Mind speak

"Regular Speaking"

Personal Thoughts

Chapter 17 – The Forest of Ronenar

As the morning wore on, Eragon and Saphira enjoy the flight to over the new lands. They had seen the Eversee mountains from the air, and as they had flown over the northern plains, large enough to house a city, and beautifully capped with the whitest snow, they had been beautiful to both of them but slightly blinding. Saphira kept her eyes forward as she still tried to figure out the riddle.

So cold, damp, and dark I am/to stay, you would refrain/yet those who occupy me do never complain. What is it?

Hmmm… A cave. Saphira suggested to Eragon.

Good try, but no. Eragon looked about the surroundings. Think again.

BAH! I have tried all morning Eragon that is the only one that makes sense. Cold, damp, and dark. Caves are that way naturally, at least the ones that dragons ignore. To stay, you would refrain. You do not know what could be there. Those who occupy caves do not complain if the conditions are right.

All right, Saphira, while your explanation is excellent. Here is the real answer: A grave. Eragon watched as Saphira dropped her head low. A human riddle, of course. Do something for me, do not give human riddles its not nice.

Well, do not expect me to do draconic ones either. Eragon huffed

Seriously, you are taking away my best rid— dles. The thought died in Saphira's mind. Right. That is the point.

Precisely, he smiled, Saphira looked back and saw his grin. The teeth now razor-sharp, he yawned. I love my riddles, and you love yours.

Nice, dragon tongue, you have got their Eragon. She replied as she showed him his new tongue as he yawned.

Yet another change is this going to be fast or slow is the question now. Eragon wondered as they soared through the sky.

Your guess is as good as mine, my mate. I do hope that it happens quickly, though. Saphira became livelier as his changes happened. Her mind bounced from one topic to the next as she thought of what she had to teach him and how she would explain it. Her Eragon was becoming a dragon. Before in the meadow, she had just had that as a fact. Then, as she had tried painstakingly to figure out the riddle, she felt it sink in more her mind wrapping around the construct of this development. Her heartbeat. NO! Her heart was aflame with this fact. She was beating for him. No other would get him if possible, she determined. She than bugled a happy croon, when dragons were this happy it was usually for only a few reasons: they had triumphed over a challenge; they had found love; they had seen their eggs hatch.

I do hope so too, my mate. I just hope it is not painfuuulllll. As he finished, both heard a small POP! Eragon's face contorted in pain as his nose slightly flattened. Well, that answered that question.

Saphira wanted to land and console him, but she was looking for landmarks from her mother's maps. You okay, Eragon? She wrapped her mind around him to attempt to comfort him. That sounded painful. Then it slightly hit her. Oww. If that sting of pain is a fraction, then I am sorry that hurt. If the changes become more painful than this, we will have to stop searching. A sting to the snout is okay; however, one to the wing joints, tail, or neck will make me fall out of the sky.

Understandably, Eragon rubbed his nose as he felt the slight pain subside from him; if one of your forelegs got twisted, I would be in pain. So, it is only right now, since we have the sky to ourselves.

Eragon, Saphira, mentally grinned as he implied one of their favorite past times, are you suggesting? She waited for the answer, and a nod was all the dragoness need. She bugled happily one again. In a reminder of the past, she questioned, you want speed.

Y-yes. Eragon replied as he felt a new rush of Saphira's thrill of flying. Saphira tilted downward at a slight angle, and then, as she leaned, she took a vertical plunge straight downward. Her speed gained faster as she swiftly cropped her wings back. As they neared the ground, she curved dramatically upward back up into the pure blue sky. Her heart and mind swam in exhilaration as she then dived again and then as she leveled off. She flipped into a barrel roll, twisting her body around several times. Hold Eragon, might want to tighten those bracers.

What are you planning? He hesitated to ask, rightfully so as Saphira gave the most devious yet excited look that scared him, yet oddly excited him. He tightened the leg bracers as she asked. The response to his question was nothing short of confusing.

Oh, this and that. Saphira arced upward and then twisted to point her body downward. In a tightly held movement, she pushed herself downward flipped upside down with Eragon hang on be his bracers and the grip of the saddle. His happiness of the aerial dance he had finally gotten to be apart of was boiling now. With a loud "WOOOHOOOO!" He waited for Saphira's next move. She paused only a few minutes as she leveled off and twisted in small tight circles. As his and her delight grew, they joined as one body, what he felt was extraordinary, the tightness of their wings the angle and pitch as they turned their tail to steer through the sky. They then pulled out of the circular pattern and flew level as pushed higher in the air once more. Their mind focused on a new task, the ruins of an old city that laid ahead.

