A/N: Partially un-beta-ed, because of an inability to contact him/her in a practical way.
I opened my eyes and blinked. A harsh light forced me to shut my eyes again. I felt groggy.
A strange feeling reached me, as if from far away. It was sort of like the feeling I got when my father came home from the market in the fall, when the traders came. As if something I had been waiting for had finally happened.
That was a strange thing to think.
Frowning, I tried to remember how I had gotten here. I was on hard, rocky terrain. It seemed to be noon.
Gradually, I recalled a dream, with a magnificent silver dragon hatchling. I had reached out to touch it, and there had been a bright flash of light. Then, there had been nothing. I assumed I had woken up.
I yawned and sat up, looking around. I was in a small clearing, in the midst of a small forest without many large trees. To my right were a small campfire, and a sheathed sword. On my left, Elrun sat, eyes open, but unfocused, accompanied by—what?
The silver dragonling from my dream!
Elrun shook himself from his stupor.
"You're awake. Do you feel okay?"
"Yes, what happened?"
"I must confess my amazement. I never thought I'd see a human with such power—no offense intended.
I gestured for him to go on, glancing at the baby dragon, who seemed rather interested in me.
"After we fled, the dragon hatched. You touched it, and blacked out. I believe I have read about this; when a dragon is first touched by its rider, the rider is typically knocked unconscious by an outburst of strong magic. The affects are, for humans, a gradual acquiring of elf-like characteristics, and, for all riders, a silvery mark on the palm used to touch the dragon. This mark is called the gedwëy ignasia. The rider also eventually gains the ability to wield magic, primarily through the gedwëy ignasia, which often glows when particularly powerful magic is used. Also, a bond forms between dragon and rider. They can share thoughts, as if they were one being. At first, this is not so noticeable, as the dragon is not intelligent enough to form anything besides emotions, but soon, the dragon and rider can communicate within an ever-growing distance, as their bond strengthns. Once the dragon is at this stage of development, it chooses its name. Usually, it can carry its rider while flying by six months. The dragon continues growing as long as it lives."
I sat for a while, absorbing the new knowledge. I glanced at my palm—sure enough, there was a silvery mark.
Curiously, the dragon walked up to me. It sniffed a bit at my legs, and then cautiously prodded my side, seeking attention. Carefully, I patted its head. Once I had determined nothing like that night was going to happen, I stroked its scales gently. It purred in pleasure.
"How long was I out?" I inquired.
"The dragon hatched last night. Oh, by the way, Istalir is foraging."
"Ah."
I went back to stroking the dragon's scales. It nipped at my finger playfully. Grinning slightly, Elrun tossed me a small strip of smoked beef. I waved it above the hatchling, just out of reach. It made an attempt at reaching it, but, upon failure, gave me a look of such self-pity that I had to give it to him.
Happily, it devoured the strip. A sensation of satisfaction reached me. After being fed a couple more pieces, it curled up in my lap and promptly began snoring softly.
I almost snorted in amusement.
"Funny little fellow, isn't he?" Elrun commented.
I nodded in agreement. As if sensing he was being talked about behind his back, the dragon shot up and headbutted me in the stomach.
"Ow!" I gasped. I had no idea it was so strong! It had knocked the wind out of me.
As I recovered, and attempted not to swear while doing so, the dragon smugly plopped down on my lap again, and fell asleep. Elrun was choking with laughter.
"What's going on that's so funny?" Istalir's amused voice reached us.
"Nothing," I lied, upon which the dragon stirred slightly.
"The dragon's assaulting Alan," corrected Elrun.
Istalir crouched down on my right.
"Pretty entertaining little guy, isn't he?"
"Entertaining? Violent, more like."
At this, the dragon glared at me from its lap again. His message was clear.
I'm too lazy to bother with you now, but if you insult me again, prepare to face my wrath!
I shook my head, holding back a chuckle.
"Where are we?"
"About five miles northeast of Furnost. The Forsworn had been taking us straight to Urû'baen," responded Elrun.
"Our plan is to reach the large forest southwest of Furnost, and travel as far south as we can while remaining inside it. Then we will cross the Hadarac, and enter the Beors, where we will be safe with the Varden," added Istalir.
"Well, what are we waiting for?"
"You. So, get up and let's go, unless you are fatigued."
"I'm fine. I just need a small lunch while we ride. Did you find anything?"
"A small rabbit, for the dragon, and some fruits and roots, which will be our dinner."
The two elves quickly and efficiently erased all signs of our presence, while I grabbed our few provisions, storing the pocket of my cloak. As we now all had enormous speed and stamina, we simply jogged. The only difficulty was the dragon. I had to carry it—well, him, as Istalir had said notified me—carefully, which slowed our progress. I felt an uncertainty coming from him about why he was slowing us, but he was sorry.
Because it was already noon when I'd awoken, we were still a few miles from the forest when night fell. We decided to keep going, though. A few hours later, we arrived in the forest, upon which we found a suitable place to set up camp. Istalir used magic to cook the rabbit, since it was already late. The dragon, having eaten half his weight in rabbit, fell asleep first. Soon after, Elrun drifted off as well. Istalir put up a few enchantments around our camp, and fell into a trance about the same time I entered my waking dreams. This time, they were all normal dreams.
I stretched my arms and yawned. Blinking, I looked around our campsite. Istalir was awake already, and had began erasing signs of our passage. The dragon was devouring a recently killed rabbit.
"Did he catch that himself?" I asked.
"Yes. He is learning quickly. Oh, that reminds me, your nightly training needs to begin again," he said, glancing my way. "Tonight we shall see how good you are with weapons. If we find your proficiency satisfactory, we shall go on to magic. If not, we shall alternate between the two."
