David Lightningsword DR fanfiction
The Cripples who are Whole
I dreamed I was on fire. Farthen Dûr burned, the Varden were in dismay, being murdered by what remained of the Urgals. Zeus was dead, as was Meghan. Durza hovered over the scene, Eragon's severed head in his hands, he was laughing "Death to the Riders! Death to the Varden!" He screamed.
"Enough" A voice insisted in my mind. With a grunt, the scene was wiped away, replaced with trees, and endless scene of trees.
"You must wake, Shur'tugal, The Varden still has need of you." I groaned and thought
"Who are you?" The voice said kindly
"I am one who wishes to help you. Come seek me in Ellsméra, bring Eragon" I then asked
"What name shall I ask for when I arrive?" I could feel his amusement from our link
"I go by many names. You will not need to ask of me, but for your information, I am the Morning Sage, the Cripple who is whole and Togira Ikonoka. Now Wake,and come. I fear my time is running out." His presence then faded from my mind, and my eyes opened.
"Good, you are awake." A tired female voice said. I groaned and shielded my eyes from the light. "What happened?" She sighed and said
"I think Murtagh wishes to brag to you, I will go get him." She exited the room, and reapeared moments later, with Arya, Murtagh and Meghan on her tail. I smiled as much as I could manage and rasped
"Guys! You all lived... or we are all dead." Meghan seemed timid to even come closer, but she smirked and said
"No, we all lived love." I horrible thought crossed my mind
"Zeus, Saphira! Eragon! Where are they, did they live? Did I not break the star rose in time?" Meghan rushed forward and soothed me
"Calm down David, they all lived." That was when Zeus touched my mind, almost timidly at first, Until I opened up and invited him in.
"Little one" His voice rumbled in my mind, full of love, joy and concern.
"Zeus! You breathed fire!" His amusement was felt as my own when he replied
"Yes" Another presence touched my mind and said smugly
"He's not the only one."
"Saphira!"
"Little one." I then asked outloud
"Where is Eragon?" Everyone's face sombered and Arya said
"He suffered a grievous wound from Durza, yet he lives. If you would look around, he is in the bed next to you." I looked over and saw him. He was sweating, unmoving. I then mumbled
"What happened?" Murtagh finally spoke up and said
"It was madness. The Urgals were brutally murdering us. Then, suddenly, the battle stopped when Durza's spirits roamed the battlefield. It was like the Urgals woke from a dream, for they looked at each other, and began war upon themselves. It was easy to route them after that." Meghan then smiled and said
"You are Eragon have been hailed Heroes. Even the Dwarves are grateful, thought they are mourning the loss of the Star Rose. Shadeslayer is what Eragon is called now, and you are called Lightningsword." I mourned the loss of Isidar Mithrim, but let a smile touch my lips
"Eragon Shadeslayer and David Lightningsword. I have to say Eragon got the better deal in that respect. I shall have to strive to get a name of equal rank as his" I then sat up, and twisted to get up.. To embrace Meghan, but I twisted too far.
Pain.. Fire.. My whole body was immobilized as it burned. Zeus roared as the pain traveled across our link, and the room shook. I fell back on the bed, writhing in agony. A minute passed, by then I was sweating, my face red. Meghan was by my side, soothingly stroking me, worry upon her face. The rest had sorrowful expresions.
"There was poison upon that Urgal blade Lightningsword. There is no cure. Once it reaches the blood stream, it never leaves. It is rare, rarer then the poison used on Arya. How Durza came by this poison is beyond me." Angela murmured. I shook, still feeling tendrils of heat over my body. Zeus's growled deeply, I looked over to see how he had tried to get in the door, but could only fit his head in
"We shall find the cure to this poison David, even if it takes us to the edge of the world" He said in a determined voice. I shook my head slowly and murmured out loud
"We have a duty to the Varden and Alagaesia as Dragon and Rider. No infirmaty shall keep me from it. I made the choice to ask for you Zeus, and this is the consequence" Arya nodded and mumbled in the ancient language.
