Previously:
"Do you wish to speak more tonight your highness?" Glorfindel asked, somewhat reluctantly.
Sighing I turned my gaze towards the stars. I have always been fond of the night sky, and tonight was perfectly clear, giving a completely unhindered look at the heavens. "Not tonight Glorfindel. I am tired. Funny to say, I know, seeing as I just awoke from a two thousand year slumber, but what I speak of is not simply physical exhaustion. I am old Glorfindel. Even by our standards, I have endured longer than most, and I have seen and done more than any left alive today. I think for the rest of the night, I wish to just lay under the stars, and dream of better days."
"Of course, your highness," He responded. "But Vidarr," and here I turned away from the sky to look at him once more, "I know I am not as old as you, but I have seen many years myself. Do not forget, not everything deserves to be remembered with sorrow. Remember fondly our better years, but do not forget to dream of what may yet be possible given a little bit of hope."
With that Glorfindel turned and walked into the trees, not once looking back towards either me or Freyr. I stared after him for a few minutes before Freyr bumped me on the shoulder to gain my attention. Nodding towards a comfortable-looking patch of grass, I lay down next to Freyr and allowed my mind to wander, waiting for sleep to claim me.
Vidarr?
Yes, Freyr?
Glorfindel is right. It has been many years since we took an active role in the shaping of our world. Perhaps the time has come to once again help this world to be great.
I think you may be right, brother of my heart. And with that last thought, I drifted into the land of dreams.
Eragon
After dropping Orik and Rhunon off near their respective rooms, Saphira and I made our way back towards the treehouse which had quickly become our home. It was funny; I had not considered any place since Garrow's farm to be home, but Ellesmera was quickly becoming the exception to that rule.
As we landed on the upper landing, I climbed down off of Saphira's back and readied myself for bed in silence. Both Saphira and I were lost in thought; considering all we had learned tonight it was no surprise that it was taking some time to come to terms with everything. Just yesterday I was essentially a crippled Rider. Durza had seriously wounded me during the battle of Farthen Dur, and I did not think that I would ever be free of the damage he had inflicted upon my back. However, after the ceremony last night, I awoke this morning with none of the aforementioned damage. Not only was I in better shape than I had been since before the incident with Durza, but I was also seemingly in better shape than I had ever been. Unfortunately because of everything that occurred today I had not had the time to explore all the changes. So far I could tell that I was sharper mentally, had better senses, and seemed to be both stronger and faster. I fully planned to test out these changes as soon as possible, but tomorrow would likely be busy with planning for the war. Regardless, I was excited to see how my new abilities compared to my previous self.
Thinking of the two most surprising developments of the day, an Ancient Rider and his dragon appearing out of nowhere, I wondered how this would change the prospects of the war. Obviously, it was good to have another rider on our side, and with how powerful they both appeared to be I believe that we are in an infinitely better position than we were even a few hours ago.
Hearing Saphira agree with my thoughts, I felt myself drifting off to the land of dreams, and for the first time in quite a while, I had hope for the future of Alagaesia.
I transitioned easily out of sleep the next morning. It was not one of those days where it takes a few minutes to remember the events that happened previously, instead, my mind immediately went back to the eventful day we had yesterday. I was still finding it hard to believe that our history is quite a bit longer than everyone had thought. That's not even to mention the fact that we have another dragon rider on our side; one that almost no one knew about, and that he is a long-lost King and more powerful than your average rider. I am happy that today is most likely going to be less stressful than the last.
Saphira was still asleep, so I quietly left the bed and made my way up the stairs towards the small bathroom. Once there, I drew a bath and took my time soaking up the heat from the warm water. Finishing up, I moved towards the sink to shave, as had become part of my morning ritual and gasped at what I saw. Staring back at me was not the human face that I was used to. The coloring was the same, but my eyes had taken on a decidedly feline tilt, and my ears had definite points to them. Taking the time to study my reflection closer, I decided that while I looked more elflike, there were still some obvious differences. My appearance was less graceful and more rugged; it looked like I had started to change into an elf, but then the change stopped right on the edge of completion. Regardless, there was no way I would be seen as a human anymore.
