Chapter 8
Danny shivered as he passed through what felt like a curtain of water. He glanced around, but his elven guides were unaffected. He looked questioningly at Fadrau, who he had learned was the most talkative and friendly of his guides (which wasn't really saying much, because beyond their first encounter, he had been almost as quiet as the rest).
"We have passed the outermost wards protecting Ellesméra," Fadrau explained. During their journey, the elf had figured out much about how Danny's ectoplasmic energy interacted with magic. Since he was able to see it and interact with it in its rawest form, it made sense that he was more sensitive to it, especially in his ghost form (hence why he couldn't stay transformed in Du Weldenvarden).
The elves hadn't pried about what he was, but if he extended his aura a bit to brush up against the elves, he could feel their curiosity. No matter how they adjusted their mental shields, Danny could still get impressions from them, which disgruntled them. Danny supposed that he was sensing something else from them that they hadn't discovered how to defend yet, a different spectrum of information than simply their minds. (Now, he had no doubt that those powerful mental shields would keep him from overshadowing the elves, as overshadowing did bring him into contact with their minds.) So, they were probably waiting for something before grilling him about his origins and abilities.
They trekked farther into the forest. The trees began to thin out slightly, allowing pools of light to form on the forest floor. The grassy underbrush began to become peppered with flowers of all colors, making a slightly sweet scent waft through the air. The trail widened, enough for the entire group of horses to ride side-by-side.
Fadrau brought the group to a halt. On the path before them was an old elf dressed in robes with a circlet upon his head. He was the first elf with signs of aging Danny had seen upon his face, with slight wrinkles on his brow and around his mouth.
"That is Gilderien the Wise," Fadrau said. "He is responsible for welcoming travelers to the city. None may pass unless he permits it. Show him the egg."
Danny did as he was instructed, bringing the green dragon egg out of his pack for the old elf to see. The elf scrutinized the egg, then Danny. Danny felt a wisp of a touch against his mind, but before he could even think to defend against the intrusion, the touch had moved on.
The old elf nodded at Danny before bowing slightly and extending his arms in greeting. The group rode around him as they moved forward. When Danny glanced back, Gilderien the Wise was gone.
As Danny rode forward, he began to notice artificial constructs in the forest: well-maintained paths, odd angles jutting from trees, walkways suspended above dips in the ground. The houses were beautiful constructs of wood and window and looked as though they had been grown straight from the tree rather than built around the tree.
Danny, with his enhanced senses, heard the elves before he saw them, whispering like rustling leaves. They spoke in a language Danny had no knowledge of. Then they started stepping into view, eyeing him warily. Their hair was either dark as shadow or bright silver as starlight, and they wore tunics of russet and green. They had finely shaped faces, like the elves guarding Danny.
"This way," Fadrau said, guiding Danny through the crowd.
About halfway to their destination, the elves dismounted and motioned for Danny to do the same. "Gánga," they said to their horses. Danny's horse remained by his side until Fadrau whispered to him to release the horse with the same word the elves had spoken. Danny was reminded of the time he'd been learning the common language of this world, forcing his tongue around foreign pronunciations and grammatical structures.
Finally, they reached a dense root system that formed stair steps to an imposing door made of oak. Fadrau led the way, pushing open the door and ushering Danny inside. The rest of his guards remained outside.
The first thing Danny noticed was the dragon. A beautiful, sparkling sapphire blue, it stood in the center of the room, waiting patiently for their group to enter. It blinked once at him, then scented the air. It growled and shifted uneasily. The one human in the room, who was standing next to the dragon, placed a hand on its leg to calm it, frowning. There was one short man, dressed in dark, heavy clothes, standing next to the human. And finally, the rest of the inhabitants of the room were elves adorned with circlets, either seated in one of the chairs arranged around the room or standing next to the dragon. The two standing elves were both beautiful, with long, dark hair and striking features.
The door creaked shut behind him. Danny tightened his grip on his bag. If he needed to run, he was at a definite disadvantage. He was trapped.
"Welcome, stranger," one of the standing elves said, extending her arms in greeting.
"Uh, hi. I'm Danny," Danny said, bowing his head to her in respect. With the most ornate circlet, it was likely that the elf who had spoken was the queen.
"Danny. I am Islanzadí, queen of the elves," the elf woman said, "I have heard whispers that you bring something very important to us. Is this true?"
"Well, if you think this is important…" Once again, Danny dipped his hand into his pack and withdrew the dragon egg. There was a wave of murmurs through the room. The dragon hissed, its neck arching and its pupils slitting.