"I regret that my idea has left you this way David, and if there is any way to heal you, I vow to find it, even if it takes me hundred of years." Her vow was sincere, it had to be, since it was in the ancient language. I replied in the same language
"My thanks, Arya wise-one." She nodded and took her leave. I began to try and get up again but Meghan pushed me down. I growled
"I am going to see Zeus" She sighed and helped me up. I took gentle movements, not wanting to set off the fire. Zeus kept watch, and slowly withdrew his head as I got close. When I got to his head I let go of Meghan, and leaned against his head. He hummed, pushing back to keep me upright. I then slowly made my way to his neck, when I wrapped my arms around it, he lifted up and placed me on his back. I proceeded to lean forward on him, hugging him. A hand lighting rubbing his neck. He vibrated with his humming. We were silent for a long while, enjoying each others company, when I finally asked
"Is there a Scar." His hesitance to answer was proof enough.
"How bad is it?" This time he answered
"Not as bad as Eragon's" I looked up to see Saphira's head looming over us. She gently flicked her tongue out and licked my cheek, then snaked her head into the room I had been in. Eragon must have woken. As the others explained what had happened, I slowly inched my way off Zeus. When that did not trigger the pain, I was gladdened. I moved with more ease now, Zeus insisted on making me put my weight on him.
Until now, I had not fully comprehended our bond together. I came to love Zeus more now that I realized he really would sacrifice everything for my well being. Zeus sniffed as my thoughts on the matter reached his mind
"Was there any doubt before?"
"No." That was when Eragon's voice sounded from the door.
"Where is David? Last I saw him he was surrounded by Urgals"
"I am here Eragon" I said as loud as I could muster. Saphira regretfully removed her head so that Zeus could help me back in. Meghan took me from him, which made him utter a growl, but Meghan ignored it and helped me back to bed.
"I hear you were injured in saving me. I am forever in your debt." He said earnestly. I snorted and said
"When have you not been? I am sure you will have your fair chance to save my life and protect me." I then told him of the poison, which made him screw up his face.
"I am sorry David Lightningsword, that is a heavy burden to bare." I shrugged
"There is nothing I can do about it, I just have to learn to live with it.." He looked at me silently, then Angela declared we had to rest, and bustled everyone out of the room. Only Saphira and Zeus remained, taking turned with their heads in the door. Both were concerned about us.
3 days passed, and we learned Eragon had the same problem as me. Eragon did not know what exactly triggered the pain, while I knew mine was caused when I over exerted myself. The extra heart pumping must ignite the poison in my blood. I was careful not to cause any extra pain to myself, and only had one episode since the first one. Eragon and I were always by each others side no matter where we went. We were each others Rock. If one of us had an episode in public, the other stood guard and shooed spectators away.
We were survaying the battlefield for the first time when we were called to be there for the return of Ajihad and Murtagh. They had gone urgal hunting in the tunnels and had been gone for hours. Zeus, Saphira, Eragon, Arya, Jörmundur and I stood waiting. When they emerged fromthe tunnel, I breathed a sigh of relief.. But soon afterwards, there was activity behind them. Zeus roared
"Urgals!" Before he could take off, I was on his back. He took off before Saphira and flew with all the speed his could muster, The blue Dragon on his tail. I clawed my hand, words of power on my lips, but by the time we got there, the urgals were gone, along with Murtagh and the twins.. Ajihad lay dying with the bodies of his guards and 5 urgals around him. I jumped off Zeus and ran to the mouth of the tunnel. I pointed my hand and growled
"brisingr!" Fire shot from my hand, illuminating the tunnel.. yet it struck no urgal, but the wall. I groaned and returned to find Eragon sitting beside Ajihad's body, Ajihad's last words having just escaped his lips.
The next days blurred together. Arya did not find the urgals, and pronounced Murtagh and the twins dead. Ajihad's funeral took place.. And I swore fealty to Nasuada. Something I only did because I had no choice. And as we were about to leave, Orik presented me with two gifts from king Hrothgar. One was a dwarven throwing axe, which was enchanted to always return to the thrower when called, and an adoption into his clan and family. I accepted only because Eragon did. So once again, all races had a hold on myself and Eragon. As was right.