Feeling Saphira starting to wake, I finished up and headed back down the stairs. Coming to a stop at the bottom I watched Saphira stretch like an overgrown cat and then questioned her about my appearance. Did you notice the change in my appearance yesterday?
Of course I did, she responded sounding slightly offended. I was going to mention it but, as you no doubt remember, we became slightly distracted not long after you awoke.
Hm, fair enough. And I wasn't upset with you, I was simply curious if you had noticed it in all the commotion.
Saphira snorted at my response, a small jet of flame leaving her nostrils. I was about to make a joke about accidentally burning our treehouse down when there was a knock on the door. Crossing the room I opened the door to see the same elf who frequently brought breakfast and clothes waiting patiently. "The Queen has invited you to join her and Arya for breakfast within Tialdari Hall. If you do not remember the way, I would be glad to show you."
"Thank you for the message," I responded, "but do not worry, Saphira, knows how to get there."
"Wonderful, I wish you a productive day Shadeslayer, Brightscales."
With his final words, the elf left, leaving Saphira and me alone once again. Grabbing Zar'roc from where I had left it next to the bed, I quickly climbed onto Saphira's back. She moved to the entrance of the treehouse, and within seconds we were soaring over the tops of the tall pines. It was a quick flight to Arya's home, and soon we were landing in a small clearing, with both Arya and the Queen waiting to welcome us into their home.
While the queen looked fairly indifferent to seeing us, Arya gave a small smile as we landed before them. "Queen Islanzadi, Arya, it is pleasant to see you this morning," I said after I had dismounted.
"The pleasure is ours," the Queen responded. "Come, you are the last to arrive. We will dine and then speak of the plans for the future. Saphira, if you would fly above the house, you will see a garden located in the back that is large enough to host you and the other two dragons. We will meet you there."
As Saphira took off, the rest of us made our way through the building to the garden the queen had mentioned. There, everyone who was present for the discussion, save Rhunon, was present around a table that was covered in a variety of dishes. There were three vacant seats, the head and the two directly to its right. I took the one farthest from the head, with Arya filling the one next to me, and the Queen taking the head. On my right sat Oromis, and across from us were Orik and Vidarr. The three dragons were situated near the other end of the table across from the queen, although given their size it could not technically be said that they were at the table. As we started to eat, several questions about the topics we had covered last night were asked by those around the table, with most questions just being clarifications on certain points. However, Orik did ask one that was not directly mentioned the previous evening.
"Vidarr," Orik said, "in all the story told last night, dwarves were only mentioned as having also been a greater society before this war. What happened to mine people?"
"Hm, you have a point young dwarf," he responded. "I glossed over the details a bit since it was getting so late, however, as we are nearly done with eating I will go ahead and tell you now."
Taking his last bite the ancient rider pushed his plate away and told us the story. "As you all know, my brother created shades and put together an army of them. When we discovered this and discovered how powerful shades were, we knew that the elves alone could not fight this force. I personally put out the call for the assistance of both dwarves and dragons to come to our aid and assist in defeating this evil army. Fortunately for Alagaesia, both answered the call. The first place Caed hit was the capital of the elvish kingdom. Many of our people died in that battle, as we did not yet know what we faced. Several other cities fell, and eventually I, the dwarvish king Helzvog, and the leader of the dragons Balerion, all decided that we would make our last stand at the capital of the dwarven kingdom, within the heart of the Hadarac. On the grassy plains seated at the foot of the mountains, we met the full force of Caed's army. Whether through luck or skill, we managed to come out on top that day, however, it was hardly a victory. Every elf from the guilds was killed, save five, and the low elves were all that remained. The dwarves and dragon's numbers were so depleted that they both had to leave their ancestral homes and move to somewhere more conducive to rebuilding their species."
"Why was it that so many more elves died than of the other two species?" I asked when he was done speaking.
"Funnily enough, it wasn't because of anything poor we did, or because they specifically targeted us. It was more of a geographical problem than anything else. Caed discovered this magic far to the north, and the only cities north of Ellesmera were elvish. By the time of the final battle, he had sacked five cities, all but one of them elvish. So the reason fewer elves survived is simply that at the time of the final battle, there were fewer elves." Vidarr explained.
"That does seem to be a rather unfortunate happenstance," Oromis commented.
