Chapter Nineteen

When The Sun Rises

Disclaimer: See Chapter One

With a howl of sorrow, grief and anger, Thelduin ripped the envenomed blade from Aragon's heart, and hurled it into a dead, and withered tree on the opposite side of the clearing.
She noticed neither Bid'Daum, nor Eragon leave the clearing, so wrapped up in her emotions was she.

Looking once more upon her rider's broken body, she felt her sorrow and grief for his death,-along with the gaping wound that her link with him had occupied,-all the more acutely.
It's too soon! Our time together is ended far too soon! I wish I could do SOMETHING! ANYTHING!
With a heaving sob, tears welled in Thelduin's eyes, and unashamedly, she let them fall.
She had just lost the closest being to her heart and soul there was ever going to be, she had reason to cry.
Her tears landed upon Aragon's body, and upon the earth itself, one teardrop even falling, by some fluke onto a fragment of an egg smashed by Ramr, so many centuries before.

She didn't know how long she'd been crying.
'til the ground was a muddy slush, till Aragon's body was clad in clothes so wet, he might as well have been dunked in the spring.
The sun was setting.

Finally, Thelduin stopped crying.
A dull ache was all that remained of her grief.
All that remained of her sadness.

But her anger was burning with more intensity than fire ever could.
Magma, lightning, the heart of the sun,-these things were mere candles compared to the raging fury, that occupied Thelduin's heart.
I will find you, traitor-oath-breaker-soul-slayer-egg-smasher-murderer, and I will drown you in your own black blood, as it pours from your withered-black-heart. Thought Thelduin, and let loose a deafening roar, that could be heard by every living thing for miles in every direction.

Rabbits ran into their burrows and cowered in terror.
Birds took to the wing, and scattered to the four winds.
Ra'zac slunk back into their vile dens, and hid in fear.

And deep below the spring, creatures of the deep feasted upon the torrential emotion that poured from Thelduin, before scattering as it proved too much for them.
Without realising it, Thelduin had entered the state where she could manipulate magic, such was the strength of her anger and grief, though she thought the latter spent.

Opening her eyes, and seeing Aragon's lifeless corpse again, Thelduin reached out and touched his body, this last time, placing his hands over his heart, resting his head till it looked towards the darkening sky, placing his legs, so that at a glance, he could've only been sleeping.

She looked in the mud as well, and noticed a fragment of a dragon's egg.
Such a sad tale… Thought Thelduin, placing her hand-like paw on the fragment absentmindedly, before withdrawing it after a moment.
With a last shuddering sob, Thelduin left the clearing.

Too tired to be worried about revenge.
And too emotionally spent to stay at the sorrow-tainted spring to sleep.

Up until then, Aragon had known nothing but blackness in death.
Shade's Blood, he thought to himself, before opening his eyes, and peering around.
He was lying sprawled in the middle of a grey wasteland, with a scarlet cloudbank, brooding, threatening, and crackling with lightning in the sky above.
Shaking his head in sorrow as he remembered that he and Thelduin were parted, Aragon stood shakily.
Much to his surprise, he was clothed in a grey gown, and was barefoot.

Jesse O'Malley, called Aragon the Grey. Said a ghostly voice from behind Aragon.
Yeah…that's me,…why? Asked Aragon hesitantly, already reaching for the magic, and to his alarm, being unable to find it.

I am Death, and I have come to guide you to the afterlife, Jesse O'Malley. Said the voice, matter-of-factly.
Look, Death, I've got unfinished business…you know, back in the land of the living, so if you could do me just one small favour and let me off this one time, I mean, I'll eventually end up here again, so what's the loss-
There are no second chances with Death; Fate has decreed that now is your time to die, your time to enter the land of the afterlife, and none can deny Fate's will. Said Death, cutting off Aragon's attempt to reason with him.
Well, how about you go and guide someone else's soul to the afterlife, then come back for me later, give Eragon the Scion, or Thelduin a chance to bring me back, you know, be a sport? Tried Aragon again.

Death chuckled nastily. Such is always the way with you young dragon riders, you always protest how unfair your Fate is, always ask for a second chance to prove you can do better, but you are the first to ask for more time here; Fine, you cannot escape, and more than likely, the daemons of the Immaterium will come for you soon anyway, and spare me your incessant whining. Said Death, then left.
Now, how do I get out of here? Asked Aragon of nothing in particular.

Aragon the Grey? Asked a deep, rumbling voice from above and behind Aragon.
Okay, Death, if this is your idea of a joke, I'm going to take that scythe of yours and-
I AM NOT DEATH! I AM RAMR, SPIRIT OF THE RAMR RIVER! Roared the great spirit dragon, insulted.

Sorry, my mistake, what can I do for you? Asked Aragon, embarrassed.
The one closest to your soul has invoked us to bring you back. Said a deep, soft voice from the same source as Ramr's voice.
Aragon was about to ask something in confusion, but then the bleak scenery vanished with a rush, and there was a flash of light as he fell once more into darkness.

...

Pain.

