"Bloodstained"
by Hailie Jade S
Chapter Five – An Egg Stolen
A/Ns: Hello, all… Sorry for the late update! But here you have it… I am MUCHO BUSY right now, so don't expect regular updates. However, I'll do my best. Sorry if Cialayza is kinda a Mary-sue. She's not gonna be a main character, so don't worry.
To all my reviewers…! Those of you who reviewed last chapter… Fredsonetrueluv, Masterarcher, nobody'slittleprincess, LoNnI, blizzardstar2000 (woot is my favorite word!), siwenliu, and Miss Apple Pie… You totally rock! Miss Apple Pie is the only one out of you who didn't actually hate Arya… Oh, well! I still love you all!
(And, whenever I make a new character, I'm going to give a pronunciation guide. Cialayza is pronounced "See-uh-LAY-zuh".)
Cialayza imperiously walked up to the great oak door, which was guarded by two soldiers who were standing stiffly to either side of it. They didn't react at all to her presence – they knew better. She didn't acknowledge them. They were beneath her. She tossed her head, letting her magically enhanced blonde hair flutter impressively as she halted in front of the door, her blue velvet caped settling against the backs of her legs.
She lifted her slim, pale hand (again, magically enhanced) and pressed it against the sleek, glistening door. She closed her eyes, bowing her head so that her forehead touched it, murmuring words in the Ancient Language under her breath.
Cialayza was one of Galbatorix's pet magicians, and it was her job to check in on the last, green egg that he had in his possession. Until they found a Rider for it, they needed to make sure the dragon inside was still alive and would be able to function when it hatched.
But little did Galbatorix know that Cialayza had something… different… in mind today.
The door swung open as though a gust of wind had hit it, and Cialayza swept inside, letting it slam shut and lock behind her. None but Galbatorix's special approved spellweavers would be able to get in.
There, nestled in a bunch of dark red fabric, lay the egg. Its fresh, bright green color stood out strikingly against the blood red silk, and Cialayza admired the effect. She'd picked the colors. She knew that there had once been two other similar bundles of cloth, each containing their own eggs – blue and red – but they were gone now, gone with the eggs.
She approached the egg, trailing her fingers down its length, enjoying the feeling. Sighing, she let all her magical covers fall away, exposing her real appearance. She always felt comfortable around the egg.
With her artificial beauty gone, there stood a woman with limp brown hair, streaked with gray, and an almost emaciated-looking figure. She had a lined face, despite the fact that she was only fifty-two. Because she was well-versed in magic, she would live to be over a hundred, she knew. And yet her body showed all the strain she'd been through.
There was nothing real about Cialayza any more. Not her looks, and not her mind. Nor her allegiance to Galbatorix. It had been simple to block him out of the tiniest corner of her mind – the corner where she secretly hated the King. She wasn't one of those pathetic Varden. Pah! No, she was an Yskitle. If Galbatorix had known, he would never have let her become one of his own. But he didn't know, and so there was a dissenter, right under his nose… handling his egg… his dragon egg…
Cialayza ran the usual checks automatically, sending mental probes into the egg, touching the green dragon within. Alive, he was, and as healthy as an unhatched dragon could be. He could wait in that egg for hundreds more years, should he want to, and he wasn't going to hatch until the exact right conditions came along. That is, until he found his Rider.
Cialayza took a deep breath. Her heart began to pound loudly in her ears, and all of her muscles tensed. Now. She had to do it now.
She'd thought it all out carefully, but… Galbatorix… the most powerful magician in Alagaësia…
Without giving herself more time to worry, Cialayza lunged forward and heaved the egg into her arms. She squeezed her eyes shut and shouted three words.
With a loud bang, she and the egg were gone.
Galbatorix felt the egg leave immediately. In an instant, he was on his feet, an inarticulate cry of rage ripping from his throat. In an excess of anger, he tore his dark black sword from its scabbard, flinging it out and beheading the nearest man to him, a guard. The decapitated soldier toppled over, his sightless eyes staring blankly up as his head rolled across the floor, leaving a trail of blood.
But still Galbatorix was not satisfied. He slammed his mind out, reaching to the egg room. No, it was not there! He searched the castle with his mind, cruelly tearing through every consciousness he came across, searching, searching…
No luck. He flung his mind out farther, trying to find the thing. But again, nothing. Whoever had it was shielding it from him.
His next move was to shout mentally, CIALAYZA! She was his best magic-worker, and they both knew it. She was his slippery advisor, right-hand woman, and she was in charge of routinely checking on the egg.
No answer.
He realized what was happening instantly, and was gripped with another fit of rage. He swung his sword around and plunged it deeply into the stomach of another guard, who'd been carefully trying to back away. SHRUIKAN!
