Edited 6/21/07 for consistency, and I also added the equivalent of a small scene in there.
I'm pleased to bring you CHAPTER 7, which is dedicated to my friend Patrick for helping me out of my writing slump. :)
-AmayaSora
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I was dumbfounded. I stared at Verina for a few seconds. She could do something this incredible, this amazing, and not even know what it is? Verina, however, read my thoughts, and told me, I said I do not know how I did it, but I did not say I did not know what it was.
Sorry. I told her quickly. So, you do know what it is then?
Yes, it was gramarye.
It's who what?
Gramarye. To put it in simpler terms, magic.
I was stunned. Verina can do magic? Could all dragons do magic? I "voiced" my questions and she responded, Yes, though never with any guarantee. The Riders, however, could channel the dragons' magical propensity quite effectively.
All of this was very intriguing. As Verina's Rider, I was supposedly gifted with this magic, although I didn't know how to use it. Magic would open a whole new world for me, and I found that exhilarating. I also remembered my promise to myself to learn about the secrets of magic, and this prompted me to ask, So, how did you do it? What happened when you used it?
When I saw your wound, I felt terrible grief and an overwhelming desire to help you. As my feelings intensified, this… power, that is the only way to describe it, this undeniable force rose up within me. It became almost unbearable, and so I just released it, and I'm not even sure how I did that. She sighed. I guess I am not being that helpful to you, am I, Penelope? she asked sadly.
I sighed. There it was again, her inferiority complex. No, Verina, you did a great job. You can't help it if you don't know how you did it. You answered my question very well. Both of them, I might add.
Penelope… thank you, for being so understanding.
No problem, I said, hugging her.
I began to think of all the wonderful things magic could accomplish for me, if only I could find out how to use it. Verina didn't know, so I supposed there might be a magician in some town somewhere… and then it occurred to me, Eragon must know. He's a Rider, he must know about this magic, and possibly how to control it. Do you think Eragon would teach me to use magic?
Who is this Eragon?
With embarrassment, I realized that I had neglected to tell her what our ultimate destination was. I quickly summarized this, as well as major events that I knew of concerning the Shadeslayer.
When this was over, Verina announced, I see no reason why he would not.
Thoughts of magic lessons and what they would entail danced through my head. The prospects seemed so amazing and wonderful. I could make water with this magic, and light, and fantastic caverns like the one where I found Verina. That reminded me, I hadn't seen any grey eggs in the cave. Hey, Verina.
Yes, Penelope?
I was wondering, where in the cavern was your egg? I don't recall seeing it.
Verina seemed embarrassed. That is… well… I believe my egg was in the middle of the nest, although I can only vaguely remember, and only a few seconds before I hatched. But I do remember being in the middle when I was first able to walk.
So…Dawning suddenly showed on my face. So your egg was my pillow?
She chuckled sadly. Yes.
Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize!
Penelope, I do not blame you. From what you have said, you had no inclination that the eggs were nothing more than stones. Besides, perhaps without that I wouldn't have hatched as quickly and you would have been gone when I finally did.
You logic is faultless, Verina. That's amazing, how you can think that reasonably.
You really think so? She seemed genuinely surprised.
Yes. I've always admired scholars and philosophers, and logical reasoning is the quality I most associated with them. And… and my brother was a logical person.
She sensed my feelings through our link. You miss your brother greatly.
Yeah. He's the only family I can really remember having. And- Verina, will you help me?
Help you with what?
I want you to help me help my brother. If we ever get the chance, I want to save him from Galbatorix's army.
I… if we get the chance, I will assist you in any way possible.
Thank you. It means a lot to me. I hugged her neck, and she began her happy rumble.
The next day, we discovered that we were out of food and water. Verina elected to go hunting, and so I was left with the task of finding water. I would never say it, but I felt so alone and vulnerable without Verina by my side. I had grown so attached to her over the short time we'd known each other, and when she was gone it was as if a part of my own self had left as well. Today, I felt especially so, because game was scarce and so Verina had to fly a great distance to find food. This meant that she constantly flickered in and out of our contact radius. I felt scared every time Verina moved out of range. If something happened, I wouldn't be able to call on her for aid.