Elrun woke up, having heard voices. Istalir and I had to explain to him about the training I had been doing.
"Do you have any experience with a bow?" he asked, after we finished. "I believe it is a useful skill."
"I have hunted before, but not often," I replied.
"Good. Do you wish to learn archery, in addition to swordsmanship and magic?"
"Yes," I said. He glanced at Istalir.
"Do you think it would be prudent, or wasteful?"
"It could come in handy," Istalir acknowledged. "Tonight we shall teach both archery and swordsmanship, then. Let's go, now."
I picked up the dragon, which immediately snuggled up in my arms, ready to sleep again.
"You're getting heavier," I complained.
We set off at a steady trot through the forest. It was difficult to travel, as there were no paths in this area. Plants, vines, and other undergrowth impeded our progress. The dragon stared about in fascination at the various plants.
After about five hours, we stopped for lunch and a brief rest, as it was the hottest part of the day. The dragon scuttled off into the woods, with me following at a distance, and quickly caught a small mouse. Happily, it scampered back to camp, eager to show off. After receiving a few pats from me, it sat down to eat.
Elrun caught a brief nap, then went foraging. Meanwhile, Istalir and I chewed our last pieces of lamb. Istalir expressed distaste for meat for some reason, but there was not much he could do. He had to eat. He cast a few spells to detect intruders, and began to meditate. I leaned against a tree trunk and fell into a state somewhere between my waking dreams and full awareness. Faintly, I wondered about all these elven things happening. I had not had much time to think upon them.
Soon, Elrun came back with a bundle of edible plants and roots. Istalir and he split up the burden, while I scooped up the dragon, who was annoyed at the interruption to his sleep. We began our weary jog again.
At twilight, we stopped, unable to find a clearing this time. There was barely enough light to find firewood, but we did, and Istalir lit it with a brief spell. Elrun set up wards around us, and began to cook the herbs. The dragon had caught another rodent when we stopped, and was devouring it, watching with interest as Istalir and I drew our swords.
"What about the edges?" I asked. "Won't they harm us?"
"Gëuloth du knífr," he muttered, with his fingers over the blade. A gold spark flashed from his hands to the sword. "It is now dulled. Hand me your sword, and I shall do the same."
"Can it be undone?" I asked, still holding my sword.
"Of course. I would not have done it otherwise," Istalir scoffed. I handed him my sword, hilt-first.
"Gëuloth du knífr," he said again. Nothing happened. He frowned, and tried again, brow furrowed in concentration.
"Your sword has some sort of protection against spells," he said.
"Now what?" I asked. We could not spar like this.
He considered for a moment. "Elrun, may Alan borrow your sword?" he asked.
Elrun unsheathed his blade, and dulled it. "Very well, but be careful. It belonged to my father."
"I shall treat it with respect," I replied. "Besides, it's only for now."
I took the proffered hilt. It was a bit thin for me, and the handle was shorter than my own sword. The elegant curves did not fit me very well, but I could tell it was a good weapon. It just didn't suit me.
"Let us begin," said Istalir.
I began circling to his left, hoping to strike at his unprotected side. Grinning, he tossed the sword to his left hand, and struck at me. I was unprepared for his attack, and his sword almost slipped through my guard.
Block! Strike! Dodge! Parry! Jab! I remembered he had been holding back in the last session. I seemed stronger and faster, but he was much more agile and experienced. He cavorted around me, seeming to anticipate my every move, finding chinks in my defense I did not know of. I whirled, swinging at his feet, but he leapt, and landed heavily on my blade, causing me to drop it to the floor. He pointed his sword at my head.
"You are plenty strong and fast enough," said Elrun, picking up his sword from the ground. Both elves removed the spells on their blades, and Elrun cleaned his reverently.
"You just need more experience," said Istalir. "From now, Elrun and I shall take turns instructing you. Elrun in the art of archery, I in swordsmanship and magic. Elrun, can you teach Alan the Rimgar, so that he may practice every morning?"
Elrun nodded, and proceeded to teach me a sequence of poses which stretched my every muscle to its utmost. First, I brought my hands from my side to above my head, and reached down, trying to touch my toes. Then I sprung backwards.
"Move slowly, steadily. It must be a controlled movement," he said.
I grunted, unable to do much more because of the effort I was exerting.
Elrun was satisfied after what he called the first level. I was amazed that there were more.
Exhausted, I slumped against a tree trunk and was about to fall into my waking dreams, when Elrun interrupted me.
"You must practice that every morning, as Istalir and I remove traces of our camp. For the first few days, I will assist you, but you must memorize the poses of the Dance of Snake and Crane. Tomorrow night, we should reach the end of the forest. Istalir will begin to teach you magic. It is very late now; past midnight, in fact. I wish you a good night's sleep."
Then, my consciousness left me, and I drifted into my waking dreams.
A/N: I beg of thee, O glorious reader sent to me from the Gods. I implore that thy revieweth this epic of which I speak, that, in hopes of a truly grandeur readerbase, has convinced Us, the editor, to magick a truly persuading speech out of mindless inspiration and a definitive concern for the author's pitiful readerbase, who, if existent, dareth not show its face in a review. I beg of thee, however, to. And, if the noble request was to be fulfilled, We would truly consider performing this difficult feat every chapter, with hopes that it shalleth bolster the people into reviewing this truly spectacular work of fine art by my companion.
I hope you understood that. It was written by my beta a week ago.
Three more chapters unless I get more reviewers. If I end up stopping, more reviews in the future could still encourage me-that is to say, I will continue after Chapter 10 as soon as I get a few more reviewers, whenever that might be.