Chapter 5: Welcoming committee.
When I say everyone, I mean everyone. At least three hundred and fifty Urgralgra rams had gathered for the Choosing Ceremony and almost all of them had agreed to be a part of the welcoming committee. This was not the entire Urgal force but all clans had sent representatives together with the young cubs who came for the Ceremony. So this was a gathering of all the most promising and most proven warriors. So, all of us headed for the clearing. We tried to be stealthy, to not let the Convoy know in advance that we were surrounding them. That is why I contacted Fírnen earlier this morning. I wouldn't want a dragon to notice us moving towards the clearing and thinking that we would be an attack force. Things would get very complicated then.
Three hundred and fifty Urgal rams trying to be stealthy. Chances of success: not very high. But somehow we managed to pull it off. Probably because Fírnen snored very loud, and Nazada as well. I hoped that the emerald dragon had warned the purple one, and it seemed he had. No elven guards were to be seen, and the human and dwarven guards seemed tired form the night. Slowly our forces spread out and surrounded the clearing from all sides. I was placed in the direction where Thorn and Murtagh could approach, so I could send them the no-harm message quickly if needed. I checked if the rams on my side were in position by quickly touching their minds. I had explained what I would do on forehand, so they wouldn't be very surprised. They agreed reluctantly, for they understood it was the best in the situation, but not wholeheartedly. I had asked them to just think of being ready, so I could read that quickly. I tried to not go with my thoughts towards the camp, for surely some of the elves would notice me if I did that. When all were ready, I signalled my uncle's mind that our side was in position. A few moments later, an Urgal sounded the horn, deep and hard. The guards quickly looked around and nervously drew their weapons. We heard a lot of people waking up and getting out of their tents, weapons in hand. Then we began.
One moment, all was quiet, the next a horn was being sounded and an instant later a great wall of sound approaches from all sides. All of the rams bellowed as hard and long as they could, like they would challenge the members of the Convoy to a fight. Not that it was our intention for them to fight us, we just wanted to surprise them. That worked very well. But I stayed silent, as I felt for the magic around me and I tried to notice if any spellcasters tried to use their magic to defend themselves or, worse, tried to attack us to stop the sound. I saw an elf beginning a spell and in a response to that I chanted:
'Brakka i vanyali!'
However, just before I released the magic to reduce magic, I felt two great minds touch all spellcasters in the area. It were the minds of the dragons. They urged all to let go of any magic. The elves stopped their spells and the rams still bellowed until they were out of air.
The members of the Convoy were in shock. A few moments after that, when we regained our breaths, all began to laugh. First the queen of the elves. Then a few elves joined. Then the dragons. Then all of us and the rest of the elves. Then, at last, the men and dwarves. This laughter was louder than all the sound we had made before. My uncle's booming laughter was the loudest, but the dragons' rumbles were the heaviest and let the ground shake.
All laughed for a good five minutes, including myself. For the fact that Urgals startled elves. For the absurdness of the situation. For the fun that the dragons had. For the fact that we had bested elves in stealth. For the fact that dwarves were taken by surprise. And for all the other reasons we could laugh at that moment. Our ears and mouths were relieved when we stopped laughing because we had no air left.
Then my uncle started the next part. He came forward and greeted all the leaders of the Convoy in their proper ways:
'Lady Nightstalker, it is an honour to see you again!'
She came forward, out of the circle of Nighthawks guarding her. (The Urgals with the Nighthawks had no clue that we would greet them like this, but they were the ones most resilient to the war cry, obviously.)
'Nar Garhzvog, good to see you too. You really gave me a wake-up call this morning.'
My uncle chuckled. 'Wake-up call? This is an official war cry! Though it was not meant to provoke war.'
'So, war was not your intention?' A sharp voice came from the elven queen, who came forward. 'It sounded really like it. If not for Fírnen and the ability to read you minds, we would have killed you.'
Nar Garhzvog turned to Arya: 'That is why I made sure that the dragons would understand our true purpose.'
Fírnen and Nazada rumbled in approval. Arya faced her emerald partner and seemed to have a conversation. Arya was shocked and in the eyes of Fírnen shone amusement.
'However,' my uncle continued 'welcome, all of you, to Rigbat-Ûr. King Orik and Rider Ozuna, King Orrin, Lord Risthart and Earl Stronghammer. Please, follow us. Inside the village, we will have games and a feast for your arrival. Then, at the time of noon, the Ceremony can begin.'
