Managed to get this done on time! Yay! Hope everyone had a good half-month, or however long it's been since the last update. I've been extremely busy, which is why I had to rush this week to get this update done. Because of that, I did not have excellent editing time, so if anyone finds any continuity errors, spelling issues, etc., please comment and point them out so I can fix them. As ever, I also welcome comments on any other subject, especially constructive criticism, and I hope you all enjoy!
The shrilling of the alarm Eragon had given him yanked Corrin out of a sound sleep. For the second morning in a row, it took a minute for him to figure out where he was. He blinked repeatedly and sat up blearily. Directly across from him, the mound of eggshell-colored scales filling the next cell of the colonnade shifted enough to reveal a glaring red eye. Make. It. Quiet, Kiera demanded.
I am working on it, he informed her, fumbling for the small bauble. When it at last ceased to make abominably loud noises, Corrin glanced around and ran one hand through his rumpled hair. Um. Training! He scrambled out of bed as his thoughts finally began to catch up with his scattered memories.
Kiera watched him tolerantly as he skidded to a stop in the middle of the room and spun around, looking for his boots. Put on a clean shirt, too, she advised.
Yes, dear, Corrin replied, yanking on presentable clothing. As soon as he was respectably attired, he dashed out the "door" of his open-sided room, clipping a supporting column with a shoulder and almost falling. "Sands and stones," he hissed under his breath.
Graceful.
Corrin glared at her. You have to get up too, you know.
Yes. But first I will enjoy your absurdity. Kiera radiated amusement at him, so instead of retorting, Corrin straightened up and marched toward Calarel's kitchen area with as much dignity as he could muster, grumbling in the privacy of his own thoughts about smug dragons and early mornings. After a moment, he heard Kiera heave herself up to go out as well.
Calarel looked up with a smile as soon as Corrin stuck his head into the kitchen. "Good morning!" he greeted cheerfully. "Care for something to eat?"
"Yes, please," Corrin said, smiling back.
Calarel ladled something into a bowl, put the bowl and several pieces of buttered bread on a plate, and shooed Corrin into the next room, where Eragon was sitting at a wooden table looking dangerously close to falling asleep in his bowl. Corrin pulled out a chair and started in on his own meal.
He was so focused on spooning what turned out to be a kind of oat porridge into his mouth that he completely missed Murtagh joining them. He only looked up when Leah walked into the room, grinning widely, and brightly said, "Good morning, Corrin, Murtagh, Ebrithil. Isn't it a lovely day? I just love starting off a day of training with Calarel's excellent cooking, don't you!"
Eragon pointed his spoon at her and pinned her with a scathing look. Leah beamed innocently at him. Corrin stifled a laugh.
"Stop that," rumbled Varog from behind her. "Is too crowded in here. I want to go sit outside, and you are in my way."
Leah winked at Corrin and then ducked out onto the Court, deftly balancing her plate in one hand. Varog followed her, inclining his great horned head towards Eragon.
Eragon sighed and spooned up more of his meal. "Morning people," he grumbled, his tone making the words a curse and eliciting a chuckle from Murtagh. Corrin distinctly heard someone else snickering from the direction his fellow trainees had gone.
*dragons*dragons*dragons*
To Corrin's surprise, instead of having them do the Rimgar or study in the ancient language or something similar, once the morning meal had been finished, Eragon rounded the three apprentices and Murtagh up and led all of them through the mirror room and out into the woods surrounding the Court. At first Corrin thought they might be headed towards the door that led to the Eldunari, but a fork in the path instead began winding up the mountain, towards thicker, older growth. Eragon and Murtagh went first, having some conversation inaudible to the rest, and Leah, Varog, and Corrin walked behind, far enough to be able to talk amongst themselves in a little knot.
Corrin was broken out of his contemplation of the path after a few minutes by Leah's voice. "What about some historical figure from farther back than the Rider War? Heslant, or something?"
"Mount Heslant?" Varog rumbled, testing the name. "Heslant Mountain? Or perhaps Mountain of the Monk?"
"Do you two do this every morning?" Corrin asked.
