A/N: Hey everyone. Once again I am sorry for the HUGE gap in time between my uploads. I get distracted, real life stuff happens, I forget, or just don't feel like doing it - but, I'm human, so that's normal. lol.
Also, I'm thinking of re-writing this story soon anyways. I'll still continue this as far as I can and will upload chapters when possible, but I'll get started on the re-writing process as well. So, you can look forward to more chapters here, and possibly even a new version all together here soon. :)
So, here's the new chapter. I hope you enjoy it. :)
Oh, and, sorry about the title. The whole thing wouldn't fit in. :\

Story:

Chapter 9: What it means to be a Dragon Rider.

The air cracked as my mothers name was screeched once again. The white raven padded back and forth in front of me, but no one else seemed to care for the bird or what it had to say. Except for the queen, who sounded irritated as she hushed the bird, "Quiet, Blagden." At her words the bird flew back to its perch, but seemed to keep its eyes on me. "Now, rise, all of you."

One by one our small group rose until we were all standing in the rightful manor. "It is good to see your safe return, twins Dylan and Jak. You are the pride and joy of the elves, second not even to Dusan and Alanna. It ailed me greatly when you two decided to got to the Varden. Children such as yourselves still have much to learn, and even though you are strong, it is but a dangerous thing to have you in battle. I am only so grateful that you two have returned safely."

"And you have brought a dragon rider and her dragon with you. It is a strange thing, seeing a new rider two days in a row. But, what I do not understand is how this can be possible. Was it not that only a Blue, Green and Red egg were shown mercy by Galbatorix? How has this purple dragon come into existence?"

My head spun with the words that the queen had spoken. Dylan and Jak were twins? They never mentioned anything about that before. They acted so similar, looked so much alike, and were the only elves I had seen with red hair so far - though I never thought that they were siblings. But, why were they the pride and joy of the elves? And why had they kept their blood relation secret from me? And, it was true, how could Nyte's egg exist? Dylan had never explained where it had come from.

"My queen," Dylan was the one to speak, "We are both very happy to be home once again, and happy to be shown so much kindness. Yes, it is true, what you say about the eggs Galbatorix showed mercy to. Though, on our journeys with the Varden Jak and I found the violet egg that hosted this dragon hidden away on the isle of Nía. We never got the chance to send word back to you, for you had cut off all contact with the Varden some time before that, when Arya was captured."

"Ah, yes, I see. You will have to explain more to me later, and I shall have some explanations for you as well. Now," The queen turned her attention away from the twins and towards Nyte and me, "I am sorry for ignoring you until now, our most important guests."

I remembered the elven greeting that Dylan had taught me so long ago, and touched my lips and twisted my right hand over my sternum. "Queen Islanzadí. Atra esterní ono thelduin."

The queen's eyes narrowed in slight confusion, "Atra du evarínya ono varda."

"Un atra mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr," I replied, finishing the ritual. I could tell that the elves were mostly caught off guard by my knowledge of the greeting.

"She is much like Eragon," The queen muttered to herself, before continuing out loud again, "Dragon, what is your name?"

"Nyte."

The queen smiled and nodded, "Welcome to Ellesméra, Nyte. And what is your name, rider?"

"My name is Kyra and I am the daughter of Aiedail and Kian." I had learned my fathers name yesterday while Jak was teaching me about Ellesméra. Although, Jak had failed to tell me anything else about my father by saying that there was someone else who had to tell me such things. As I spoke my parent's names chaos erupted from the elf lords and ladies that sat in the room. At first there were just loud gasps and other expressions of surprise, but then low mutters filled the air. The queen especially seemed surprised.

"How can this be? Can you really be Kian's child? How do you even know such a thing? Jak, Dylan, I demand an explanation. How did you come across this girl?" The queen's eyes were full of suspicion.

"It seems as though no one is willing to trust me as of yet."

"Kyra, it is because they are cautious people. Kian must have been very important to them, so they must only make sure that you are truly his daughter." As Nyte and I spoke to one another through our private link for a moment, Dylan started explaining things to the queen. He told the whole story of how he met me, how Nyte's egg had hatched for me, our encounter with Murtagh, and even our rescue of Jak.