They started to push into the old walls, flying straight down the city's main street. He felt her connect with him. The town I told you about the one destroyed by a male's fireball is this one. It looks good here, but wait a few moments. As they waited, rows of housing adorned the sides of the flight path. She pushed through an enormous arch, and as she came out the other side. Devastation. The city was a crater. It did Saphira's work in Uru'bean child's play.

You were not kidding, were you? This is-is total annihilation. Eragon looked on from Saphira's point of view, as they continued, they landed in what looked like a grand plaza. She looked at the crater and then walked on its edge. She stepped toward the very edge and looked to Eragon to make sure his now unresponsive physical form was firmly still there. Thanks. Eragon quietly said as she turned to look over the crater. I look after my interests, was the reply he got. As she was turning her head back, Eragon noticed something.

Hang on, go back to my body for a moment. Saphira did as he asked, and as she looked at him, the watched as the tiny horns on his forehead grew several inches. This transformation is extraordinary, Saphira, it is a little scary and disconcerting.

You are Eragon. It is what is. What will be. I do not like saying this in such a straightforward way, but your body is doing this. Own it. Do not fear it. As for the confusion, as things happen, ask me what things are, emotions included. Saphira hummed to him to calm him; his feelings were undoubtedly running high, though the excitement of flying had caught her off guard.

She had never thought Eragon would enjoy her aerial dance that much. Unknown to him, the flight they took together was one that they would do only one other time. The nuptial flight. She had done it out of curiosity; when he asked her and mentioned the sky being to themselves, it was all she wanted to try. This excitement of flying caused her to feel her scales begin to tingle, and then she shivered.

I will be taking you up on that offer; I have a feeling. Eragon looked around the area as they began to separate, and Eragon was soon looking from his perspective.

I know you will, Saphira curled her neck and soon had her eyes on her rider soon to be a dragon. I will do my best to answer questions.

Eragon looked at the crater from her side and directed his attention to it, so a Sapphire male did this. That is impressive and highly effective.

Yes, it is. The male had been here several times, and he loved this city. However, that changed at some point. He got viciously angry like we did, and he did this. It is a sight to behold, knowing that a dragon of my scale color did this. Saphira looked down into the crater, craning her neck over the side. She hummed as she tilted her head, looking at the crater's depths that the older dragon had done a great many centuries ago.

She then looked at Eragon and then to the sky. As she spread her wings to begin to fly, she had a thought that had been simmer as to what was happening. Her Eragon was becoming a dragon! She pounces on the ground and with her massive hindquarters pushed up into the air. She spun straight up into the sky as she thought it again. Her Eragon was becoming a dragon! She dived into the crater and flew to its most profound depth, nearing the bottom she arched her neck and tilted her wings to move straight until the center of the pit was upon them. She began to slope upwards, brings her wings into a curved form, banking them toward the center of the crater. The emotion began to sing to her as her very veins hummed the tune. The feeling of flying was candlelight compared to the fire in her heart. She thought the phrase to herself more boldly Her Eragon, her mate, was becoming a DRAGON! At this very point of pure and complete happiness overtook her, and she bugled the most joy-filled roar that these lands had heard in a long time.

She was soon halfway through climbing to the top of the crater, and she looked back to Eragon. He had been smiling and enjoying her acrobatic skill, her prowess in the sky. She knew that he would continue to enjoy it. She hoped that his transformation included a love of acrobatics and a body that fits that. She then felt a new emotion raw and pure building and swelling in her heart. It connected with her inner fire as she again thought the phrase. Her Eragon, her mate, was becoming a DRAGON! She bugled again, and as she did so, let out a pennant of her blue fire. Her mind exuded joy to Eragon, and it crashed on his mind like a title wave.

Saphira, what has made you so happy? Eragon already knew the answer, but he wanted her to get the chance to say it to him.

Saphira, now nearly out of the crater's depths, launched straight out it and into the sky. Its quite simple Eragon, I look at the past week that we have spent together; I had pain sorrow and hurt. You comforted me, Eragon, in all of that. You were there for me, given this morning's changes and the willingness that you have. I am incredibly happy that You, my mate, ARE BECOMING A DRAGON! Of all the solutions to that infernal problem that I had on my wings, I did not think that it would be this.

The warmth and excitement of him becoming a dragon were evident as Saphira's emotions flooded his mind to the brim. He patted her scaled hide and rubbed a spot that he usually rubbed on their long flights. Generally, it got rubbed when she asked, but he felt it necessary to show her how much she meant to him.

