Disclaimer: I do not own the Inheritance Cycle book series or the Young Justice TV show, nor do I make any money off of writing about them. And with that said, let's get on with the chapter!
I woke up in a cold sweat, covered in dirt and plant detritus. I took a moment to gather myself. I thought back to what Morgan had said in the void about my memories. Thinking back on my parents and siblings, I felt a faint fondness, but nothing more. I shrugged. Morgan must have been telling the truth.
I was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and brown drawstring pants, no shoes or undergarments. I looked at my surroundings before freezing in shock and awe. Before me, perfectly clean of any or the debris that covered me on arrival, sat a purple egg, shot through with veins of darker violet and a lighter lilac. It was the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen. Beside the egg sat a large lump of purple metal that I assumed to be brightsteel, the mystical metal used to craft the swords of every Dragon Rider of Alegaesia. I was ecstatic to see it sitting here in front me, though I had expected it to be already worked into a blade. I put it aside for now in favor of the egg. I reached out for the egg, and as I touched it, it shuddered.
"I took the pleasure of speeding up the hatching process for you, you're welcome," I heard the voice of Morgan, the nigh omnipotent being that had sent me to this reality, whisper into my ear. I whipped around, eyes darting in all directions. I saw nothing, not even a shadow.
"I'm not here physically, you dummy," he whispered, "only mentally. Now relax. In my excitement, I left some things out. The reason I left you on Themyscira is to get training. So, go do that, then we can talk. It'll probably take a year or two. Bye-bye."
And with that, I could feel him depart. I sighed, then cursed at the stupid god for making me sigh yet again. I gathered up the brightsteel and the egg, which shuddered again, more violently this time. I silently wondered how to carry both the awkward lump of brightsteel and the egg at the same time. I shrugged and took off my dirty shirt, tied closed the head hole and dropped in both the egg and the lump of metal. I wasn't worried about the metal damaging the egg due to the inherent durability of the egg's shell. I tied the long sleeves of the shirt together, slung the makeshift bag over my shoulder, and started walking. When you have no clue where to go, anywhere is equally as helpful.
I walked. And walked. And walked some more. Finally, as I was about to give up on walking and take a break, I heard the faint rush of a river. Excited, I walked a little faster toward the source of the sound. It took a little while, but eventually, I came upon the shore of a quickly running river. It was at that moment that my body reminded me that food and water were necessary for survival.
Food, I decided, I would have to do without. I didn't trust my miniscule knowledge of edible plants to try to eat anything I found. However, if my memory served, running water is the safest kind to drink. So, despite my lack of a fire or any other way to sanitize the water, I drank from the river. The water was cool and refreshing, and I had to remind myself not to overindulge, or I would I make myself sick.
It was then that I felt another shudder from my makeshift satchel (not a purse), followed by an odd chink sound. I glanced inside the bag and saw a small hole in the egg, which was now covered in cracks. A vibrant yellow eye, contrasting nicely with the purple of the surrounding scales, looked at me. I carefully picked up the egg, removed it from the bag, and set it on the bank of the river. Then I waited.
I didn't have to wait for long. Soon, chips and shards of eggshell were falling as the little dragon punched its head and neck through the hole in the shell. This was followed by its body, wings, and tail. It was wet, covered in the remains of the egg. I almost squealed with how excited I was, though I was also nervous. The process of bonding with the egg was supposed to be pretty painful. I swallowed.
I reached out to the tiny dragon, about the size of a small cat, and it curiously stretched out its neck to brush its head against my palm. I experienced something that was similar to what I remembered from the first book of the series. A shock of icy power so cold it burned rushed through my arm into the rest of my body. I screamed. The energy seared every inch of my insides, stimulated every nerve in the worst way before rushing away just as quickly as it had come.