"I see," Islanzadí's eyes burned brightly as she returned her attention to me, "Oh what a fine day this is! We have awaited your return to this place, O' daughter of Aiedail. And you have become a dragon rider! This is news that will lift the spirits of any elf who hears it. My daughter has returned and now we have two dragons and their riders to defend against the menace of Galbatorix and his dragon! But there are things we must tend to. It is late, and our guests must want to sleep for they have had such a long tiresome journey and not much time to rest."

"Accompany me, Nyte and Kyra, and I shall show you where you can rest for the night. Twins, you may come with us as well." And at that the queen walked past us and out the door we had entered. Once the door opened it was easy to see that just during the short while we had been indoors that night had fallen upon us.

We walked through the trees in silence as we followed the queen. There were very few elves out and about, but they did well to keep themselves away from us since we were being led by the queen. When we came close to another elf they would respectfully bow and then continue on their way. We passed a tree rigged with a staircase that spiraled up to a series of globular rooms cupped and suspended in the tree's crown by a spray of branches. As we past beside it I could feel a strong presence emitting from it.

Not long afterwards we stopped in front of a tree identical to the one that we had just passed under. "This is where the second in command of the riders stayed while in Ellesméra. The other rider and his dragon dwell over there, where they are probably asleep by now. He has the rightful position as the leader of the riders, so you are now heir to the title of second in command. You shall meet them and the ones who will train you tomorrow. Now," The queen pointed to part of the tree house, "Nyte, you will have to fly up there for the stairs were not made with dragons in mind."

"I thank you, my queen." I smiled and bowed slightly at the queen as I started to head for the stairs.

"There is no need for thanks, my young friend." The queen half laughed as she turned to walk away, "Though, I do feel as though I've said much the same things yesterday as well. What a strange day this is indeed. Now, come twins, and I shall show you where you will stay."

"Kyra," Dylan's voice fluttered towards me, and when I turned around he was standing right in front of me, Jak beside him. Dylan leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me in a brief hug. "We are both very thankful, and understand that there is still a lot that we must explain to you. Though now is not the time, and we shall not see you tomorrow. We are uncertain when we will see you again."

"But don't think you're getting rid of us that easily!" Jak laughed. As soon as Dylan let go of me Jak grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. His arms wrapped around me tighter then Dylans had, and held me closer to him. Dylan's hug did come as a slight surprise, but Jak hugging me was even more of a surprise.

Jak held the hug for another moment until the queen called for them again. "We'll see you as soon as we can, so until then take care of yourself. Fair well, Kyra." His voice was but a whisper in my ear; his breath was warm and soothing. Ever so slowly he unwrapped his arms, smiled at me, and then turned to follow Dylan who had already started making his way towards the queen.

"They sure are strange ones." Nyte said before leaping into the air and gliding up to the tree house. "Come. Let us see what our living quarters will be like."

A few minutes passed by before I started to head up the stairs. During those few minutes I stood and watched as Jak and Dylan followed the queen deeper into the forest. I was surprised by Jaks actions, yes, but even more then that I was surprised at how much I liked what he did, and how much I wished that he was still standing right beside me. As soon as Jak was out of sight I turned to face the stairs that I had to climb.

The steps were steep, but they were not much of a problem for me. I could have probably reached the top without the steps, but that would consume too much time and effort. So, the stairs were indeed helpful, but I liked the trapdoor at the top of the stairs the most. It led into a circular room that looked to be the main room. Three screen doors led to other rooms, and there was a staircase leading higher up.

The first one I entered was definitely the bedroom; there was a bed against the wall and a depression on the floor that was outlined with soft blankets. There was a huge hole in the wall were Nyte suddenly appeared. "This is amazing! You can easily fit through the hole in the wall. There's even a bed for you. This is my kind of house."

"Yes, and it seems as though there are rooms higher up that I can fly to. This is a befitting place for creatures so in tune with nature itself." Nyte curled up on his new bed and closed his deep crystal eyes. "We should sleep. We've had a long journey, and now is our chance to rest."

"First, I want to explore around a little bit and see if I can find a place to take a bath. I haven't bathed in almost two months!" I laughed and skidded out of the room, leaving Nyte to himself. The next room I entered after going into the main room was one with a deep impression on the floor. There was no doubt about it; it had to be the bathtub!