Saphira, in turn, found it hard not to lavish him with attention in their minds. She mentally wrapped her wings around him and hugged him tightly. It was hard not to spend Eragon with care. She continued to wind her way into the sky-high in the air where she truly belonged. She flipped in the air, one last time as her heart continue to race, but not just from the acrobatic show she had just unleashed. Her heart had just gotten ignited a burning passion she prayed would get resolved.

It was now well into the afternoon as the sun was high in the sky. She looked left and right or any signs of a forest. The forest they headed to was the Forest of Ronenar, a vast forest included in her mother's journal though her mother had never gone to the woods. It very well detailed as a possible search spot.

"Saphira?" her mate's voice caught her attention.

Hmmm? Her mind busy thinking of her mother's findings.

"Look off to the East for me," Eragon answered, looking towards a green line that he had been watching approach for the past hour. "It looks like a forest is approaching, want to find out?"

What kind of question is that my mate, Saphira, snorted her nostrils, letting out a slight plume of smoke. She banked her wings toward the line of trees and into a cloud as she came out the other side and spotted a vast herd of deer. Although she had had breakfast with Eragon earlier, the flight that they had taken together had been very draining.

She salivated at the thought of a sweet, juicy, plump, deer as she flew lower to the ground she used the sun as her advantage to surprise her prey. She flew with speed and precision soon CRUNCH! SNAP! Her catch made, and her wings flapped to gain altitude. She looked to the forest, which now they had gained the edge of and pushed inward. She found a small meadow and ducked into its recess and dropped her deer. She landed herself with a thud and soon felt Eragon begin to slide off her back.

They both took time to eat lunch together; as they did, their discussions had moved from Eragon's transformation, which nothing new had happened during the flight over to the journal content's. Saphira broke the conversation; she was reading a page of the journal and came across a strange word. She would generally skip such things, but the talk tied to the forest.

Ronenar? Known for its husbandry and the large river running through it. It signifies a thought that the forest houses an ancient dragon city. Fawns and Saytrs in the area have seen a large ruin in the vast forest.

Little one, what do you know of hus-husban-dry, that word does not even sound right. Saphira asked, although a dragon with vast knowledge, some ideas and concepts were foreign to her.

Well, for humans, it is a way to cultivate livestock and plants. In Carvahall, that is how we made our farm fields better. Eragon explained the process in small detail, but Saphira fully focused on every word. We also made better animals as we had healthier horses, cows that had a better chance of survival in winter, and so on.

Oh okay, Saphira nodded now understanding, I wonder what these Fawns and Satyrs are as well. A Spirit? Perhaps a new creature?

Who knows Saphira, Eragon replied as he laid sat in between her forelegs, the journal propped in his lap. He gently extended his hand to her snout to rub it. Saphira was happy to stretch her neck, allowing for her snout to be massaged. Eragon placed his bottom hand on the lower jaw and the upper hand on her top of the muzzle. I guess we will find out, from what folklore says, they are a mixture of deer and human. It will be interesting to see one if they still exist.

Indeed. Though if this husbandry is a clue to the Azure bastion, based on our lunch, that was the most fulfilling deer I have ever had. Saphira mused to him through their bond. Even you are stuffed from that I can tell. She bent her neck down further and curled it to where their eyes met briefly. She licked Eragon's cheek, which still had some of the juices from the meat she roasted.

Saphira and Eragon laid in the afternoon sun for a time and enjoyed each other's company. It was them and only them. Though the pair was completely alone, they used their bond to make sure they never felt alone. Saphira pulled him into her mind and wrapped him once again in affection. Until she could show her affections draconically, this would have to do.

Just out of sight of the pair in a bush was a young furry creature. She had heard the roars and massive whumping sounds of the air buffeting against something. She carefully stepped over a log with her cloven hooves. She looked to see if she could spot what had made the noise. As she pushed closer to the meadow that Eragon and Saphira rested in reading and eating lunch, she leaned her hand against her short, red, furred covered legs.

Creeping along, she hoped that she would finally get to see a dragon. The creatures had long disappeared and were mere legend and lore for the campfires of her village. She had listened to those stories with attention and excitement. As she got older, she began to explore as fawns and satyrs her age tended to do. She was told, in the past, that they were the only tale by her parents. Although the massive city ruins deep in the forest had been perplexing to her parents, her grandparents had seen the dragons while they were her age. Before the collapse of the great city, fawns and satyrs had been shepherds for the deer that the dragons would come and hunt.

She believed in such stories because she had found a massive tooth of a creature. When she brought it to her grandparents, they confirmed as a dragon's tooth. Her grandmother had then made a necklace out of it for her. She wore it to this day. She crept a little further closer to a meadow that she liked to hang out. As she was about to answer, she caught a glimpse of blue. 'Blue, there is no creature in this forest that is blue. Could it be?' She moved closer, her green leaf dress helping her hide if the creature attacked. She looked then lifted a leaf of the plant she had covered herself with and saw a massive wing in her front.

