Caironater: I don't know. Good eye for detail, though. Arya knew that by means of magic.
Prince of Madness 54: I just wish he'd hurry it alone a bit. He already passed up Christmas sales, which with how long he's had people in suspense would have been sky high. Anyways, I will do my best. :)
FlexManSteel: As it stands there will be three books in total for this particular story. That might change, but I doubt it. I can't see BloodFire past thirty chapters, so that's about thirteen more chapters to go.
Glacion God of Ice: I know! I want it to be a good book and stuff but I don't want to have to wait until I'm thirty to read it. Although, he did say that the deadline was sometime in June this year, so it has to be close.
Antclift: Yeah, I thought that too, but it was just too boring to me. Took me a month to outline why he would leave Alagaesia. If that doesn't make sense right now, it will by the end of the story.
Obliterator1519: If you didn't see that coming, can't wait to read your reaction to this chapter. Magic, by the by, is how she knew it was a boy.
Eragon sat cross-legged on a raised pallet in the large tent. He was playing a game of Runes against Aesire. Despite his best attempts to concentrate, his mind kept drifting back to Arya and his son, as it had for the past three days while the Varden sat recovering from the two previous battles. The Elves had captured Teirm and Daret almost as soon as they arrived at the cities, for the populations had fled across the waters and land.
Eragon had blockaded his Emperor in the lower left hand of the board, with a Wizard, Dragon, Knight and Serpent guarding it. Aesire's Emperor was in the upper right hand corner and, because it was relatively unguarded, Eragon had sent his other Knight and four Peasants after it. The Knight stood in the center of the four Peasants, blocking diagonal escape of the Emperor. Eragon's plan was to send in his Peasants to kill the Emperor one at a time so that he couldn't escape or fight back without being in range of the Knight. Eragon had already captured Aesire's Empress and had his own deployed his as backup in case Aesire had something hidden in reserve.
All Aesire had for the defense of his Emperor was his Wizard's, which while powerful, could only move two spaces per turn. Eragon's Knight was weaker, but could move three spaces per turn which gave him the advantage, because the Wizard could not move in for an attack without the Knight being able to easily escape. Perpendicular to Eragon's attack formation, Aesire's two Dragons, which were the second strongest and fastest, lay diagonally from each other. The Dragons, however, could only attack up and down the board and diagonally, precluding them in the defense of the Emperor.
"Well, Aesire, I think I might be the only one who as ever gotten you in such a death hold. Without your Empress you're helpless."
A small smile grew on Aesire's lips. "To the contrary. My Emperor is helpless, but I am not. This whole match has been about making you look to your next move and not your last." Aesire reached for the first of his Dragons.
"What are you doing?" Eragon asked. "You can't use those for..." He stopped dead as Aesire moved the Dragon in opposite way of his Emperor, taking out Eragon's Peasant. With the diagonal line to his second Dragon Eragon could not take out the first Dragon, which had his Emperor in check. None of his other pieces had the power necessary to take out the Dragon.
"Checkmate," Aesire said, taking a long sip from the wine skin by his side. Eragon looked the board over, trying to find some route of escape. Aesire, however, had him pinned down with no way out. He shook his head. He had originally believed Aesire's strategic power was somewhat limited to board games. It seemed that his mind was more adapt at strategy games. "Would you like to admit defeat or are you going to sit there looking for something that doesn't exist? My Dragons cannot be beaten in the next turn that would save your Emperor."
"Alright, fine," Eragon said, drinking from his own wine skin. The Varden had stopped one the lower point of Leona Lake and the humid air saturated every cloth in the camp until it was damp and heavy. "Is there any game you're not good at?"
"Yes. An ancient one made before the Elves arrived in Alagesia called Nalganì. Only three boards are known to exist, though; all with the Dwarfs. I traveled there once, challenged Hrothgar to a game and just narrowly prevailed."
A gentle rapping came from outside Eragon's tent. "Enter," he said, taking another draft from his wine skin. A young boy, Jarsha, stepped in. "Ah, Jarsha," Eragon said, wondering if Nasuada had sent for him. "What can I do for you today?"
Jarsha bowed deeply. He arose and looked at Aesire quizzically. After a moment Eragon said, "Jarsha?"
