Okay, since school starts tomorrow the next (probably super-long to write) chapter might show up on Sunday. It's soooo good to be writing this much! Even if it's not... well. Perfect. (But what writing is?) Reviews still make happy authors. Kudos to those who comply. ;) Shame on me for begging and bribery...
"You brought not only one supposedly tame dragon, but also a wild dragon to my camp!" the Queen asked exceptionally indignantly.
"Your majesty, as I explained earlier I have a suspicion there will be many dragons at your camp tonight. And unless we can negotiate a cease-fire on both sides, it will probably be the last battle either species fights against the other."
"Eragon, I will allow your implied friends into the camp, but not a single other dragon will receive compassion from me until I verify that what you said is true." The Queen sent a messenger to inform the elves of their visitors.
Bid'Daum, Eragon shouted at the stony mind of his dragon. We've almost got her convinced. Any sign of an attack?
None so far, but Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey thinks we don't have much time.
All right, come here. I need your testimony to convince the Queen.
She'd better be convinced, Bid'Daum growled. Because, the two dragons landed in front of Eragon and the Queen, warily glancing at the startled elves all around them, otherwise we're dead meat and so will she be.
"Your majesty," Eragon gestured at his white friend. "Bid'Daum." To himself he added, Brilliant partner in crime.
I heard that, he grunted.
"And Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey." Eragon gestured at the black dragon.
The Queen said nothing, but observed the two dragons with an awe-struck expression. Granted, there was a noticeable tinge of fright, but Eragon forced himself to ignore it. He offered his hand to Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey, and his mind was barraged with the images and sensory detail that apparently was common dragon speech.
Suddenly, Eragon realized this could be a problem.
Is this your Queen? Eragon interpreted the images.
Yes.
May I speak with her?
"Your majesty, Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey would like to recall the events of today... but you might not understand it all too clearly." Eragon paused, trying to think of a way to solve this problem.
Let Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey say what he has to say, and I will reinforce it in a tongue she can understand, Bid'Daum suggested.
"But if you watch carefully, you will see what he means, and whatever you don't understand, Bid'Daum will explain."
The Queen approached Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey almost reverently. The dragon pulled his muzzle away from Eragon's hand, and the Queen offered her hand. Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey put his nose to her hand, and Eragon could tell that he had already begun his narrative just by watching the Queen expression.
It was comical.
Well, it would have been, under different circumstances. But right now, he needed her to understand this.
Because otherwise, Bid'Daum was right. They were all dead meat. Which, Eragon reflected, was a repetitive statement, because in order to have meat the animal -
Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey lifted his head and the Queen stumbled back a few steps, a little disoriented. She turned to Eragon and mouthed "I barely understood." Eragon gestured for her to repeat the event with Bid'Daum.
This time the surprise and comprehension showed with less clarity, but Eragon could this time sense the revelation going on in the Queen's mind. Dragons couldn't afford another battle. Elves couldn't afford another battle. Their mutual problem and interests could be resolved peacefully, if only sort of and, for now, temporarily.
But the species were closer to a solution now than they had been at the bank of another river so many moons ago, and that thought alone gave Eragon immeasurable hope. And for once... he didn't care who that lady was. Because she had been right.
Well, mostly.
Hellooo? Anybody in there? Bid'Daum. Wait, where -
"Eragon, how nice of you to rejoin us." The Queen grabbed his elbow and led him away a distance. "Please tell your friends to wait outside until we come to a decision."
"Your majesty, we don't have time to come to a decision," Eragon, shook off the Queen's hand. "We have to act now."
We're going to wait right here, Bid'Daum growled.
"Eragon," the Queen began menacingly, glancing at Bid'Daum. "Those are dragons we're talking about. I'm not going to stop everything and beg for mercy from them."
"Then we'll all die!" Eragon shouted, his voice echoing through the woods. "We have to take a risk, your majesty!"
"Pipe down." The Queen crossed her arms. "You're telling me that I have two choices. I can fight the dragons, and die for sure. Or I can try and make peace with the dragons, and just maybe die."
Eragon nodded.
"You say there's no fighting chance for us."
Eragon nodded again. "And they're coming soon," he added.
"We'll know about them ahead of time. I have scouts posted several layers away from the camp," the Queen grabbed Eragon and pulled him after her.
"And what if the dragons killed the scouts?" Eragon spoke quietly. "They could still come upon us and we will all DIE!" The Queen didn't stop.
"Making peace with the dragons is impossible – "
"It didn't work before, but we didn't have a dragon willing to stand in our midst and not eat us. It's possible now."
"Eragon, look at me and give me one logical reason to put the fate of the elves in your plan." The Queen's eyes burned dangerously, and her hand was on her sword.
"I've thrown logic to the windwith this plan, I can't give you a reason I can only tell you if we don't act now, if we don't take a risk, then we will die, and I'm not ready to die."
Neither are we, by the way, Bid'Daum interjected, stretching his head in between the Queen and Eragon. The Queen nearly fell back in fright, and a dozen elves had nocked and pulled back their bows at Bid'Daum. But they did not fire. And Eragon's right about the scouts. They're not hardly fast enough to outrun a dragon ambush.
The Queen's face fell, and she got to her feet, gesturing for the elves to put their bows down.
"Do you promise you will do everything in your power to keep our race alive?" she asked Bid'Daum. Her eyes were downcast, gazing at the grass underfoot.
I promise I will do everything to bring peace to our species, Bid'Daum twisted his head so he could stare at the Queen with his big white eye. Without extinction being an option.
The Queen sighed a sad, heavy, tired sigh, and closed her eyes. When she opened them again there was a spark of determination about them.