Hopping to it, I searched around to see if I could find any nozzles. After a moment I was able to find an indent in the wall, that once pressed, opened to reveal two nozzles. Quickly I filled the tub with hot water and slung off my pack and cape. Before undressing I ruffled through my bag and pulled out the only clean clothes I had left; a black tunic and brown ruffled pants.

I could feel my muscles relaxing as I lowered myself into the steaming water. At first it almost burned, the heat of the water, but I found myself enjoying it before long. I sinked low into the tub, until my chin rested below the water, and closed my eyes. It was nice, just soaking in the water, like it was washing all my worries, aches and pains away.

I could have stayed like that forever if it weren't for the fact that I knew that Nyte was waiting for me to return. With a slight sigh I found myself a bar of soap and started to wash all the dirt and scum of the past two months away. While bathing I took count of my few wounds; there was a thick welt going across my back, more then likely from the sparring, there was a few bruises along my legs, my feet were bruised and battered, and there was, of course, the wound on my right arm. By the time I was done washing my skin seemed to almost shimmer in the water; everything looked so much better, other then the wound on my arm, which looked as fresh as ever.

Once my bath was over I dressed, drained the tub, and left the room to find two trays of food waiting for me just outside the door. They were both identical; covered in bread's, fruits and vegetables. There was a note left by an elf named Bellaen saying that the food was dinner for Nyte and me. "Hey Nyte, wake up! Dinner time!"

I called out to Nyte as I carried the trays back into the bedroom. "You call that dinner? Dragons eat meat, not plants!" Nyte criticized as he studied the food with a yawn.

"Whatever. I'll ask them about it tomorrow. For now, it's better then nothing." I yawned myself, while placing a plate of food onto the floor for Nyte and began eating my own.

Dinner concluded and Nyte and I crawled into our respective beds. The bed was soft and warm, so welcoming when I had only slept on the earth and the floor of the Inn for the past two months. Just as I started to settle down into the bed a strange feeling came over me - I felt oddly alone. Sitting up, I looked at Nyte, who had one of his sky blue eyes staring directly at me. After that it only took me a few moments to abandon the bed, as comfy as it was, gather up the blankets and slide in next to Nyte.

"What is the matter, little flower?" Nyte nudged my softly with his head as he moved into a more comfortable position.

"After sleeping so close to everyone all the time a big empty bed like that makes me feel so lonely. I long for the presence of someone near me whilst I sleep."

"I completely understand, and I am more then willing to share my bed with you, and you know that." Nyte hummed softly for a moment as he closed his eyes, and I closed mine in return. It was quiet then, but only for a few minutes. "But it is more then just that, is it not? Your first night in Dras-Leona…You had one of those dreams, didn't you? I've been seeing glimpses of it for but a second here and there."

I sighed. I should have known that I wouldn't have been able to keep it from Nyte; it was foolish of me for even trying to. "Kyra, I am a dragon, and you are my rider. We are connected so deeply that we are part of each other - we can experience each others pains like it is our own, as well as other emotions and feelings. I understand the feeling of wanting to keep things secret, but you, as a dragon rider, should not keep secrets from your dragon. We may have separate bodies, but we share the same soul. Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts, feelings, and experiences with me."

"Nyte…" I shook my head lightly, "I have the right to privacy, dragon rider or no."

"Do you not understand? Being a dragon rider is a life changing experience. No matter what you will never be able to live life in the same fashion you did before you became my rider. I know it may seem unfair, but it is the truth, Kyra."

"I know that privacy is important…but when it comes to you and I, there should be no secrets. It is alright if you keep little, unimportant, things from me, but for things this serious, you should really not leave me in the dark. Kyra, I love you, and that is also the truth. I spent years and years in that egg and never once did I feel as though the world was safe enough for me to leave it. Not until the day that you first held me. Your touch sent a spark of interest through me, a spark of security and belonging. I knew, somehow, that you were the one for me."

"Fine…" I gave in - there was no way that I could resist an argument like that, "Yes, I had one of those dreams. It was about Jason…" I then proceeded to explain the short dream to Nyte. It only took but a minute or so but fully recounting it was painful.