He snapped to attention. "My apologies, Sir." He bowed again and said, "There is a band of four supply wagons outside the Varden's camp, requesting entrance, Sir." Eragon frowned.
"Why are you telling me this?"
The boy's face grew slightly confused. "Sir, you asked to be notified if we had reason to believe Master Aesire's friend had arrived from Dras'Leona." Aesire jolted up as if he had been electrocuted. He looked down at Jarsha, stood and leapt the some ten feet to the opening in one bound. He picked Jarsha up as he went. Eragon hurried after him.
Outside, mist clung to the camp so heavily it was difficult for Eragon to see twenty feet in front of him. He did not need to see Aesire however, for the ecstatic emotions coming off of him were like a blazing inferno. He set out after the sensation Aesire was transmitting. He found Aesire, who had apparently freed Jarsha, standing in front of one of the sentries for the Varden, having a very heated dispute. Eragon ran up beside Aesire and the sentry bowed. "Shadeslayer."
"What is the problem?"
"Lady Nasuada decreed that no one was to leave or enter the camp without her direct permission. I am simply following that order."
Eragon looked across at Aesire, who seemed ready to rip the man's arms off. Aesire looked back at him and said in the confines of Eragon's mind, Can I please just use my power on this imbecile? That would settle this so much faster. Eragon shook his head.
"I am Nasuada's personal vassal," he said to the sentry. "And her rules are mine as well. However, if you do not let us pass, I will simply fly out on my dragon Saphira. She is out hunting and having to return merely to fly me out past the main gate would surely irritate her. You would not want an irritated Dragon bearing down on you, would you? They are very well known for acting on such irritations." The white's of the man's eyes became more prominent. He cleared his throat and said, "You will tell Nasuada that I did my job to the best of my ability, and that I only shirked it at the prospect of an unnecessary death, yes?"
"I will," he said. "Although I highly doubt Saphira would kill you."
The sentry stepped aside and granted them passage down into the trenches. Since the bulk of the time the Varden had spent at a stand still had been primarily devoted to recuperating, little effort had been made to build similar fortifications around the camp as they had before.
Aesire blazed across the trench as if it wasn't there. Eragon scrambled up after him and onto the range of hills beyond. Aesire looked at him, as he could not see because of the mist. "Can you do something about this mist?"
Eragon gathered himself and said, "Risa du rakr."
Without the provocation of wind, the mist rose out of sight, revealing four wagon trains parked in a semi-circle. Aesire took off running to them, even though they were only a few hundred feet away. When he and Eragon stopped ten feet from the wagons, Aesire said, "Where are they?"
As if on queue, a man jumped out of the first wagon, bowed and made his way to the last wagon. He unlocked the back and helped a figure out.
"Hola," Aesire said. The man escorted the woman until he was five feet in front of them, where he bowed once more and said, "My Master Alcore sends his tidings. He will be awaiting your arrival in Dras'Leona." Spinning on his heel he returned to his wagon.
Eragon examined Hola. She was about five and a half feet tall, with smooth brown flaxen hair that flowed down her back like a silk waterfall. Brown eyes that seemed deeper than the ocean were perfectly framed by her brown locks. This is the oldest looking werecat I've ever seen, Eragon thought. Hola looked to be in her late teens to early twenties, far older than Solembum or Maud. A faint smile was on her lips. "You left me," she said in a voice like the music of a harp.
"I had no choice," Aesire said.
"You could not have even told me yourself? I had to be told by Alcore and you know I find him repulsive."
"If there was someone else I could have had tell you I would have used them."
"And yet you, Aesire: The Lord of House Nandiall; he who can think his way out of anything, could not think of someone?"
"I'm sorry, Hola. If I could have taken you, I would have. Are you mad with me?"
Hola dipped her head. "I could never be mad at you." With outstretched arms, she jumped at Aesire, catching him slightly off guard and they both tumbled backwards. Eragon stepped back.
Aesire, who looked like the happiest man alive, said. "Hola?"
Hola looked up at him. "Hmm?"
"The past few weeks, this Rider helped me realize something."
"And what would that be?" Hola said, in a voice that made Eragon think she knew what he was about to say.
"I...I love you."