"Farewell Nasuada, may your ventures prove successful, and may we meet again soon." I dipped my head. Eragon said his farewell as well. Meghan was next in line to say goodbye I dismounted Tornac (for I had taken the horse after Murtagh's downfall..since I needed a horse for our travels.) I kissed her quickly on the lips.
"Take good care of Porkpie, and make sure no man of the varden treats you ill. Remind them that David Lightningsword will make their death very painful if they try." She smiled sadly and said
"I wish I could go with you, but alas my place is among the varden, they will need my counsel and my bow." I chuckled and added
"And your way with words." She smirked and nodded
"aye, and that." I gave her another hug and remounted Tornac. The horse skittered slightly, but I ignored the discomfort. The Horse knew me well.. But I was no Murtagh. I gently touched it with my mind, calming him. With that, we set off for Tarnag.
Our ride was surprisingly not that long, since it was all in tunnels it was silent mostly. No one wanting to voice a word. We all knew how doomed the Varden was, with two Dragon Riders who could not fight..at least for long. I myself was confident I could survive a quick duel.. But a long battle or war? Not a chance.
"You could do anything you set your mind to little one." Zeus murmured in my mind. I sighed, not responding. I then groaned as we reached the light
"Behold, Tarnag" Orik said proudly. Dwarves gazed at us with a mix of amazement and dread. I bowed my head at them as I passed. Once they saw the Ignitium clan symbol on both Eragon and my helms, there were cried of outrage.
"Obviously, Hrothgar did not make a popular choice in adopting us" I said slowly to Zeus, eyeing the angered dwarves with unease, a hand on Kveykva's pomel. Zeus growled at the dwarves before murmuring
"it would appear so. Watch your back David, otherwise you may find a dagger in it." That was when a certain dwarf came forward, roaring in his native tongue, to which Orik angerly replied. The dwarf then pulled a ring from his finger, ripped 3 strands of hair from his beard, and wrapped then around the ring, and then pointed at both Eragon at me. He then threw the ring on the ground, spat at it, and marched away.
There was an audible gasp from the crowd, who tried to get closer. Zeus and Saphira roared, scaring them away. We quickly learned that a small clan had just started a blood feud. Orik assured us that we were no alone, and the Ignitium stood behind us.
The next day we spent learning the dwarves religion. As Gannel told us each god and their power, I then murmured
"According to your religion, my Father is either Urûr, Master of the air and heavens, or Gûntera, king of the gods, for Zeus is both. According to what he told me before I left, both could hold true." Gannel eyed me without saying a word.. I had a feeling he did not believe my story of being from another world. He continued his teachings as though I had said nothing.
The next morning we left Tarnag with our guard. It was to be a long trip down the river, so I settled in for the ride. The water made me nervous, but I ignored it.. If Zeus had little hold over this world, so did Poseidon. When Saphira and Eragon went for a fly, I stayed put. Zeus was content with swimming for now, and he knew my aversion to water. I watched them. It was funny watching them do tricks..until they were attacked. Zeus growled, and I stared at the water. Taking a deep breath, I plunged in , swimming over to Zeus. I climbed on, and with a few powerful flap of his wings, he was in the air. He climbed in height as fast as he could, but by the time he reached them, the fight was over. The two dragons hovered, facing each other.
"Are you okay?!" I yelled over to Eragon. The two dragons flapping their wings cause quite an amount of noise. He yelled back saying
"We are fine, Saphira was toying with them." Saphira said nothing, but instead suddenly snapped at Zeus, who recoiled, roaring.
"Let us see how well we fight another Dragon and Rider" Saphira projected her thoughts to Zeus and I. Zeus responded by kicking her in the chest and flipping over, diving towards the ground. I yelped and held on tight.
"Unsheath Kveykva David, I will try to get us close enough for you to duel Eragon" He then twisted so he was underbelly up when Saphira blew flames at us. He blew flames back at her, then started to climb, gaining distance from her. I saw her turn and go in the opposite direction. Zeus changed course and charged after her. She changed course and did the same. I pulled Kveykva from its sheath.
