its will on her. She is cripple!"
"I am not cripple!" Briar shouted, stopping the fight between her parents. Brom's Saphira and Gale Wing looked at her as did the other three dragons. The hatchling lounged in Kylie's arms. "I can still fight. And I will fight through the pain if I must." Her chest was heaving. Oromis placed a calm hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and he nodded. She stepped back and Oromis stepped forward.
"Now is not the time nor place for this discussion. What's done is done. Briar has survived Corinna's enchantments. And Corinna, I dare say, has made a dangerous enemy in your daughter. By her own confession, your daughter is a spy and those make for dangerous assassins. Now, back to the task at hand." Oromis turned back to his three students. Briar seethed in anger. It was one thing for her to say that she was cripple. But to hear someone else say it, it made it truth. She looked at her left arm and tried to lift it. The most she was able to manage without the burning was to move one of her fingers. She set her face into a grim line and looked at the sky and took a deep breath, trying to keep the tear from falling. "I want the three of you to clasp your hands behind your back and lift them as high as possible."
Briar took a deep breath and twisted so she could grab her left arm and then moved to grab her own hand. The moment she started to lift her arms, her left shoulder began to burn. Her chest heaved and she felt her arm move the slightest bit. It seemed like minutes, but it was only seconds before the burning drove her to unconsciousness and she collapsed at her dragon's feet how had moved forward to steady her.
"Can't you do anything for her, Master?" Iris's whispered, looking at her unconscious daughter. Eragon and Saphira had taken Kai and her dragon back to the city to rest. Dwervevindr was outside the window with the other dragons.
"Just like back then, I do not know much about Corinna's enchantments. This is something that Briar must do for herself."
"She couldn't even lift her arms to her shoulders." Iris hissed. "She couldn't even hug me back." She got up and followed her husband and their master out of the bedroom.
"There is nothing that can be done for Briar by anyone else." Oromis said as they sat down. "But, I will talk to the guards from Ceris before they leave. Perhaps one of them can give us some insight on what she has been doing. But, Iris, I believe that we owe your husband an explanation." The elf turned to his apprentice. "Saphira reached out to Iris first when she found that she could do so." He said as they walked outside to sit with the dragons who were in the middle of the clearing to give Dwervevindr space to watch over his Rider, each leaning against their dragons' legs.
"She was weak from being a prisoner for several months." Iris offered. "How she was able to reach me, I have no idea. But she didn't want you rushing to her rescue and getting yourself killed. She knew I was pregnant then. So, I contacted Oromis. He agreed that telling you anything would lead to your death and that our child would need both parents in its life."
"We made a plan," Oromis continued, "that once the child had been born, Iris would go to Saphira and rescue her and bring her back to me for healing and recovery."
"It took some hunting, but I found her. She was in Corinna's estate, hidden behind a large hedge in the garden where none but Corinna was allowed to go. I watched for days, waiting for the perfect time to sneak in and free her. Finally, Corinna left and the guard grew slightly lax around the garden. I was able to sneak in and get to Saphira. But there were more enchantments guarding her than I had warded against. The alarms called the guards to us just as I finished breaking the chains. It was a fight, but once Saphira had been able to take to the air, she grabbed me and we fled. Gale Wing met us and I climbed onto his back to take off Saphira and we guided her here. The elves don't even know that she is here or that she is even alive. Oromis fixed me up, but by then, it had been too long that it wouldn't be safe for me to return. And so I stayed here, hoping that you might show up."
"They will find I will not be so easy to chain up again." Saphira said. But there was a sadness in her voice, like she had lost something.
"Saphira?" Brom asked.
"I lost my egg, Brom." She said, resting her head on the ground. "I was willing to hold it inside until I could get free and hide it. But he made me lay it and then he took it from me. I barely remember seeing that traitorous sun dragon flying away."
"Evlin's dragon?"
"Corinna said it was going to be kept safe. I don't know what's happened to it now. It would have had Gale Wing's coloring. I think it would have looked like its father."
"It's not your fault, Saphira." Iris said. "We've told you this. And I doubt that your hatchling would enter this world for any of his followers."
"Briar found Dwervevindr's egg in Morzan's gardens." Brom said. "The castle is now ruled by his offspring, Murtagh. Briar was spying there for two years. Murtagh, it seems, has taken his father's place."
"Its seems all of our children have done that." Iris said and Brom knew that she knew Eragon was his son. Another thing they would have to talk about in private.
"Could it be that our daughter's dragon is the son of our dragons, Iris?"
"How could that be? He has more black than Gale Wing."
"Still, it could be possible." Oromis said and then turned back to the hut. "There is only one way to be sure. A parent knows its offspring." Oromis called the young dragon over. "How long were you in your egg, Dwervevindr?"
"No more than twenty years, Master." The dragon replied and Brom smirked. Saphira lifted her head from the ground and reached over to sniff the young dragon. Gale Wing did the same. Dwervevindr stayed perfectly still.
"He is your child." Glaedr said lazily. "I could smell you in his blood when we met." Brom smiled as he felt Saphira's excitement at knowing her child had been saved and was bound to an honorable woman. Their family was finally whole.
So, we all knew that Briar's mother was Iris and that she was a Rider. The idea for Dwervevindr's parents came to me yesterday when I was cleaning floors. Go figure that one. Lol. But I thought it was fitting since Brom and Iris were married that it was only logical for Saphira and Gale Wing to have possibly mated.
Thanks for reading and please review.