"Yes indeed, young rider," Freyr responded. "I never fully understood the pain Vidarr felt with the majority of his race perishing. It was not until yesterday when you told us what had befallen the dragons that I truly understood."
"I agree, Ancient One, it is a pain I would not wish on even my greatest enemy. It is a terrible thing knowing that your species is on the edge of collapse, and not having the power to save it." Glaedr said sadly.
The group took on a decidedly somber air with the last few statements. For a while no one spoke; each lost in their own thoughts as we considered the bleak prospects for both Vidarr and the dragon's situations. Finally, the queen broke the silence, "Vidarr, there is one more thing that I am confused about. You briefly mentioned yesterday that some of the old guild members, namely children, survived past the awakening. You mentioned again just a few minutes ago that there were five who survived. Apart from you, Rhunon, and Glorfindel, who are the other two who survived?"
I too had noticed that comment, and am very curious about this answer. With how incredible both Rhunon and Glorfindel are in their respective crafts, it would be beneficial for a couple more elves of their caliber to be alive today.
"Thinking about it, that statement was a bit misleading," he started. "What I should have said was that five members of the guilds are still alive today. Closer to twenty members survived the war that brought about the end of our society, however, most were children and so were never able to develop as much as they would have with proper teachers. As it is, most became the foremost masters in their fields after the awakening." Here Vidarr paused to take a sip of his drink. "Unfortunately, many of these elves perished in conflicts over the years, and at the time I was imprisoned there were only four still living. Five when you count Glorfindel, although I did not know that at the time."
"And how do you know if the other two have survived the last two thousand years? Seeing as you were not aware of the outside world during your imprisonment, which you have not told us much about by the way, for all you know the other two could have died during your absence," Arya said.
With a slight laugh, Vidarr responded, "I told you yesterday that I could feel the well-being of the other members of the Royal Family, did I not young elf."
Eyes widened around the table as the implications of the Ancient Rider's statement sunk in. If Vidarr was correct, there were two other Ancient members of the Royal family still living somewhere in Alagaesia. Suddenly the mood around the table was more hopeful than it was after the bleak direction the conversation had been going.
"Where are they?" Oromis asked. "And are they riders as well?"
"Hm, their exact location I could not tell you," Vidarr said. "And only one of them is a rider. Now is probably a good time to start laying out plans for this war, because the first thing I will be doing is collecting them, so we will have to plan around that."
"How do you plan on finding them?" I asked.
"It will be easier to show you, youngling. Tomorrow I will allow both you and Oromis to witness it because part of it you will be able to learn."
Grinning in excitement, I nodded quickly to show my approval of this idea. Oromis too looked pleased that he would be learning something both new and potentially useful. I couldn't wait to see some of the skills that this rider possessed.
"Let us start to plan," Orik spoke, "there is much to discuss, and we have already passed through the better part of the morning."
"Agreed, with the addition of Vidarr and two other members of the Royal family, this war will play out in a much different way than originally anticipated," Glorfindel said.
The queen waved her hand and some elves came from indoors to remove the dishes from the table. One of the elves returned quickly with a large roll of paper before leaving the garden once again. The queen rolled out the paper upon the table and revealed that it was a large map of Alagaesia, detailing all the cities and towns that existed.
Pointing to Surda the queen said, "According to my intelligence, the Varden is currently located here."
"The Varden is the main human resistance to Galbatorix, and Surda is a small kingdom that is not currently under Galbatorix's rule," I explained at Vidarr's questioning look.
"Ok, do we know how long they plan to stay there?" Vidarr asked.
"Not long," Orik replied. "I would not be surprised if they departed within the next few months. Their current leader does not like to sit still, and last I heard, she believes that the longer we wait to take the war to Galbatorix, the more difficult it will become."
"Hm, she is not wrong on that front. Galbatorix is a considerably more dangerous foe today than he was when he took power." Glorfindel said.
"Knowing this we should begin to prepare our armies, and possibly begin moving towards the edge of the forest," Arya interjected.
"I agree daughter," the queen said with a smirk. Pointing out her plan on the map she continued, "We will begin mobilizing our troops and move towards the western edge of Du Weldenvarden so that we may be close to Ceunon. With Nasuada leading the Varden from the south and us attacking from the north, Galbatorix will have trouble protecting anything but Uru'baen."