The Dragons collided with a large BOOM. There was growling and hissing as they began to bite each other. Eragon and I locked in a deadly duel. We were pretty evenly matched. If we had to pick the better swordsman, we would pick me just because I had many more years of training, but Eragon learned quickly, and was a natural.
We spared until the Dragons kicked away from each other, pulling up just before we hit the water. By an unspoken consent, we stopped the fight. Eragon and I both swimming back to the barge. The Dwarves marveled at the sight of the duel, but asked that we not leave the ground again. We agreed.
Time passed, and before long, we were in the Du Weldenvarden. The dwarves had bid us farewell, and the elves who had seen us, marveled and praised us. They were joyous indeed. They sung for hours as we traveled, and took every chance they could to admire the dragons. Eragon and I stayed in the background. At first we did not mind our dragons getting all the attention, but soon we came to resent it. It amused me in the end, how much I had come to enjoy being in the spot light. After that, I ignored any feeling towards it.
When we arrived in Ellsméra, the Queen greeted us with open arms. We found out Arya herself was the queen's daughter, and a large feast was thrown in her, and our, honor. After it was over, we were shown where we were to stay. Eragon got a grand tree house, where the leader of the Riders used to stay when visiting..and I got where the second in command of the riders slept. It was a tree house as well, just not as grand. I slept with ease, glad to be in safety once again.
The next morning we awoke and were lead to a clearing by the queen, who seemed very agitated. I wanted to inquire on the matter, but deemed it would be rude. She turned to us and said
"You must now swear in the ancient language to not reveal to outsiders what you are about to be shown, not without permission from me, my daughter, or whoever may succeed us to the throne."
"Why should I gag myself?"inquired Orik.
"Why Indeed? Do you not trust us?" Saphira asked.
"This knowledge must be kept secret, for it gives us an advantage over Galbatorix." She then explained to the Dwarf how if he did not swear, he might as well leave. I said quietly
"You ask a great deal, Islanzadí Dröttning. How are to know the importance you speak of is true, or just some ploy to keep secrets from the Varden." If the Queen was astonished at my forthcoming, she did not show it, instead she said
"I shall repeat what I said in mine language if it pleases you Lightningsword." I knew she would, so instead I said in the Ancient Language
"I, David Shuter Zeusson Lightningsword, agree to not speak of what I am about to see to an outsider unless given permission from Islanzadí, Arya or whom who succeed's to the throne." I only stumbled over lightning, do to the fact if I uttered 'kveykva' My sword would be stuck by lightning. Zeus followed my lead, and the others did as well.
There was silence. Then BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. Gusts of wind blast against us. I looked to the sky, to see a giant gold thing blot out the sky. Then the round shook as it landed. My eyes widdened, for as it was a giant gold dragon..with a Rider upon its back.
"There is another Rider!" I marveled to Zeus, full of joy. With the might of this rider, Eragon and myself, overthrowing Galbatorix would be easy than fighting Kronos. I did not sense joy from Zeus, but rather sadness
"Look at the dragon David" he murmured quietly. I looked, and swore. One of his forelegs was cut in half. The Rider dismounted and walked over. I took a stab and bowed by head and murmured
"Well met Togira Ikonoka." Eragon kneeled and murmured
"The Morning Sage." I added in a whisper
"The Cripple who is whole." remembering our place, Eragon and I twisted our hands over our chest, and started the elven ritual. The cripple who is whole replied, then added
"My more common name is Oromis, and this is Glaedr. Last Dragon of old, save for Shrukian of course." Glaedr was occupied sniffing and inspecting Saphira and Zeus. He was silent, the rumbled, in a voice much deeper than Zeus
"Well met Saphira of the blue scales, and Zeus of the black scales." He then looked both Eragon and me over with one giant golden eye and said
"well met David and Eragon."
Orik began to almost insult Oromis about his absence, to which Oromis gave a reasoned explanation. How both he and Glaedr were crippled. How he waited to ass on the knowledge to the new generation of riders..aka Myself and Eragon. After Orik acknowledged this, Oromis then beckoned for the Riders to follow him. He climbed up Gaedr's arm, and with a flap of his giant wings, took off into the sky. I jumped onto Zeus's back, as Eragon jumped onto Saphira's back. Both uttered a cry of joy as they took off into the sky. The two smaller dragons following the large one. Zeus on his left slightly behind Saphira on his right.