Eragon stepped back with shock. As soon as Aesire said those words, the bottom of Hola's dress had flared up and a wolf's tail had emerged. As she lay on Aesire's chest, the tail waved back and forth like a dog wagging its tail. "That took you long enough to discover. For seven years I have waited to hear you say that" she said softly, then pushed her way up and kissed him. "The feeling is reciprocated," she said when she broke the contact. Aesire lay stunned for a moment. Then he kissed her again. And again and again as if he never wanted their lips to part. After a moment she pushed him away and said with a small laugh, "My need for oxygen has not lessened, Aesire."
"Sorry," Aesire said, breathlessly. He stood and helped her up, then noticed Eragon's still surprised expression. "What?"
Eragon tried to speak, but finding that he couldn't he nodded his head towards Hola's tail, which was free flowing in the wind along with her dress. Aesire looked down at it and back at Eragon as if he couldn't discern what Eragon meant. "What?" he repeated.
"The...tail," Eragon forced out. Aesire's eyes brightened.
"Ah, didn't I tell you about that?"
"No. I would have remembered something like that."
"Hmm. I could have sworn. In that case; Hola." He looked down at her. Eragon blanched back as a pair of wolf ears flicked out of her hair. "Probably best you know about those as well."
"Yes," Eragon said, somewhat recovering from his daze. "How did this come to be?"
Hola's ears flicked as the wind picked up. "My mother's mother was a werecat and her father a wolf. My mother had me with a human while she was in human form. Because of this, I am the first werecat that is a wolf that is also a human. Does it bother you? I can hide them if I so wish."
"No," Eragon said. "It simply caught me off guard."
"As it does with all humans," Hola replied, looking up at Aesire. "His reaction could only be called losing conciseness."
As the wind began lifting her hair, she reached up and tucked the loose bangs behind one ear. "Of course, he was more than happy to use my tail for warmth during the winter months. And yet, even after that..." Hola was cut off as Saphira came into view. She flapped backward to slow her landing, buffeting them with a gale from her mighty wings. Sitting in the crevasse between her shoulders and her neck was Solembum in cat form.
You really do forget that I can hear your thoughts, don't you, Saphira said as she landed.
Why is Solembum with you?
He asked if he could go with me. A werecat's mind is so much more interesting than a human's.
My apologies.
Is this the woman Aesire has not stopped babbling about?
Aye, he said, waiting for her to comment on her tail and ears. When she did not, he said, Nothing about her tail and ears?
I have a tail, you have ears. Why would another pair of ears and a tail raise an eyebrow?
Because she's in human form and yet has wolf features.
Such oddities exist everywhere in Alagesia. A flower made of gold and rubies, a child that bears the mark of the Dragon Riders and yet is not a Rider and a man buried in a diamond tomb! A tail on a woman is supposed to surprise me?
Well you don't have to make it sound so ridiculous.
Solembum raised his head and yawned. He stood and shook himself, then jumped from one of Saphira's limbs to the next until he landed on the ground, where he stretched out each of his legs. He padded around Saphira and looked up at Eragon, and then to Aesire, then his eyes came to rest on Hola. When they did they became red as blood. He lowered his ears, raised the hair on his back, opened his mouth and hissed furiously at her. Hola took a readied stance and pinned back her ears. "You!" She said in a voice that sounded almost like Solembum's hiss, so different from her harp-like voice only a moment before.
Reader: You think that was adding a bit much there Tessa? The whole wolf ears and tail thing?
Me: No, no I do not. If I had not added those it would have changed, literally, the entire story and laid waste to every reasonable excuse I could possibly make to justify such butchery of Christopher Paolini's masterpiece as would have been brought into existence had I not added such things as have been shown in this chapter and were forced instead to make up another random story like the last hack jobs. *68 word sentence and it is still valid on Word. HECK YES!*
Reader: Wow. Put some thought into that one, didn't you?
Oh, I just love writing about Hola and Aesire.
Forgive me, all those who think that to divert from CP's original ideas is preposterous, but there is a lot worse going around on FanFiction. So much so that I hardly deserve your attention. Homoerotic fanfics about people who have never even met each other or had any extended interactions whatsoever; i.e. AryaXElva.
(That little rant, meaning all of bold words above this was the product of my brother. fyi.)