I gasped and heaved, trying to catch my breath as endorphins rushed to counter the pain that was no longer there. The dragon snorted and wobbled over to me. I knew that I should now be capable of telepathically communicating with the young dragon, so I mentally rifled through all the corners of my mind, searching for my connection to the dragon. After a brief moment, I found it. I gently touched the strand of consciousness I felt from the dragon.
Hello, I said. Are you there? I asked, feeling a bit silly. Even as I spoke to it, I could feel the curiosity and wonder of the newborn dragon. I could feel its joy at our bond as it sent a feeling of affirmation through our connection. Without even realizing, my eyes started leaking tears at the sense of wholeness I felt now, as if I had been living life with blinders on, only to take them off and realize what I had been missing this whole time.
Are you a boy or a girl? I asked. Before I started trying to name my new partner, I needed to know what kind of names to start offering. It snorted again and I felt an odd sense of masculinity. I thought for a moment, wondering whether to name him after a gemstone as a nod to Saphira, the dragon of the main character from the book series. I decided not after the dragon sent a faint sense of dissatisfaction. After several minutes of discussion, mostly me tossing out ideas that were promptly shut down, we decided to name him after one of the most badass characters to ever be associated with the color purple, Mace Windu.
After naming Mace, I finally caught a glimpse of the silver mark on my palm, the result of bonding with Mace, my very own gedwëy ignasia, or "shining palm." It looked like a spiral of raised silver skin that I knew would glow with a silver light when I cast magic, which I dare not do yet. It would likely knock me unconscious upon my first use, which I couldn't risk right now.
I picked up Mace and set him on my shoulder, glancing around the area. The shards of eggshell caught my eye. As the product of a creature as wholly magical as a dragon, they must be at least somewhat valuable and potentially useful. I shrugged and started the slightly gross task of gathering the pieces of eggshell and rinsing of the fluids that covered them. I nicked myself a couple of times on the sharp edges of the shells, giving me hope that I might be able to somehow craft them into a weapon of some sort.
Having gathered up all the pieces of shell, I tossed them in my makeshift bag with the lump of metal and slung it back over my shoulder. Mace squawked at me for making him shift, blasting me telepathically with his sense of annoyance. I chuckled at his childishness. I had only known him for minutes and could already say without a doubt that I loved him.
We followed the edge of the river for a while, as I figured that it was our best chance to reach civilization. We stumbled along through the brush and rocks along the banks of the river for what seemed like hours, but was likely much less than that. Soon, the rushing sound of the river grew to a great roar, and after pushing through the last bits of brush, we came out at the top of a great cliff which overlooked a massive valley. A huge city marked the center of the valley. The river flowed off the side of the cliff beside us into a gorgeous waterfall. I was struck by the beauty and splendor of the island.
Of course, the moment was rather ruined when I felt cold sharp metal dig into my bare back and heard a feminine voice say in my ear, "If you move so much as a hair, I will sever your spine and throw you off this cliff. Am I clear?"
"Yes," I swallowed. My whole body itched to turn around and identify my attacker, but I had no doubt that if I gave into the urge, my lifeless corpse would be flying over the edge of this cliff before I could get halfway around. I felt Mace poke his head out from my bag, where he had been sleeping for the past half an hour. Mace took in the atmosphere and the attacker's blade at my back. He hissed and crawled up my arm. My ambusher hissed and dug her blade further into my back.
"Call off your creature, now, lest you perish this very moment!" She whispered harshly into my ear once more. Her warm breath tickled my ear. He reared back and hissed again. I knew if I didn't call him off right then, he would attack, and probably get us both killed for it.
"Mace," I spoke out loud for the benefit of my ambusher, "Relax! She isn't going to hurt as long as we do as she says. Right?" I asked, not daring to move a muscle.
"Hmm. Probably," she hummed. She didn't dig the blade in any further as she watched Mace slowly crawl back into my bag. Once he was completely inside, another pair of hands roughly tugged the bag off my shoulders and tied it closed. Mace squawked loudly in protest but did nothing else at my mental urging. Still at blade point, my hands were pulled behind my back and tied tightly together. I was shoved forward and, unable to break my fall, landed hard. My captors tied my feet together and hauled me up, only to pull a bag over my head and cinch it shut.