Once we reached Oromis's home, silence reined. For a long time, there was silence. Despite my urges to fidget, I remained calm. Then finally
"So you have learned patience, good." Eragon said wisely
"You can not stalk a dear without waiting for hours unmoving."
"Nor can you deal with a god without such patience, for they insist on speaking in nothing but riddles, and you must wait until they clarify their riddles." Oromis nodded and asked Eragon
"May I see your hands, I find I can learn a lot from a person." He then evaluated Eragon, before turning to me.
"May I see your hands David?" I nodded
"Of course..Master." I surrendered my hands. He pondered them for a bit
"I see you are not unaccustomed to battle, for you have wielded that sword for years. I also see you that you are not very familiar with a bow, yet you use them when need be." He then leaned back and said "You have been trained for battle most of your life. Since we are in our current predicament, I say that is a blessing." I nodded slowly
"I have been in more battles than I care to admit. I will this war to end quickly, so I may finally have peace." Oromis's features filled with sorrow
"Alas, that is impossible as a Rider. Conflicts arise whether you wish it or not, and a Rider must always be there to end such conflicts." I nodded again, silent.
Oromis then had Eragon and me do a series of different positions, which tested our abilities to the limits. Once or twice I felt a twinge in my back, but the burning did not start, which pleased me. He then had Zeus and Saphira do a series of maneuvers in the air, to which they both preformed well, Saphira being slightly better than Zeus. After that he bid us farewell, promising us that we would begin our training the next morning.
The next few months were tedious at best. Oromis and Gleadr pushed us to our limits. I had to learn a new language, plus other skills known only to the Riders. One such day we were writing in the ancient language, when suddenly Eragon started, slashing ink everywhere, Oromis then grabbed his right arm..and then pain erupted in my stomach and right leg. I groaned and then panicked shouting with my mind
"ZEUS!"
"Something has happened to them!" Eragon exclaimed. Oromis said
"I do not know, but Glaedr is returning." With that we ran outside, and looked towards the sky. Minutes passed, and we remained still. Finally the golden dragon was seen. He landed, hobbling on his wounded leg. Oromis started forward but stopped when Glaedr growled at him. He limped off, where he began to lick clean his wound. Oromis kneeled by his dragon and stayed there, waiting.
After long we found out where Saphira and Zeus were. We called out elven mounts, and went with all speed. After we found the cliff, we flew up using magic (Eragon more so than I, for as I had a grown a little control over the winds after months of being here and some practice.) Our Dragons did the same thing to us as Glaedr did. We did the same as Oromis did. After a long time, Zeus touched my mind and murmured
"I did it to protect Saphira. She attacked Glaedr, who retaliated. I could not stand idle as the last of my free brethren fought. So I jumped in between them, I was not quick enough to block either of their attacks.. I am ashamed to call myself a dragon." I replied softly
"You were brave Zeus. Not many beings would try and stop someone three times their size like you did. What Saphira did may have been stupid, but what you did took courage. You deserve to be called a dragon." A small sense of satisfaction emanated from him. I then stood up, ignoring the pain in my legs, and stumbled forward, placing a tender hand over the on his side first. I began chanting in the ancient language, mending muscle and tissue alike. After that was done, I was sweating and my lips were dry. I licked them a few times, and drawing upon Zeus's strength, mending his leg. Just as I finished, I tried standing, when the burn started. As I laid there writhing in pain, Zeus laid his head beside me, one black eye boring right into me. Unable to do anything, he just shared my pain.
Once it was over, and Eragon has healed Saphira, we flew off together.
More weeks passed, and the attacks were becoming more and more frequent. Zeus was by my side night and day, whenever he could be. When the week of the blood oath celebration arrived, Oromis informed us we each had to bring a piece of art to it. I had no idea for a piece I would create by hand... but I had one idea. One that would have never been done before.. For I knew it couldn't have been, for there had never been one like me that had ever attended!