That was the first thing he felt, as his body drew a great shuddering breath.
His vision flashed, and all he saw was darkness, but all around, he could here the soft, but insistent plink of rain falling.
He could feel the cold rain on his body, feel his sodden clothes, and feel the slick mud around him.
He could taste a disgusting coppery taste on his tongue, and smell the scent of wet dust, the smell of rain on dry country.
Then all the sensory information overloaded his readapting brain, and he blacked out.

That night it rained.

Still miserable, Thelduin simply got up and sought shelter in a cluster of rocks, a short distance from where she'd let herself fall to the ground to sleep.
Wearily, she coiled up in the shelter of the rocks, and promptly fell asleep again.

Back in the clearing, as Aragon's body recovered, the egg fragment Thelduin had unwittingly spelled began to reform, first the harder-than-diamond shell reformed, before the unhatched dragon that had waited within so long ago, also was restored to it's previous stasis.

As the first promise, the first hint of dawn coloured the eastern sky, He awoke again, with a shuddering gasp, soaked to the skin, chilled to the bone, and weary almost unto death.

He had no memory of what had transpired after the incident at the grove.
No memory as to how he came to be where he was.

With a strained groan, he rolled onto all fours, one hand slipping off of the smooth surface of a wet rock, causing him to fall face first into the mud.
Picking himself up, and wiping mud, water and wet hair from his eyes, he looked at what had caused him to fall.

It was an egg, some foot in diameter, and it was a deep blue and snow white.
He hesitated, this was a dragon's egg.
Which meant it's parents were surely nearby, to offer some protection to it.
But, then, it was still raining fit to flood, and it was cold.

With a resigned shrug, he picked up the egg and staggered off, away from the spring, occasionally falling, but always struggling back to his feet, remastering his body.
He was hungry though. Hungry fit to faint.
And thirst made him feel dry and hot as the Hadarac desert.

He was now some distance to where he'd started from, at the top of a small knoll.
And without the energy to go on.
With a weary sigh, he simply let himself fall into the mud, and roll onto his back, letting the egg slip from his hands, and look to the sky.

Then he blacked out.

Thelduin awoke as the sun brightened the dark night.
It was not yet dawn, but dawn wasn't far off.
It was still raining heavily, but it was beginning to brighten, so Thelduin decided it was time to be off.

I should probably return to Ilirea, and from there, I shall proceed to track down that murderer and kill him. Thought Thelduin, then sat back on her haunches, and looked at her arms.
The blue-green-grey growths upon her arms that had appeared when she was joined with Aragon were still there, along with the ones on the backs of her paws.

I'll always remember you… Thought Thelduin sadly to herself, flashing back through the times she'd shared with her rider:

Watching as Aragon sparred with Elmïra that first time…

Complaining along with Aragon as she and him worked at Vrael's laundry.

Resting on a rare day off, in their quarters in Elmïra's tree-house, talking.

Flying overhead with Infernia and Marinæ, as below on the summit path, Aragon, Jarren and Sarah walked along, talking, comparing notes, joking, laughing and enjoying each other's company.

Flying from Anarch and Saphira, before discovering how to size-shift, and hiding from Saphira by hiding on her saddle, as below, Morzan and Brom caught up with Aragon, before Aragon punched Morzan in the face, and split his lip, only to be tripped up by Brom.

Just the morning before, chasing the thief-girl over the rooftops of Ilirea.

We've been through some good times, haven't we? Asked Aragon, in a groggy, and slurred mental voice.
Thelduin jerked up so fast she cracked her head on the overhanging rock.
Aragon? She asked in shock, ignoring her pain.
Oh thank the stars, I thought I was dreaming. Said Aragon, his mental voice sounding dopey and not all there.

Without pausing to ask further questions, Thelduin shot into the air, and flew back to the spring, only to find that Aragon had gone.
And there was only one set of prints in the mud, alongside some signs of a person scrabbling in the mud.

Following the tracks in the steadily improving light, Thelduin traced Aragon's meandering route, until she came back to the hill, with the rocks facing southward where she'd laired for the night.
And sitting propped against a up thrusting standing stone…

'Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes.' Panted Aragon, shivering from the cold.
Aragon! Yelled Thelduin joyfully, before picking him up in her paws, and hugging him against her, as tight as she dared.

Thelduin, it's good to see you as well, but, you mind putting me down, before you suffocate me? Asked Aragon, his voice still sounding slurred and lethargic, but with an edge to it.
Sorry. Said Thelduin, and curled up against the standing stone, also looking east.
She shifted uncomfortably, and the dragon egg rolled out from under her.

Where did that come from? Wondered Thelduin, and Aragon glanced bleary eyed at the egg.
'Oh, I found that next to me at that spring where I woke up, I figured I'd take it with me, and find a more comfortable place for it, you know, for when it's parent's come back for it.' Said Aragon blearily.
Thelduin said nothing, but after a moment, Aragon could feel an up-welling of sorrow and relief, and before he knew it, Thelduin was crying, showering him in hot tears, and soaking him even more.
'It isn't that sad.' Said Aragon acidly, as he shivered, and pulled his sodden clothes tighter around himself in a vain attempt at warmth.
After a moment, Thelduin regained control of her emotions, and like a mother with her hatchling, coiled around Aragon, to provide him with warmth, and there they sat as the sun rose.

No edit was done here except to fix a weak sentence or two.

No One-liners.