The dragon woke, and groggily replied, What?
THE EGG! THE EGG IS GONE!
That got the black dragon's attention. His animalistic roar boomed across all of Uru'baen, broadcasting his Rider's wrath for all to hear.
Cialayza stumbled, tripping and falling to the ground, where she lay, exhausted. The egg rolled away a little. It had taken a massive amount of energy to transport herself and the egg – not to mention that they'd had to break through Galbatorix's magical barriers. But she'd helped him erect said barriers, and so she'd been able to get through – admittedly for a price.
Her world went dark.
Murtagh's mind was assaulted as suddenly as a falcon dropping on an innocent pigeon. The effect was much the same – guess who won. Thorn's wings crumpled and the two plummeted.
IDIOT! FLY! roared a familiar voice in their skulls. Thorn wrenched his wings wide and hovered, panting at the effort. They both cringed as the voice again bellowed in their minds. THE EGG! THE EGG HAS BEEN STOLEN!
They gasped, and Murtagh's stomach knotted in apprehension. Galbatorix would be far from in a good mood. His egg, stolen…!
By who, my Liege? he dared to ask.
CIALAYZA! screamed Alagaësia's king.
What? Murtagh privately said to Thorn. Cialayza? But she…
He was interrupted by Galbatorix's shout of GET THE EGG BACK! I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES. BRING IT BACK TO ME!
And he was gone.
I think we should go find the egg, Thorn said dryly.
I think that's an excellent suggestion.
Cialayza woke and groaned immediately. She felt totally sapped of all her strength, and she knew she could've slept for much longer. Why had she woken up? She was exhausted.
She heaved her eyelids open and emitted a piercing shriek, instinctively curling herself into a fetal position, trembling. A great brown bear was looming over her, his small, dull brown eyes squinting at her as he sniffed. But the beast had no interest in her, and he dropped onto all fours to lumber away. Cialayza opened her eyes and relaxed a little, watching the thing warily.
The bear approached the egg. Cialayza's heart froze in her chest. No! She couldn't let the bear damage or take the egg! She wearily pulled a few choice words in the Ancient Language into her mind, ready to use them if need be. But the bear, after nudging the egg experimentally, snorted dismissively and trotted back into the forest to go about his business. Cialayza breathed a sigh of relief.
She dragged herself to her feet and stumbled over to the egg, heaving it into her arms and groaning at the effort. She was a powerful magician, but Galbatorix was even stronger. She was going to be out of it for awhile.
How good a protector could she be for the egg if she was half-asleep? She looked at it, lying innocently in her arms, heavy as a rock. She looked around, trying to figure out where she was. She couldn't tell. A forest somewhere. She moaned again.
She had no other choice. She wasn't even strong enough to erect her mental barriers. She'd have to send the egg on ahead of her and make her way to the Yskitle headquarters on her own. With her mental protections down, she could be found by Galbatorix. She couldn't let him have the egg back.
So she sat down, sucking in a deep breath, filled with trepidation. She reached her mind out, trying to feel for the Yskitle. Then, she spoke the words that would bring the egg to them.
In a flash of light, the egg disappeared, and Cialayza fell over, dead.
Murtagh and Galbatorix, who had both been feeling for Cialayza's mind, felt the impact as she died. Galbatorix, who still had his sword handy, slashed an angry gash in the grass at his feet, and Shruikan tilted back his head to howl depressingly. Murtagh's mind reached hesitantly for his king's.
She can no longer be used to track the egg, Galbatorix conceded with a growl rising in his throat. The worthless traitorous bit of scum.
Murtagh remained silent, knowing Galbatorix too well to try to talk when the king was in such an awful mood. Galbatorix could sense that Thorn was no longer flying.
We have to find that egg. It's worthless to try to do so with our minds, you know that. The ancient dragon-magic made that impossible. So you must search for it. See if anyone met that traitor, or saw the egg. It is possible that she might have transported it again, to make it more difficult to locate. If that is the case, someone might have seen it, or even have it in their possession. Find that egg. If you come back without the Rider, his dragon, nor the egg, I shall be very displeased. And if the egg has already hatched when you find it… Galbatorix's lips peeled back in frustration at the idea. Then bring the Rider here with any force necessary. We will not have another Rider slip through our fingers. Understood?
Yes, my Lord, Murtagh said meekly.
Meanwhile, the green dragon egg slipped into existence ironically in a forest nestled in the Beor mountains…
There you have it, folks! Cliffhangerish, I know… Oh, and please don't review asking what Yskitle could possibly be. That's later…! I was gonna explain more in this chapter, but I needed to keep the story moving. Cialayza's not that important.
Oh, also, how do you do "Uru'baen"? I can't find it in my stupid book…
Please review! Ciao, loves!