By this point I was reasonably certain that I had been taken captive by Amazons, and that I was being taken to the city to be interrogated. I was tossed onto what I assumed was a horse. I sat on the back of this horse for a couple of hours as the sounds I heard transitioned from hoofbeats on packed dirt to hoofbeats on cobbled stone, surrounded by the sounds of the city. Eventually, we stopped, followed by some conversation between the patrolling Amazons and the ones guarding what I presumed to be the palace and/or temple. I hoped that Morgan hadn't forgotten to give Hera the memo about me not being an intruder on the island. I was pulled down off the horse and slung over someone's impressively muscled shoulder. It was a bit hard to appreciate right now due to those same muscles digging into my gut. We quickly reached wherever we were going and I was tossed none to gently to the ground. All the breath rushed out of me at the unexpected impact. I slowly tried to gather my wits as I was pulled up so I was sitting on my knees.
The bag was uncinched and pulled off my head. I squinted and blinked several times to allow my eyes to adjust to the bright lighting. Once my eyes had adjusted, I turned my gaze toward the throne, upon which sat a regal looking woman who I assumed to be Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. She had dark hair and eyes, and she was clothed in expensive looking clothing and jewelry. To her right stood another woman, not nearly as regal, but just as impressive. She wore what appeared to be robes and a veil covering her face. Based upon her clothing, I assumed her to be some sort of priestess or something.
"I am Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons of Themyscira. Why do you trespass on our sacred island? And how did you come to be here? The island is heavily warded to prevent intrusions such as yours," the queen spoke up. Her voice carried the same authority that her presence exuded. I struggled to gather my thoughts.
"This is where I come in. I'm sure you can make up a convincing story once I've intervened," whispered the voice of Morgan in my ear. I glanced around, but no one else appeared to have overheard the unscrupulous god's whispering. As I did so, I noticed the priestess stiffen and turn to the queen. Hippolyta turned toward the priestess and they held a quick and quiet conversation before the priestess returned to her spot beside the throne and the queen turned back to me.
"How interesting. The High Priestess of Hera has just informed me of a message from the Queen of Gods herself that we are to train and help you to the best of our abilities, so long as you pose no harm to us. Now, as much as I revere the Goddess, I have to wonder, how does a single boy gather her attention? Who are you?" She asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion and mistrust. I could feel the silent jeers and glares of the women in the room fall on my kneeling form.
I tried to speak, but only managed a slight croak, the result of the last few hours having been spent with no water and a stiflingly hot bag covering my face. The queen gave a nod to one of the guards that had dragged me in here, and she put a water skin to my lips, allowing me to take a few sips to wet my throat. She then stoppered it and stepped back and allowed me to address Hippolyta.
"Your Grace," I started hesitantly, thoughts scrambling to find a reasonable explanation for my presence. The queen seemed to misunderstand my predicament and gave a nod to affirm my choice of honorific. My remaining doubts fled as I realized that the best lies are based on the truth. I mentally shrugged and decided to give a heavily edited (read: falsified) account of what actually happened.
"Your Grace," I began again, "I am from another world. A god of my world has foreseen trouble here in your realm, and sent myself here to help. I am a fledgling Dragon Rider of Alegaesia. We are a powerful order of warriors, keepers of the peace of the realm. As such a fresh recruit, I was the only one they could send without affecting the peace of my own realm."
Of course, this was almost complete horseshit. I was hardly from Alegaesia, or some disciple of Morgan. I could practically feel him laughing at the thought. But this was close enough to the truth that I would have no issues sticking to it.
"If you are as weak as you say, how could you help us? You seem like nothing but a young whelp to me. You do not even appear to have a pet dragon as your people sound like they have," she said with a snort. I felt a flare of anger from both myself and Mace at her dismissive attitude toward our bond. Somehow, I kept the snarl off my face as I responded.