"For our people then, we'll take this risk. Soldiers," she snapped at the elves in the trees around them. "Keep watch, be cautious, and if the dragons attack, do not return the courtesy. Avoid their fire, and don't return it. Now report back to your stations!" There was a buzz of activity and murmurs of agreement and disagreement from all sides.
"We need to strategize with your friends here quickly, from what Bid'Daum says, there's going to be an ambush here tonight."
Tonight? Can't they wait till the morning? Eragon asked Bid'Daum.
Chances are good we'll only be able to settle the dragons by the time morning arrives. Then you'll have a lot of explaining and proposing to do. Which, by the way, I think the Queen is going to delegate you to be doing the talking to all of the dragons as the elvish ambassador.
Eragon smirked. Ambassador? He'd been but a lowly scout – and battle tactician, granted – but a couple of months ago. Now he was going to be the first ever elvish ambassador to the dragons!
I said I think. Also, you've been gone for just over a year, not a couple of months. And you are technically still a hero, first -
"Eragon! Hurry up!" He hadn't noticed the Queen's desk being put in front of the dragons, or the fact that she had commanded him to sit next to her. What he did notice at that moment, was that he was either acting really slow (how many different times had he been told to hurry up in the past 6 hours?) or everyone else was trying to go too fast. He followed the command, however, and the first elvish-dragon relations began to take shape.
Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey suggested that the elves all lay their weapons in one big pile in the center of the glade and have their hands up as a sign of submission. The Queen suggested that the elves hide while Eragon, Bid'Daum and Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey attempted to explain the situation, and then come out only when a peace treaty was to be made. Bid'Daum explained that he would not propose tactics, but would serve as a translator for the races, and Eragon listened without really listening until the Queen kicked his shins. Then he pointed out to Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey that the elves were too proud and scared to wait without their weapons with their hands up and he explained to the Queen that the dragons would perceive the hiding elves as an ambush, and Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey and Bid'Daum would be considered traitors.
"What then do you suggest?" the Queen growled tiredly.
"We have to do it the way we did it this morning," he muttered, rubbing his temples. While he had been listening but not really listening, he had been thinking about his poor stomach, and those thoughts were continuously invading his train of thinking. "The elves have to be the first to be eaten though. I mean – the elves have to be the first to submit. You know, put down their weapons, etc."
It'll be almost impossible to stop all of the dragons from attacking at the same time, especially if there's an army of them, Bid'Daum said.
"We need more friendly dragons," Eragon grunted. Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey snapped his jaws aversely at this.
Do I look like a friendly dragon to you, boy!
He means we need more dragons that believe this battle isn't worth it if it can be avoided to convince the attacking dragons. Bid'Daum glared at Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey until his scales had smoothed out. If we could convince the dragons to land peaceably on one side of the river with the elves on the other, we could probably settle things the way Eragon suggests.
"But how do we bring that about?" the Queen sighed, but Eragon and the dragons froze.
Right on time, Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey growled. Make sure the elves don't provoke us, Eragon-boy. Almost as one, Bid'Daum and Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey turned and leaped into the sky, roaring thunderously. The Queen had looked down for just a moment, but looked up when she heard the roar.
"What happened?" Eragon ignored her question and shouted instructions to all of the elves on duty.
"Don't fire! Avoid injury but DON'T ATTACK!" He grabbed the Queen and dragged her into a clump of trees, away from the clearing so they wouldn't be such easy targets. He hoped the elves had listened, but more importantly obeyed.
"We're under attack!" the Queen exclaimed, realization dawning upon her as the dragons set fire to the tree-tops.
Eragon had to bite back a sarcastic comment that would have humiliated himself in front of the Queen, and with a deep breath attempted to make himself useful.
"Your majesty, I recommend reinforcing your command to play the pacifist." He couldn't help Bid'Daum and Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey in the air at this point. But he could keep the elves from accidentally making another huge mistake.
The burning trees cast up a smoke screen between the elves and the sky, giving dragons perfect cover if they were going to pour down some fire, but it also helped the elves see the silhouettes of the approaching dragons and appropriately take cover. Not to mention the flames also aided their vision down below on the ground.
It was a bleak vision, though. The shadows were cast long and the flickering flames made it difficult to tell where one was going, let alone what was happening. But, to Eragon's relief, all of the elves he could see were following orders – evading attack without returning it.
A blast of fire ran down the middle of the clearing they had been sitting in moments ago, and the desk shattered from the pressure of the spewing flames. Eragon sighed and leaped back against a tree as another blast of fire landed in front of him.
Watch it! He shouted at the dragon, but it had already swooped away. Eragon shook his head, following the Queen as they avoided landing dragons. Did I seriously just threaten a dragon?
A string of roars sounded about the camp, and in Eragon's mind the whole forest seemed to go silent. He reached out cautiously. Bid'Daum?
We're going to wait on the other side of the river until daybreak. A council is beginning – if we're going to attack, it won't be until morning.
Were any of the dragons injured by the elves?
No. And that fact has already generated some good reputation for Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey and I. Gather your people, and be prepared to flee.
Very well. I'll let the Queen know.
Hunter-of-Mighty-Prey will not question our leader once a decision is made, though at this point he is advocating your suggestion. Be careful, and make sure you pick up the Regiment Eliana is in and any others in the surrounding area as you leave.
A chill ran down Eragon's spine as his throat ran dry and his stomach twisted, and he hoped to a God he didn't believe in that it wouldn't come to that. So many had already fallen, and things were just starting to look up...
Yeah, he said instead. Believe me, I won't forget.