"Oh, little flower…I am sure things will be just fine. If only there was a way to contact him…" Nyte's thoughts faded as he realized, just as I had long ago, that there was nothing that we could do to help Jason at this point.

We continued to talk until there was nothing left to say. In a way it felt good to share my dream with Nyte, but in other ways it made the dread completely resurface again. I fell asleep thinking of many things, but mostly there were two people on my mind; Jason….and Jak. The thoughts were so mixed; from sad and depressing to happy and upbeat.

That morning two trays of food were left outside of the bedroom door as well as a bundle of clothes. In front of the trays was another note from Bellaen explaining that it was our breakfast, that there were clothes for me, and how deeply sorry he was to Nyte. It explained that no meat was allowed inside of Ellesméra, and Nyte would have to hunt for his own meat outside of the city limits.

After eating I unwound the bundle to reveal an intricately made brown and dusty red cloak. Next I pulled out a gold and green dress, with light red leafy designs flowing across the bottom. I held it up and it fell to about floor level. "Grrrreat. Just what I needed."

Nyte was easily able to detect the sarcasm in my voice, "I think it's very pretty. You should wear it. It would look very nice on you."

"I'm not wearing a dress." Though, the next thing made the dress almost seem welcoming. I held up a pair of elven shoes to show Nyte. "And they can forget about making me wear these as well. But, well, at least I got a nice cloak."

Leaving the bedroom momentarily, I went back into the bathroom and opened a cupboard to reveal a small hand held mirror and matching brush; I had seen them the night before but was too lazy to grab them then. I took them back to the bedroom and proceeded to brush out my hair. I hadn't really paid attention to it before, but my hair had grown quite a bit in the last few months. It went from shoulder length to reaching past my breasts. I smiled lightly as I found a hair tie and pulled my hair back into a simple pony tail whilst leaving a few strands of hair by the front loose. I then started to get dressed the rest of the way.

Just as I started to don my new cloak a nock came on the bedroom door. "Come in." I called out, not knowing what else to say. The door slid open to reveal a nicely dressed, black haired, beautiful elvin lady.

"Good, you are awake. Queen Islanzadí is waiting for you at the base of the tree." The lady turned to leave, but looked back and quickly added, "I am Arya, nice to meet you." Then she was gone as quickly as she had appeared.

"That was weird." Both Nyte and my thoughts matched. Finishing getting ready, I raced out the door and down the steep steps as Nyte floated out the window and to the base of the tree.

At the bottom both Arya and Queen Islanzadí were waiting patiently for us. The moment my bare foot reached the bottom step the queen spoke, "Come, there are a few people that you must meet." Her eyes briefly scanned me, probably noting that I wasn't wearing the dress or the shoes that they had sent to me. I suddenly began to wonder if it offended her that I didn't wear them.

She stalked off, Arya close beside her, and Nyte and I were quick to follow. She led us through the heart of Ellesméra, and then past that to the far edge where there were less and less homes, and less actual paths. We stopped momentarily at the bottom of a knoll, and then continued on to the top, where the trees were replaced by a bed of red clovers that ran all the way up to the edge of a cliff. We stopped and nothing was said. For a moment nobody even moved.

A strong gust of wind flowed by us, ruffling the clovers and the leaves of the trees behind us. The queen and Arya moved back until they were behind us. I placed my hand on Nytes side to steady myself as I watched and waited for something to happen. Mere moments later another gust of wind passed by us and up rose a beautiful blue dragon and its rider. I could feel my eyes widen at the sight, and knew that this must have been the dragon and rider that both Jak and the queen spoke of. But I was also surprised by the riders' expression; his eyes bulged and mouth dropped open as he saw us, almost mimicking my own expression.

Once the dragon landed the man riding the dragon quickly hopped off and headed straight for us. Arya quickly moved in front of us and up to the rider. "I'm sorry that I did not inform you of this earlier. She arrived here just last night. Not a single one of us had any knowledge of her existence, nor even the existence of the egg that dragon belonged to."

The rider ignored Arya's words and walked straight up to us mumbling, "I can't believe it! Another rider! Another dragon! This is amazing!" Once he got in front of us he bowed slightly and spoke aloud, "I am Eragon, Shadeslayer, pleased to meet you."