Silence fell for a moment while everyone considered what had been planned so far. Then Vidarr broke the silence, "We will need the dwarves for this conflict. Orik, do you know what the situation is with your people currently?"
"Unfortunately the clans take a long time to decide even mundane things," he responded, "so collectively agreeing to go to war will take quite a while."
"Is there any way to speed up the process?" I asked.
"I will be able to assist with that," Vidarr said. "Your current rulers may not realize it, but there were laws and treaties put into place following our destruction that bind the dwarves just as much as they do the elves. Should one group call for aid in desperate times of need, the other must answer. I will go and remind the King and the dwarvish council that they have a duty to help protect this world."
"I do not know if we will be able to spare your talents in dealing with the dwarves," Islanzadi said with slight contempt.
Vidarr paused and took a deep breath at the queen's comment. As he turned towards the queen, his eyes flashed in obvious annoyance, and the air around him seemed to thicken. "Do not presume to dictate to me, Queen. As you well know, I was old before your kingdom was even a thought. I have more experience in these matters than the rest of you combined. It is a courtesy that I am discussing strategy with you when I could simply declare myself King once again, and none of you would be able to say a word otherwise."
The queen bristled at Vidarr's statement. She resented what he said, but I could tell she was attempting to reign in an angry retort. Thankfully it seemed as if she understood that angering him further was not a good idea.
"My apologies Vidarr, I simply meant that there are others who could go to treat with the dwarves," the queen bit out.
"No harm was done, Islanzadi," he responded. "But do not forget that I am not one of your subordinates."
The tension seemed to melt out of the air as the conversation got back underway. It was quickly decided that Vidarr would find the other Royal family members, then after they had been brought back to the elven kingdom, he would travel with Orik to Farthen Dur. Oromis would stay primarily with the elves and I would stay and train for as long as possible before leaving and joining the Varden. Arya would be leaving the soonest, only staying for two more days before she left to resume her position as the elvish ambassador to the Varden.
Overall, I thought the plan sounded as good as any I could think of. I was slightly disappointed that I would not be able to train more with Vidarr, but I understood that he was needed elsewhere. Similarly, I would also greatly miss Arya; I had grown used to spending time with her. Saphira too would miss her, I could tell that she had also grown fond of interacting with the beautiful princess.
The discussions continued for the rest of the morning, and a few hours into the afternoon. With the main plans decided on, the smaller details simply needed to be hashed out between us. The last major question that needed answering was brought up by Glorfindel. "It slipped my mind before now," he started, "but do we tell Nasuada and King Hrothgar about the true history, or your origins Vidarr?"
Everyone turned towards the Ancient, deferring to his judgment on this topic as he was the one who had shared the secret with the rest of us. He was lost in thought for a few minutes before he came up with an answer. "Not yet. I will tell them personally when we are all together again, and I also plan to make the history more well known, although some things will be left out. If it becomes necessary for certain people to know earlier we can discuss that when it comes up, but until then I will withhold that knowledge for now."
Voicing our agreement, it appeared as if the gathering was about to break up, with everyone heading their separate ways, when Freyr called out, "Eragon, Saphira, Oromis, and Glaedr, you will accompany Vidarr and me back to the Crags so that we may ascertain your skill level. Glorfindel you too will come so that we may have even numbers to spar."
Slightly intimidated, I turned towards Saphira and asked, Do you think we are ready for this?
It is not a matter of being ready, they simply wish to see our current skill level. Regardless of where we are at, this is just meant to ascertain how much training we still need.
I guess you are right. I just do not want to disappoint them.
We will do our best Eragon, and there will be no disappointment.
Hoping that Saphira was right, I bid goodbye to the Queen and to Arya, who were both going to be spreading the word to start preparing for war. Orik would be walking to Rhunon's forge to spend some time with a fellow smith, so I gave him a quick pat on the back as a farewell. Climbing onto Saphira's back, we followed Glaedr to the Crags of Tel'naeir, both of us hoping to put on a good showing of our power.