She looked over the rest of the new creatures from blue scales, wings, long tail. All fit the dragon description from her grandparents. She felt her excitement climbing higher in her mind as her short furry tail twitched from side to side. 'Oh, my ancestors, she thought, 'A real dragon, an actual real dragon.' She wanted to jump for joy and run out to the creature, but she was not sure of it. 'I could frighten the dragon.'

She looked down briefly to the ground and rubbed her white fluffy belly fur relieving an itch that she had had. As she looked up, she heard a voice. Alright, creature, you can come out of there. The sound was sweet and feminine. She looked up even further. In the opening of the plant was a great big blue eye. She jumped in fright. The eye retreated, and she saw the snout of the dragoness and a small grin. I am sorry I did not mean to frighten you dear. As for why I am speaking into your mind, I communicate this way to every creature. Do not be alarmed, little one.

The fawn cautiously walked out into the meadow and saw another creature with the dragoness. The fawn spoke for the first time. "I am so sorry for intruding great dragon. I had heard your roar and wing beats and simply had to come to see." She said a softness in her voice that was fast and animated. She jumped up and down a few times, fidgeting all the while. "I cannot believe it a real dragon. Right in front of me." She moved her left hand to her forehead, pushing the short auburn locks away from her amber-colored eyes.

Yes, I am real little one, but first, before we continue talking. I think names are needed as well as introductions. The fawn could hear the curiosity in the dragonesses' voice.

"Of course, where are my manners." The fawn said. "I am Zoqi, and I am a fawn that lives in this forest, we call it the Forest of Ronenar."

Well met, Zoqi. I am Saphira, an Alagaesian dragon from the south, I am here with my rider. She nuzzled the strange creature that also appeared to walk on two legs.

"Also well met, my name is Eragon." The creature spoke a firm but slightly soft tone coming from him. "As Saphira said, I am her rider."

"Wow!" Zoqi wriggled her body "I still cannot believe it. I am in front of a dragon. My grandparents have told stories of dragons and to a less degree dragon riders." She then noticed some of the features that Eragon had. "Although, the way they talked, they never have mentioned them with any horns or draconic eyes." She looked directly at Eragon and saw his face more clearly now. It had gotten distorted.

"Oh right, Saphira should we…" he looked at his dragon looking for approval. She watched the dragoness and saw her head bobbing on side to the other. Her eyes were looking in the direction that her head tilted. Saphira was silent and then nodded.

Eragon is becoming a dragon Zoqi. I am the last of my kind, and since Eragon and I have a close bond, we naturally make a good pairing. Therefore, nature or some entity has seen fit that we become mates eventually. Saphira revealed to her.

"That is amazing and such an honor too!" Zoqi replied as she sat down in the meadow with the pair. "So, what brings you two this far north?"

Saphira was not sure what to make of the happy fawn at first. She was spunky and excited to see a dragon. She thought of her question and then remembered what she said. We are looking for something young one. However, these grandparents of yours are they still alive?

"Why, yes, they are both in my village a couple of miles away." Zoqi said back to her, "Did you want to meet them because I am sure they will want to meet you."

Yes, little one, I wish to meet your elders. They may have the answer to what we are looking for. Saphira looked down at Eragon; he was listening to the conversation and had a say here as well.

I am all for it, Saphira, he replied, and as he did, he felt a bulge building in the back of his trousers. If anything, I can at least get clothing that will suit me later. I think the tail is starting to come into existence as he spoke those last words. The ripping of clothing sounded through the meadow.

Saphira knew his tail had come in as he was sitting against her chest; she felt it rub against her and snake out. As it crawled over her foreleg, she looked at it to see if anything could determine the color. She looked perplexed as she saw a black tail with white circles. Then it clicked, she thought back to last night in their dream mode. She had taken stock of Eragon's form before laying inside his furry and feathered cocoon, bliss if she had to describe it. His tail in dream mode and his tail now looked the same. Now the question was it to be fur and feathers or scales and feathers.

Lead us there Zoqi, Saphira thought to the young fawn. She noticed that the fawn had begun to walk back the way she came. As she got near the bush she had come out of, Saphira lifted her tail.

Zoqi turned toward her, and Saphira said On my back, little one. To say that she was excited was not the words to use. Saphira nearly had to cover her ears as she screeched with excitement. Eragon looked at Saphira and snorted himself. They both remembered well his excitement.