I returned the slight bow and said, "I am Kyra, it is nice to meet you, Eragon." The term Shadeslayer caught me off guard; it wasn't a new term, but I had never before met someone that had been able to slay a Shade. An automatic ray of respect for Eragon welled up inside me.

"And I am Nyte." Nyte half growled as he let his thoughts flow into everyone's heads. He obviously wasn't impressed in the slightest, which made me momentarily wonder if he knew what a Shade was.

"What's your problem, Nyte? Why growl?"

"It is nothing." Nyte replied solely to me.

The sapphire colored dragon padded its way towards us. "I am Saphira. I'm so very happy to meet you." The dragon's voice was most definitely that of a girls'. At the sound of her voice I could feel Nyte relax. Saphira walked up to me, and then next to Nyte, making it obvious that she was much older then Nyte. She came close to almost twice his size. Nyte was still young and growing though.

"It is nice to meet you, Saphira." Nyte moved away from me and closer to Saphira. They quickly circled one another and started to examine each other. I could feel Nyte's excitement through our connection; he was so very thrilled to see another dragon for the first time, but he was able to conceal the excitement to a degree.

"Kyra…I have so many questions for you!" Eragon spoke, paying no attention to the dragons.

"Eragon, there will be time for that later. Now we must make them speak the promise so they can meet your master." It didn't take long for Arya and the Queen to explain to us what she had meant. What we were about to see next was a secret that the people of this city held near and dear to them. We had to promise not to speak a word of what we were about to see to anyone other then those who already knew (A small list of names were given, including both Jak and Dylans) without permission from either the queen, Arya, or the ones we were about to meet. (They explained that Arya was the Queen's daughter and thus was why she could give permission.)

Of course, they didn't make us say it in the normal human tongue, no, instead we had to say it in the Ancient Language. Thankfully it didn't take them longer then a few minutes to teach us the right words and pronunciations. As soon as we had finished Eragon, Saphira and the Queen moved behind us, leaving Arya the only one in front of us. Arya stood there motionless, seemingly concentrating on something, then moved away to join the others.

At that instant there was a loud booming sound from down below the cliff. The ground below my feet started to shake slightly as another boom resounded through the air, getting closer to us. One more time and I was tempted to cover my ears for the noise was so loud and powerful that I thought my ear drums would burst. There was one more loud boom, and whatever had been making the noise rose over the top of the cliff.

My eyes felt as though they were going to bulge out of my head as a huge gold dragon and its rider flew above the edge of the cliff. The dragon had to be at least as big as a house, possibly bigger. The man riding the dragon was an elf with long silver hair, and an air of wisdom about him. His face was stern yet solemn when his eyes swept across the scene before him.

The huge gold dragon circled around the cliff top once before landing a short distance in front of us. When the dragon was circling I noticed that it was missing its right foreleg. Instead of making me sad, like it would most people, it made me curious to how it happened…and to just how long this dragon had been around.

When the man descended from his dragon and walked towards me I bowed and started to recite the elven greeting. Although, before I could get past the first word the man stopped me. "No," he said, shaking his head at me, "There is no need for that. I am Oromis, known as Osthato Chewtowa; the morning sage, as well as Togira Ikonaka; the cripple who is whole. It is heartwarming, but discerning, to see a new dragon rider here today. Heartwarming for we are in dire need for more riders. Discerning for I had no idea that there was another rider; I could not sense you at all until the moment I laid eyes on you. Young one, what is your name?"

Oromis's eyes were full of kindness, yet they also felt strong. A light smile touched his lips as he asked for my name, and just as I was about to answer Arya stepped forward and interrupted me. "Oromis, I beg your forgiveness for not telling you of her when she first arrived. It was late and it was thought best that we wait until we could introduce her like this."

"What ails you, Arya? I can tell by your eyes that you are worried of my reaction upon meeting this new rider." Oromis's eyes smoldered with great knowledge as he shifted his gaze from my face to Arya's.

Arya's eyes momentarily drifted to the ground before quickly shooting back up to lock with Oromis's. "Her name is Kyra and…she is Kain's daughter."

At the mention of my fathers name everything seemed to move slowly, almost surreal. Arya crossed her arms across her chest and looked down shamefully. Oromis's eyes widened, then slowly filled with what seemed to be anger, but also something else; was it happiness colliding with the anger? Either way, the anger seemed to be winning as the dominate emotion right now. The huge gold dragon, whose name I still had yet to learn, stiffened and moved his head closer to me, so that one of his huge gold eyes was only a short distance from mine.