Vidarr:
We flew leisurely, not in any hurry to get to Oromis' home. It had been a long morning, however, it was quite productive in that we now had firm plans on how we were going to conduct this war. The only major thing left for us to do was to evaluate the skills of the two other riders. With Oromis being a master, neither I nor Freyr had any doubt that both he and Glaedr would be well trained. However, that did not mean that their learning was complete, or that they had no need to further train their physical abilities.
Eragon and Saphira were another matter. With him being a human, and given that he had only been a rider for a year at most, there was very likely a significant gap in his knowledge and skills. I could not blame either for their skill level though; there was simply no one who could train them adequately apart from Oromis or me, and Eragon had not been in Ellesmera long enough for Oromis to have progressed his training to any significant level. Freyr agreed with my assessment of their probable skills and planned to take both Saphira and Glaedr with him to test their skill levels within the wild, as a dragon's skills needed to cover much more than just fighting.
We were nearing the cliffs, so Freyr and I put together a quick plan for how we would proceed with the tests. Landing a little ways from the others, Glorfindel and I hopped off of Freyr's back and made our way closer to the others.
"Glaedr, Saphira, you will accompany me for your skills assessment," Freyr said. "Eragon, Oromis, we will be gone for two days so take care of yourselves in the meantime. If you are anything like most two-legs, you have a knack for finding yourself in troublesome situations."
Blushing Eragon responded, "Hey, I resent that. I managed just fine on my own for 16 years."
"Do not pretend like the last year has not happened Eragon," Saphira said. "We both know that is a fairly accurate statement of events when you are left alone."
Grumbling a bit Eragon simply said goodbye to Saphira, Oromis doing the same with Glaedr, after which the dragons took their leave, quickly flying north. We watched them until they disappeared, and once they were out of sight, I turned back towards Eragon, Oromis, and Glorfindel.
"Alright, for the rest of the day, Glorfindel and I are going to be testing some of the various skills that you should possess as a rider. Oromis, I already have a pretty good idea of your skillset, or at least your training, as you were trained traditionally. However, I have no idea as to the skills of young Eragon." Stopping to consider how I would like to start, I studied the two riders in front of me. Deciding that I would work with Eragon I continued, "We will start with some sparing. I would like to ensure that your skills with the sword are adequate. Glorfindel, you spar with Oromis, I will take Eragon."
I motioned for the young rider to follow me, turned, and made my way to the other side of the clearing. Once I decided we were a sufficient distance away I turned back towards Eragon and sat upon the ground. Hearing the clash of swords startup, I noticed the young rider's confused look and explained, "Before we begin sparing, I would like to know a bit about your training thus far, and how your life has been ever since Saphira hatched for you."
He took a moment to sit down, obviously a bit nervous, but whether or not it was because of the conversation or just because it was with me, I did not know. However, he only took a few minutes to gather his thoughts before he started his tale with a faraway look in his eyes.
"I cannot say that everything has gone well, as it hasn't. I cannot even say that I would do everything the same way if I was given a second chance. However, I can say that I have never wished that I did not find Saphira's egg. The bond we have formed in the short time since she appeared to me is something that I would not trade for anything.
"When her egg first appeared to me I thought I had found a magic stone or some large gem, but it was not long until it hatched for me. As a poor farmer, I had no idea how to handle a baby dragon, but luckily for me, there was a man who lived in the same town as I who knew all the old stories about the dragon riders. For weeks I would make the trip into town as often as possible to question him about the dragons in his stories, hoping to learn enough to take care of Saphira. He was surprisingly knowledgeable and even gave me the idea for Saphira's name, but it turned out that he knew far more than I ever could have guessed. It was not until later that I learned that he had been a dragon rider himself and that his dragon was killed during the war with Galbatorix. His name was Brom, and he is the one who first trained me. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, we left the town I was from and while on the road he began to teach me swordplay, how to defend my mind, and some basics in magic. I know that it was not nearly a complete, or even a well-rounded, education, but I feel it was the best he could do given the situation. After a run-in with the Ra'Zac in Dras-Leona in which Brom was killed while protecting me, I, along with another companion named Murtagh, had to flee into the countryside. Sometime later, I began to have dreams of an elf who was imprisoned. Murtagh and I made our way to Gil'ead, where I was captured and imprisoned by a shade named Durza. While in captivity I discovered that the elf I had been dreaming of was in the same prison. It took some time, but we were able to escape, although Saphira had to expose herself to the city in the escape attempt. With Saphira's existence no longer simple rumors, we had to flee from the empire before we were captured and brought before Galbatorix. As it is, we were nearly captured by a band of urgals before we made it to the safety of the Varden. Once there, we spent some time recovering from the road and made alliances with both the Varden and the dwarves. Unfortunately, not long after we arrived it was discovered that the urgals had found a way into the mountain stronghold and that we were under threat of attack. With a combined effort of the Varden and the dwarves, we were able to defeat the attack on Farthen Dur, but only after Saphira and I managed to kill Durza, who was leading the assault. After that, not much happened. I was terribly injured, along with many others, and there was a lot of destruction that had to be dealt with. The leader of the Varden had also been killed, so we had to deal with the rising of a new leader, one whom I swore fealty to. After that…"
"You did what?" I asked incredulously.