Leah turned to look over her shoulder at him. "Of course!" she said, favoring him with a conspiratorial grin. Corrin felt a sudden flush creep up his neck. "It's an important topic, after all," she continued.
"Names have power," Varog added simply.
Leah nodded. "And, besides, the Riders will likely live on or by this mountain for centuries. It should have a suitable name, something that will fit the future that will grow here."
"The future?" Corrin asked.
She hopped over a root and glanced up towards the rounded peak. "We three and our masters are the first of a new order: it's up to us to rebuild the Riders the right way. In my opinion, that includes making sure our home is sufficiently impressive to hear about." She waved a hand around them. "Probably some wit will eventually give this place a nickname that will become common usage, but I think it should have some solemnity to it, also."
"Oi!' Eragon called from where he and Murtagh had steadily drawn ahead. "Keep up!" Corrin glanced up and saw that the two older Riders had stopped in the shadow of a grove of oaks whose branches had grown together into a woven thicket. It reminded him vaguely of the dogwood tunnel to Rhunon's forge: he suspected more than a little magic had influenced this place. Even as he watched, Eragon turned and entered the leafy tunnel. A moment later, light flickered between the leaves as he summoned a werelight.
That gave Corrin a thought. "Can either of you use magic?" he asked of his companions, both of whom were walking a bit ahead of him.
The two turned almost as one to look at him, and then at each other. Then Leah shrugged and stooped to pick up a small chunk of rock from the roots of the nearby trees. With Corrin watching avidly, she focused on the stone held at waist height and said firmly, "Stenr rïsa!"
The uneven pebble rose soundlessly to hover about six inches above her palm. Leah grinned at Corrin's expression. "Varog can, too," she told him, holding out her hand and the floating rock with it for his examination.
Corrin put his hand through the space between her palm and the rock, as he would to check if a street charlatan was using some unseen mechanism to lift the stone. There was none. He put his hand on top of the pebble and pushed down. The distance between it and Leah's hand did not change, but her arm itself dipped slightly before she pushed back.
"That is incredible," he told her finally, stepping back.
Leah nodded excitedly, and then returned her attention to the rock once more. "Ganga," she said confidently.
The pebble shot from her hand and went flying into the undergrowth with several audible crashes and snaps. All three of them froze.
"Control, Leah," Eragon's dry voice advised from behind the branches. "Magic is all about control."
"Yes, Ebrithil," Leah said, wincing.
*dragons*dragons*dragons*
The tunnel of oak branches was actually fairly long. At infrequent intervals they passed alcoves grown out of the branches with a tree stump, a flat rock, or a circle of grass inside. Each time they passed one, Eragon assigned one of their little party to it. As Corrin surmised during this process, these were meditation spots such as the elves in Ellesmera had used. First Murtagh and then Leah and Varog were given alcoves, until Eragon and Corrin were walking alone to the next spot. When they reached it, Eragon ducked inside and gestured for Corrin to follow.
"Sit," he said. "It's time for your first proper lesson."
This particular alcove had a tree stump; Corrin sat cross-legged as he had seen the elves do when working or thinking.
"Good," Eragon told him. "This is what we do every morning in order to train our minds. Arya and Firnen were teaching you to defend your mind while in Ellesmera, and that was wise and necessary, but now I'm going to ask you to do the opposite. Close your eyes, open your mind, and listen."
Corrin nodded affirmative. "Alright." He paused and frowned. "Listen to what?"
Eragon looked like he was suppressing a smile. "The world around you," he said. "Every living thing in this glade." His eyes became distant for just a moment. "Listen, and when you hear no more, come tell me what you have learned." With that cryptic statement, he turned and left the alcove of branches, leaving Corrin to his own devices.
Corrin closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The walls around his mind lowered easily enough. He wasn't very good at keeping them up anyway, in all honesty.
He focused and listened.
I'm a little unhappy with the last line, but I've failed repeatedly to come up with a better option, so I'm going with it. I don't have much to talk about this month, so I'll just say that I've hopefully returned to a regular update schedule, so the next chapter should be up next month. Until then, I hope everyone is well and enjoying the fic!