"By Helzvog's beard," the short man – dwarf? – muttered. "He really did steal it."
"How?" the human asked, eyeing him as if he were an enemy.
"Simple, really," Danny quipped. "I just burned away the enchantments protecting it."
His answer incited another wave of murmurs. The other elf lady, the one who was not the queen, frowned. "It would not be so easy to bypass Galbatorix's protections, I think. Speak clearly."
"Well, how do I say this…" Danny began, thinking. How could he explain his powers and his origins to these people? "It's complicated."
"Well, un-complicate it," the human said, scowling.
"Okay," Danny shrugged. "I have unique powers that allow me to interact with magic in a strange way."
"What kind of powers?" the human asked, his tone clipped as his temper flared.
"I don't know how to describe them to you other than to show them to you. Here, look…" Danny held up and hand and let it flare green with ectoplasmic energy for the crowd to see.
He was unprepared when the dragon roared at him and lunged, claws outstretched. Danny yelped and barely managed to turn himself and the egg intangible in time.
Fiend! Danny heard a feminine voice shout in his mind. Ghoul! Foul creature of the depths! Lay your slimy hands off my brethren and begone!
"Saphira!" the human yelled.
Some of the seated elves had risen up from their chairs, looking at him suspiciously. Saphira ineffectually attempted to rend Danny in two, but he was staying intangible, thank you very much. An angry dragon lunging at you was terrifying. Dora and Aragorn had nothing on this dragon, in terms of intimidation. Saphira growled in frustration and snapped at Danny with her jaws before retreating, whining in protest. The human had stopped her, but he was eyeing Danny as though he wanted to get fancy with the ruby-colored sword strapped to his hip.
"Why would Saphira wish to kill you, Danny?" Islanzadí said, scowling. "What manner of creature are you?"
Danny was usually extremely leery of acknowledging his powers in front of strangers. But in this case, he had a feeling he'd be sliced to ribbons or treated to some other gruesome death if he was anything less than forthright. Besides, he doubted that these people would want to cart him off to a laboratory to run experiments. "I'm half-ghost and I'm from another world."
Dead silence.
The dwarf stuck a finger in his ear and wiggled. "I must have heard you incorrectly," he said.
"Pardon?" Islanzadí said incredulously.
Danny shrugged as he turned tangible again. "It's on the tin. I'm half human, half ghost, and I'm from an alternate universe."
More murmurs. Saphira shifted side to side on her haunches, growling softly.
"How do we know you speak the truth? You ask us to believe something as outlandish as an alternate world? That you are part human, part spirit of the dead?" the human said, fingering his sword.
Fadrau reluctantly spoke up. "When I was in his mind, I saw images of a city built using entirely foreign techniques, and there were buildings as tall as trees. It would explain that."
"Oh?" the other elf lady said. "Would you allow us to look inside your mind to ascertain the truth?"
"Fadrau already looked," Danny said sharply. He did not like the idea of another scan.
"I could not draw any conclusions from what I saw, only that he is not an enemy," Fadrau asserted, undermining Danny's argument.
Danny gritted his teeth. Once again, he was expected to sacrifice his privacy for his safety. But what choice did he have? He couldn't escape this place if he refused, and he still had the egg to think about. These elves were a suspicious, ungrateful lot. "Fine," he said, scowling.
The elf lady stepped forward. "If you would lower your barriers."
Danny realized that sometime in the altercation he'd brought up icy walls around his mind. He broke them down before a foreign presence entered his mind. This one felt similar to Fadrau's, in that it held strains of fey music with a dark undercurrent. He shuddered as she began to poke around, turning over memories of his home. He directed her to the memory of when he fell through the portal into the room with the green egg in it. She lingered over that one, running it through three times before she was satisfied. Immediately after, however, she withdrew, radiating disbelief.
"He speaks the truth," the elf announced. This provoked the loudest wave of murmurs yet, the elves glancing among themselves with surprise. The dwarf muttered what sounded like an oath in another language and the human stared at him agape. Saphira hissed, looking as though she was ready to pounce.
"He is not our enemy, as Fadrau said," the elf lady continued.
"Thank you," Danny muttered, rubbing his head to alieve the headache the scan had caused. "Look, I just want to deliver this to you—" he held up the egg, "—and find a way home."
Islanzadí dipped her head. "Very well. We apologize for the scan, but times are harsh. We cannot blindly trust everyone who walks into our forest."