The leaders agreed and within half an hour, all had entered the village.
The games were great. Around a hundred Urgals and Kull participated, including me. I made it towards the semi-finals, where I had to best Yarbog, the one who was bested by Stronghammer. I lost to him. I felt the sting of defeat, but for me, it didn't matter too much. I had subdued four others and that was my goal. Yarbog became the winner of the games. He called out for Roran to come and fight him, but he was nowhere to be seen. After the fights, the feast began.
The feast was great, with all of the races contributing towards the food. The elves sat a bit apart from the rest, since they could not stand the smells of meat as much. All had a fun time. Yarbog found Roran sitting by the fire and challenged him. Then Roran made a counter proposal to a drinking contest. They accepted and both drank half a barrel until they passed out. It was a draw, but fun for all of us to see.
After the feast, the village square was cleaned and all was prepared for the Ceremony. In front of the Herndall hut a wooden platform was erected. On there, a carved wooden table was placed. Surrounding the table were the so-called honour guards: Queen Arya, Earl Stronghammer, King Orik and Nar Garzhvog, each representing their individual races. They would make sure the Ceremony remained orderly and they would keep the egg safe.
At noon, all Urgal younglings were gathered. Around two hundred of them were assembled. We were ordered in lines for the first part, which would be explained later. This caused a bit of trouble when I was put somewhere in the middle. A few Urgals noticed me and began commenting on my wrong placement for I was inferior in their eyes, all because of my magic.
'Move it, magic user. You do not belong here. Get towards the back where you belong.' One of them said to me, like I was bested by him.
I listened to the comments, yet remained where I stood. 'I mean it, get moving. You with your elven training have no place here.' He then started to lower his head. I saw this and rumbled in response. I looked down upon him, since he was more than a foot smaller than me.
I snorted. 'I won't give up this place for that reason. If you want to become Rider you get to use magic anyway.'
During this encounter, other Urgals had noticed the tension and made room for us. Soon, an open space had been cleared for us. He looked around and saw a few Urgals with the same attitude as him. 'I challenge you right here. As we stand at the moment.'
'Bring it then.'
All of the square had become silent then. After one was challenged, no one could intervene until the fight was over. We both gave out a war cry, mine longer than his.
Right after my war cry ended, he charged me. I was still recovering my breath, but I had expected that. Just before he could horn me, I took his outstretched arms and turned my back towards him. Then I threw him over my back. Thus I redirected his force towards the ground. I used his own force to land atop of him, preventing him from moving his lower body. Quickly I forced his arms towards the sides and held them into place. Then I put my horn between his chin and neck. He laid there, shocked in my reaction to his lunge, and held up his chin. The challenger had been defeated in less than a minute. I held him in this position for a bit longer and then let go.
He stood up quickly, giving me foul looks, as well as a few others. But that was all they could do. I had already bested my challenger and anyone who was angry would not fight me for his honour. I remained where I stood and I seemed to be a bit more respected.
After all had settled down, queen Arya came forward and spoke: 'You all have gathered here before the Ceremony today. Due to the process of the Ceremony, it will take longer before the Rider is chosen then today. Let me explain it to you. First, all younglings will come forward and touch the egg for five minutes. This will give the dragon inside the egg a quick first impression of everybody. The dragon inside is male, and does partially understand Urgalish, but it can communicate with the outside world with its mind. When that part is over, all of you may have the egg for four hours. During that time, you may do as much as you want to do in that time period. If you leave this place, we honour guards will go with you to ensure the safety of the dragon inside. This part will take the longest, but it will give the dragon inside time to think if you will make a good Rider. During this time, the others can do what they want. If the egg starts to break, nobody may touch the dragon except the one for whom he has hatched for. If you are not chosen during that time, you can leave. If you are, that means that you will be the next Rider. This will give you magic abilities and a life-long connection to your dragon.'
Then she held up the egg for all of us to see. The egg's scale was white, almost silver-like. On the lower half, some dark grey stripes could be seen, almost black. She put the egg on the table. After her last message, many among us began to whisper amongst each other. The honour for being a Rider seemed to shrink a little because of the magic abilities. I had known it for a long time, since my first weeks after my training in Du Weldenvarden. Magic was a useful asset, but awakened a fear in our people since the things Durza the Shade did use it for terrible things.
The elven queen asked for silence again. 'If all are ready, let the Ceremony begin!' Just as the first Kull came forward, the roar of a dragon was heard.