Things stayed like this, perfectly motionless, for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally the silence was broken, and Oromis was the one to do so. "I'm sorry for being so rude. The shock of it all is hard to absorb, but as I look at you now, it's blatantly obvious of who you are. I think I may have already known this when I first laid eyes on you, but my mind was unwilling to accept it. Kyra, I am very pleased to meet you."

"As am I, young one. You may call me Glaedr." It was easy to tell that this new voice, Glaedr, belonged to the gold dragon that was staring me down. As the dragon spoke, the tension seemed to ease up a bit.

Just as I was trying to think of a reply, Nyte replied for me. "It is an honor to meet you Glaedr, and you as well, Oromis. My name is Nyte, and it truly is a pleasure to be here in your presence today."

At this time Eragon stepped forward, "I'm confused. Why did everything get so tense at the name of her father, Kian?"

"That is a story for another day, Eragon. Now, we must descend and begin your training. Though, now I am wary; Nyte is a rather young dragon, and Kyra has had no mentor. This means her training and knowledge is even less then yours, meaning she is farther behind. She will have to train hard to get anywhere in the short time that we have. I'm afraid that we do not have the time or capability to train you both separately, so Kyra will have to endure the same level of training as you. Now, we must go. By your leave, your highness?" Oromis's words were mostly directed at Eragon, except his last line which was directed at the Queen, who had been a quiet spectator up until now.

"Yes. Go." The Queen simply stated before calling Arya and walking back towards the forest. Arya followed, with what seemed to be a shameful look on her nearly expressionless face. Oromis turned and climbed into Glaedr's saddle, as Eragon did the same with Saphiras. As the two riders stared at me I realized that they were waiting for me, and I quickly placed myself in Nytes saddle. As Glaedr rose into the air, Saphira followed, and so did Nyte. The three dragons, and their riders, including myself, flew together for many miles along the cliff side until we reached a clearing alongside its edge. A bare path led from where we landed to the front door of a low hut grown from four trees, with a stream emerging from the forest right beside it.

"Welcome to my home, on the Crags of Tel'naeír." Oromis announced to me as we descended our dragons. As we walked forward, I noticed two stools precariously placed on the grass just outside of the hut. Oromis sat on one, and motioned for me to sit on the other. Looking over to Eragon he added, "I must talk with Kyra, but do not worry, I will not take as long with her as I did with you yesterday, for we must start your training soon. For the time being, you and Saphira can entertain yourselves over there, while Glaedr and I talk with Kyra and Nyte."

Eragon seemed a bit disappointed with this, but Saphira seemed even more upset. She lowered her head and stared at Nyte and Glaedr longingly as they padded towards us. Although, it didn't take long for Eragon to convince her to follow him to the spot that Oromis had pointed out.

Oromis stared at me quietly, and I stared back, not knowing what to say. He had said that he needed to speak to me yet he said nothing. Was he waiting for me to speak first, or was he waiting for something entirely different? Either way, I kept quiet for what seemed to be almost an hour, when finally he spoke.

"Seems that you too know the value of patience. Very well, let us begin."

For the next half hour Oromis patiently pestered me about all that had happened since I chanced upon Nytes egg until we reached Ellesméra. It was all very similar to my day with Jak just two days before. The moment I mentioned the meeting with Murtagh though, the quiet peacefulness that had been hanging in the air quickly turned sour. Oromis seemed to grow weary again, and thus he called over Eragon.

"This is something he must hear as well." Oromis explained to me as he called Eragon over. I patiently waited for Eragon to make his way over to us so that I could continue. "Eragon," Oromis's voice was weary yet again as he now spoke to Eragon, "She has something that you must here, about the existence of someone you care about."

"Someone he cares about? But I was just talking about Murtagh…Could that be who he cares about?" My thoughts drifted towards Nyte, who I knew couldn't properly answer, but I still whished that he could.

"Seems to be the only logical answer. It was at the mention of Murtagh that Oromis began to grow weary and called Eragon over. Now, continue, and we shall see for ourselves." Almost as though Oromis knew what Nyte had said, he nodded at me to continue.