"And I suppose stealing the egg for you wasn't proof enough?" Danny said bitterly.
Saphira growled lowly. Watch your tongue, demon, she said.
Islanzadí said, "No, he is correct. We have been ungracious hosts for one who has done us a great service simply because his kind is unfamiliar to us. For that, Danny, we apologize deeply." Danny watched incredulously as she bowed at the waist, a subservient gesture that told Danny she was serious. "Is there anything we can do to repay your kindness and patience from our suspicion?"
Danny let out a gusty breath. This was what he was looking for. "I just want to go back home, to my own world. Do you know how to make that happen?"
Islanzadí looked troubled. "I know not how you might return, though the answers you seek may be hidden in our archives. I will grant you full access to our libraries. However, much of the work stored within is in the ancient language, the tongue of the elves. I take it you do not speak our language?"
Danny shook his head. "No. And the trick I used to learn the common tongue won't work in Du Weldenvarden – I need to be in my ghost form to make it work, and I can't transform without dire consequence because of the wards."
Saphira seemed mollified by the admission that Danny was at a disadvantage within the forest, since she stopped growling softly. The human was also looking less like he wanted to step forward and stab with his sword.
Islanzadí nodded. "Then the first thing I shall do is assign you a tutor to learn our language and a translator to help guide your perusal of the library in the meantime."
"Thank you for your generosity," Danny said, feeling the formal expression of gratitude necessary.
"Nay, it is our burden to apologize to you in such a manner," the queen said.
There was a moment of silence before Danny held out the egg. "So, are you going to take this, or what?"
The elf lady nodded. "I will take it." She held her arms out for the egg, and Danny gave it to her, feeling strange that he was surrendering the object he'd spent so much time fiercely protecting.
The instant the elf lady's hands touched the egg, the same cord that had tried to bite Danny one night a week ago appeared. It coiled around her before sinking its head into a matching connection that had just appeared in the elf lady's chest. The strand glowed brightly before disappearing.
The next moment, he felt a multitude of emotions from the egg. Gratitude, relief, a tinge of sadness, and an overwhelming amount of impatience. There was a shockwave from the egg, and Danny somehow knew, deep in his bones, that the egg was about to hatch.
"Are you well?" the elf lady asked.
Danny realized he was staring off into space and swaying in spot. He quickly stilled and refocused on her. "Yeah, I'm okay. Sorry. Um, what's your name?"
"I am Arya. We are well met, Danny."
"Nice to meet you. Can I stick around for a bit? I, uh, am kind of reluctant to let the egg out of my sight just yet. I did spend a lot of energy keeping it safe, after all, and I want to make sure it's happy with you."
Arya looked at him strangely but acquiesced.
To stall for time, Danny said, "So, who is everyone?"
In the next few minutes, he was introduced to the twelve lords and ladies of the elvish council (who questioned him about how he was able to survive Saphira's attack), Orik the dwarf (who wanted to know more about the architecture of his world, a subject Danny was woefully inadequate to explain), Eragon Shadeslayer the human Rider (who was still watching him warily but was content to at least shake his hand), and Saphira the dragon (who hissed at him and scuttled back when he approached).
Finally, he heard a telltale squeak from the egg, followed by a crack. He could tell everyone else heard it, too, because they all froze and looked toward Arya, who, for her part, was looking astonished. She reverently put the egg on the ground and waited for the hatchling to finish breaking free of the egg. It rolled on the floor, and the squeaking became more pronounced as the dragon struggled free of the egg. A large piece fell away from one side, revealing a green eye and head. The dragon struggled out of the hole and skittered onto the floor, licking membrane off of its body.
Danny smiled.
Sorry this one is a bit late. I had a late start today. Hope the length makes up for it!
I relied heavily upon the description of Ellesméra in Eldest, so if some of what's happening is familiar, well, that's why.
So I misjudged the size of the throne room. Saphira can fit in it with ease. Whoops. Sometime I'll go back and fix that in chapter 6.
For those of you who were hoping for Danny to be bonded to Fírnen, sorry. I tried to show that Fírnen wanted to bond with Danny but failed because Danny didn't have the necessary magical component to bond. He's not totally human, after all, and from an alternate universe besides; why would he be included in the spell that creates the basis for dragons and humans/elves to bond?
Also, I officially have a troll. I have no idea why they're willing to spend their time complaining on each chapter that I made Danny weak and therefore boring, but whatever. Any ideas, my loyal readers?
-HM