Chapter 1: 20 Years Later
Eragon stood on the side of the training ground observing the fights taking place in front of him. In the past years he and the elves had been joined on the island by eight new riders.
The first two, an Urgal and a Dwarf, had come four years after they had left. The Urgal was named Hrarn. He was not a kull but he still stood at nearly seven feet tall. He had come from a lesser known Urgal village in the northern reaches of their land. He had just reached the time of his life where he would need to start fighting and winning battles in order to win a mate when he had happened to touch the egg. The dragon that had hatched for him was of a dark brown color. The dragon was named Ushnark Zhada, which in the urgal tongue means Father of Doom. The dwarf on the other hand was the exact opposite of the Urgal. She went by the name Heldra, she was small but had an obvious strength about her. She was the daughter of one of the blacksmiths of the Ingeitum clan, which made her a clanmate of Eragon. Her dragon was much smaller than that of the Urgal, and was black in color. His name was Svartr Stenr, blackrock.
The next two to join him had come a further four years later and were an elf and a human. The elf went by the name of Lifaen. He was from Ellesmera and had bonded with a dragon that came from a purple egg. The dragon had been named Vervada. The human however was the second female rider to join them. Her name was Analise and she had come from a poor family in Gil'ead. She had been hardened on the streets and was slow to trust others. Her dragon however was quite the opposite. She had come from an egg that was colored a soft yellow, and the had been named Islingr, the name was fitting as the dragon was not only ferocious like the rest of her kind but also she was kind and brought happiness to those around her.
The two riders every four years trend continued as the 5th and 6th riders had joined them. This time it was an elf and a dwarf. The elf went by the name of Elwenne and she had silver hair that seemed to glow like starlight. She was young for an elf, 64 years old, so she still had much to learn from the riders. She was bonded to a dragon of much the same color as her hair and she had named him Evarina Orum, Star Serpent. The dwarf hailed from the clan Dûrgrimst Fanghur and was a fierce warrior called Thorv. He had been a soldier and had fought under King Orik in the war against Galbatorix. His dragon was a deep red and had been named Vardi, which meant protect.
The most recent to join Eragon and the six others on the Island had been two humans and it was one week away from four years since they had arrived. They were both humans. The first of them was a boy from Illeria named Corbin. He was quick tempered and his dragon was much the same. The dragon was grey in color, like the grey of a storm cloud. He had been named Kveykva, which was most appropriate to his personality, as it meant lightning. The other was a quiet girl named Lexa who above all else strove to succeed and prove herself. She came from a merchant family in the City-State of Teirm. When she had been chosen by her dragon, many had regarded her as weak and spoiled, and that made her think that she was unworthy to be a rider. It was this that provided her drive. Her dragon was a proud and protective companion who never left her side if it could be helped. He was gold in color and had been named skölir, which meant shield.
Eragon was still watching each of the three separate duels that went on in front of him. Only two riders were absent, Hrarn and Heldra. These two were not present because their training had been completed. It had been decided that the old ways of training would be best and that taking the time to train the new riders properly was more important than deploying them quickly. They spent the first four years of training with Arya in the forests of Du Weldenvarden. After those four years they made the long journey to the island and spent the next 16 years under the tutelage of Eragon, the eldunari, and the elves who had accompanied him.
This next week would be an important one. Two more of the riders would be graduating and sent on assignment to Alagaesia and in their place would come two more riders. Lifaen and Analise would be the two to join the ranks of the riders and would be rewarded with the blade of a rider, and a mission to Alagaesia where they would help the leaders of the world to keep the peace.
However for Eragon this was not the reason he was looking forward to the next week. This time every four years he had something else to look forward to. Someone else to look forward to.