"I swore fealty to the new leader of the Varden," Eragon answered looking confused. "I trust her, and she was by far better than the council who wanted me to swear fealty to them instead."
Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Eragon, we are Dragon Riders. There is no authority in this world that supersedes our own. The council knew this, which is why they attempted to have you swear fealty to them. Unfortunately, for that council, and this new leader you speak of, one of the oldest laws we have as riders is that younglings are not able to enter into contracts such as this. It is simply not enforceable."
"But I gave my word that I would support Nasuada!" Eragon exclaimed.
"It does not matter youngling. My word overrules yours in this instance, and you will be beholden to no one but the riders unless it is deemed absolutely necessary. Am I clear?" Seeing his rebellious look I sighed again. "Eragon, trust me, I am not doing this for some simple desire to keep you to ourselves. It is for the best."
"Why? They are fighting Galbatorix too. We can help each other!"
"And when the war is over what then? When this Nasuada orders you to do something that goes against every fiber of your conscience, what then? When she gives you orders in contradiction to the elves' or dwarves' wishes, what then? When Galbatorix is defeated and Nasuada most assuredly tries to assume command of the empire, what then Eragon?" I asked becoming slightly annoyed. "Having an alliance is something that we need youngling. There is no fault in trying to ensure sufficient allies to fight this war. The problem is that we have to be impartial and not side with one faction to the exclusion of all others. We are the peacekeepers of this world, Eragon, and we cannot fulfill that duty if we are held down by something as trivial as fealty to one Human ruler."
Eragon looked down, appearing slightly embarrassed. "I never thought of that. I am sorry for messing this up."
"It is ok Eragon, that is why Oromis and I are here to teach you. You are not expected to know everything just because a dragon hatched for you." Glancing towards the two elves sparing a short distance away I decided we needed to get back on track. "Enough of this, finish your story and then we will test your skill with the blade."
Nodding in agreement, Eragon continued where he left off. "After swearing fealty to Nasuada, I was also adopted into one of the dwarven clans prior to our departure from the dwarven city. Then Saphira and I, along with Arya and several dwarves including Orik left for Ellesmera. Not much of note happened during our travels, although one dwarf clan did declare a blood feud with us."
"Hm, that feud could be troublesome. Dwarves are a notoriously hard-headed lot, and they do not forget their grudges easily," I added thoughtfully. "But that is a problem for another day. How was your training progressing here in Ellesmera?"
"The magic, mind, and knowledge portions of the training were going well, however, the physical training was not on account of the injury I suffered from my fight with Durza. The scar it left across the length of my back would cause me to have a sort of seizure if I aggravated it, so it made physical training difficult."
Frowning in thought I wondered if this young rider would be able to progress much beyond the level of a teacher with his impairment. "Do you mind showing me the wound? Perhaps there I remember some way to heal it that has been otherwise forgotten to time."
"I do not have it anymore!" Eragon laughed. "The night of the Agaeti Blodhren I was apparently cured of that wound, as well as whatever magic it was changing me into a partial elf."
"Interesting," I mused. "I wonder if your skill has changed at all since that night. Let us find out."
Nodding in agreement, Eragon and I stood from where we had been sitting. Drawing our swords, we both placed a protective layer around the edge to prevent any serious injury and sunk into our respective stances. Shooting a slight smirk towards the young rider I gave only a hint of warning before striking at his head. "Don't hold back."