I tried to bury my feelings of unease by concentrating on my task. It ended up not working, however, and I was soon lost in the woods. I tried to remain calm, and only succeeded when I allowed the survival part of my brain to take over. I listened closely for sounds of running water. I did eventually find water, but just as I had bent down to fill the canteen, I heard Verina's urgent "voice" in my head, Penelope!
Verina? What's going on? Is everything alright?
Ignoring me, she asked where I was. I obligingly sent her a picture, but repeated, What's going on?
To which she only replied, Stay where you are. I'll come get you.
Any semblance of calm I may have had was gone in an instant, leaving only gripping fear. Whatever could get Verina so scared was definitely not good news for me.
Verina touched down in only a few minutes. As soon as her front legs hit the ground, Verina said, Quickly, get on my back!!
What? Wait, Verina, what's happening?
There is no time to explain. Hurry, we don't have much time!!
Verina! Wait! I'm not getting on until you tell me why I have to and what we're running from! And I childishly crossed my arms over my chest.
But then Verina surprised me. She growled in annoyance and snaked her head over, grabbing in her teeth the back of my shirt. As soon as she did so she leapt into the air again. Verina! What are you doing?! PUT ME DOWN! But it was clear she wasn't going to budge on this, so I asked her, At least let me onto your back!
She obliged, flipping her neck up towards her back and letting go of my shirt. I managed to grab and hold onto one of her back spikes for about two seconds before falling. My hands flailed helplessly as I shouted, VERINA! I'M FALLING!
In one movement she swung her front paw out and caught the back of my shirt with her claw. I maneuvered myself onto the pad of her paw, and she brought me up to where I was able to climb onto her back. I had no sooner gotten seated than she picked up her speed even more. I looked down, trying to discern the reason for our flight, but we were flying too fast for any details to be seen.
Frustrated, I cried, Verina! I demand to know what this is all about! NOW! But to my surprise, when I tried to contact her all I came found was an impenetrable dragon hide. I tried again, louder and more forcefully, but not even one of the scales would budge.
By the time she landed some thirty miles and three hours later, I had a splitting headache from mentally screaming my lungs out, a raw throat from actually screaming my lungs out, and legs that were in excruciating pain from having Verina's scales rip the flesh off of them. I was, in short, in an abysmal mood.
I immediately slid down and ran as far as I could away from her, ('as far as I could' referring to the thirty feet away I was when I collapsed.) hiding in the woods. I tried to take my pants off to assess the damage, but that proved too painful. So, I just sulked, furious at Verina for her behavior. She had caused us to lose all of our supplies, and had neglected her only job of bringing us food. We were lost in the Spine in winter, the sun was going down, and… my anger surged stronger as the wind began to blow and snow began to fall. And it was starting to storm. She had better have a very good reason for this, I thought. And then, traitorously, a rogue part of me wondered if she had run away from a shadow or something equally stupid. I knew how timid she was, it reasoned, and- I forcibly shoved the thought away. I would trust my friend.
But, in the midst of all this, I discovered that another part of my brain was as proud of her as was possible. She had acted brave and noble; she had acted like the dragons of old. My timid Verina had acted like a true dragon.
With this realization all my anger dissipated. Despite the pain in my thighs I returned to where we had landed. Verina was still sitting there, but she was shivering from head to tail, and was lying down on her side. Alarmed, I ran to her side. Verina? Are you okay?
She lifted her head up feebly. Penelope. I'm sorry. Her voice in my head was just as weak as her body appeared.
No, no, don't be sorry. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I said that as much for my benefit as for hers. I found tears running down my face. She seemed so weak. What if… I forcibly turned my mind away from the thought, which was coming from the same rogue thought center, but it returned, much to my dismay. What if she… dies? What would I do? How could I forgive myself?
"Please…" I whispered aloud. I didn't know who I was talking to, but I found myself talking. "Please… please…" And then I began to sob, in the middle of a forest during a snowstorm.