"Firstly, Your Grace, I do have a dragon. Secondly, my dragon is my partner, not my pet. We have a bond that I doubt many of your people could comprehend. And as to us being weak, that is only temporary. A dragon is a powerfully magical creature, and a bond with one is extremely beneficial," I said stiffly, still hurt over her insulting manner.
"Foolish boy, a dragon will not partner with you! They are mere beasts, powerful, yes, but no more intelligent than a yapping dog," snarled a scowling woman. She looked annoyed to be standing in the same room with me, which I assumed to be an Amazonian bias against males.
I could feel Mace's temper flare, which stoked the smoldering ember of my annoyance into an open flame of anger. Mace, finally having had enough, used his sharp claws to tear a hole through the makeshift bag. It had been slung around the shoulder of another sentry. The dragon hissed at the guard that had insulted him before crawling over to me and up my shoulder.
"He's intelligent enough to understand your comment and be angry at the disrespect you have shown him," I said as I glared at the surprised woman. I turned back to Hippolyta to meet her judging gaze. We locked eyes and I refused to break contact first. She stood up and walked over to me. She pulled a knife and I was afraid for a moment that she was going to kill me. But she cut my bonds before returning to her throne as the remaining occupants of the room stared at her in shock.
"We still have much to discuss. What threat is coming that your god feels he must send aid? What powers does this bond with your dragon grant you?" she asked. I winced. She had asked both of the questions I had hoped she wouldn't ask.
"The thing is, Your Grace, my god… did not inform me of what the coming threat entails, just that my help would be needed. I feel I can trust you and your people, Your Grace, so I freely offer up this information. The weakness of my god's foresight is that he cannot tell others of exactly what he sees, only move around the pieces on the board like a game of chess. I am his pawn, one he can afford to give up in the hopes it becomes a queen," I said as my mind raced to fill in the gaps left in my lies.
"Interesting. What about your dragon powers, little pawn?" Hippolyta asked, almost amused at my analogy. I shrugged inwardly. If she got her kicks out of calling me a pawn, so long as she gave me the help I so desperately needed, I could live with that.
"Well, Your Grace, the bond offers many boons. I can communicate with Mace, my dragon, telepathically, and eventually I gain full telepathic abilities. I gain the ability to utilize magic. I gain the ability to pull from the Mace's reserves to use magic. I gain enhanced strength, speed, and durability. Oh, and I am unable to die of old age, so long as Mace is still alive. All of this, along with the dragon himself, I suppose," I said with a wry grin as the jaws of the Amazons dropped at the power Mace granted me through the bond.
"Quite impressive. One final question. What manner of creature are you?" asked Hippolyta. Confusion shot through me. I was just a normal human, something they had assuredly seen before.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Your Grace. I am a human. Surely you have seen them before, no?" I asked inquisitively. I could see Hippolyta's face go through several emotions before settling on confused and interested. She nodded to a guard and told them to bring a mirror. Confused and slightly concerned, I felt my face. Nothing felt out of place except for the fact that the beard I had wanted wasn't there, but that wasn't too surprising because I had been de-aged several years. Otherwise, there were no bumps, horns, tusks, or anything I would deem inhuman. I decided just to wait for the mirror.
Soon enough, the guard came back with an ornate handheld mirror. She handed it to me silently and stepped back to her post. I looked in the mirror to see ethereal features slightly too sharp to be human, and ears that tapered to a point. I barely had the sense of mind to keep holding onto the expensive mirror. Because I wasn't a human.
I was a fucking elf.
(A/N): Hello all! It is me, EmperorCyanide, once again! Thank you all for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed it. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am a pretty lazy guy, so unless I get really inspired or something, uploads are going to slow way down once the kick of actually publishing stuff wears off. Hope you all will follow, favorite, or drop a review, even if it is just to tell me how to improve what I am sure is subpar writing. Bye!