"Err, as I was saying, I had just stopped to take a break and play the flute that Dylan had given me for the first time when someone came out of nowhere. That someone, I later found out, was named Murtagh. He-"

Eragon, who had sat on the ground to listen to me suddenly jumped up when I mentioned the name. It was obvious that he knew Murtagh. "What? But he died over two months ago in Farthen Dûr! It can't be!" Eragon's hands bawled into fists, but behind the anger I could see a twinkle of hope.

"Calm yourself young dragon rider and let her continue with her explanation." Oromis tried to calm Eragon down with his words, and for the time being it seemed to work as Eragon lowered himself back down onto the ground.

"But! How can this be? What was he doing there? AGH! I need to know!" Eragon's stream of questions continued like this for a few minutes until Nyte, who got rather annoyed by it, stopped him with a low growl.

"It would be wise of you to hold your tongue and listen to Kyra. The answers you seek will be among her words, if only you would be patient enough to listen." Nyte's words seemed aggressive, sort of like how his words towards Jak, and sometimes Dylan were. Maybe Nyte dislikes Eragon?

"Eragon, who is Murtagh to you? Before I continue, I wish to know this, so that I can, to the best of my abilities, explain things to you, and answer your questions." I couldn't help but to grimace slightly to myself as I spoke these words aloud. It made me feel as though Murtagh was an actual person - and once a good one at that. I feared that if I learned more about him, I would no longer be able to blame him for Mia's death.

"He saved my life on multiple occasions, and became a traveling partner. From there he became one of my closest friends. I still value him as a friend, even after learning who his father was. When he disappeared in Farthen Dûr, I was devastated. Please, Kyra, tell me all that you know! If he truly is alive…."

My heart thudded as I listened to Eragon's explanation. By the sounds of things, Murtagh was actually a good person. Eragon said that he had even saved his life multiple times. Is this true? If so, I had to re-think everything I knew about him. The things that Dylan had explained to me the day I met Murtagh all made sense now.

"Eragon, you may not like what you are about to hear, but I will say it nonetheless. When I met Murtagh, I learned that he has been working for Galbatorix himself. Ah, please don't interrupt, so that I can explain things thoroughly." I noticed that Eragon had opened his mouth and was about to interrupt me yet again.

"Anyways, when he and I met, he said to me that he was simply a messenger for the king. His message was that the king wanted to meet me in person, because he saw that I could be a valuable ally, or, in other words, a worthy enemy. Mind you, neither the king or Murtagh know of Nytes existence yet, so it seems that they want me on their side either way, probably because of my heritage of being a half elf."

"Well, when I refused, Murtagh tried to bribe me with an offer to ride on Shruikan. It turns out the king had been having Murtagh do his dirty work, and was actually letting Murtagh ride Shruikan around for the more important jobs, like getting me. It was at that time that I realized that Murtagh, well, more like Shruikan, was the one that killed my best friend, Mia, just a month before hand. I was furious, and refused to go with Murtagh. That's when he grabbed me, and tried to force me to go with him. Though Dylan caught him by surprise, and was able to attack him. The simple fight ended quickly with Murtagh fleeing and saying that he did not come to fight, this time."

"Though, when that was all said and done, Dylan noticed that I had been bleeding profusely from where Murtagh grabbed me. This is the result, and it's been over a month." I held out my right arm and slowly removed the bandage to reveal the three deep gashes on my arm, which looked as though they were fresh.

"Murtagh did this to you?" Eragon jumped up and gently grabbed my arm, looking it over. "How could he do such a thing? What has become of him?"

"Eragon, there's something more." I sighed slightly, as I let myself finally believe the truth behind the words that were to come, "It wasn't Murtaghs fault. None of it is. He is being forced to do this by the king."

"But how can he be forced! He is strong, he could have escaped! How could he betray me like this?" Eragon's voice was full of agony as he let go of my arm and slumped onto the ground.

"Eragon," Oromis's voice was strong and full yet again, as he spoke to him and looked at the wound on my arm. "You obviously need a lot of training if you haven't yet seen that this wound is endued with a massive amount of magic. According to your tales, Murtagh could not use magic, so this must be the work of the king."

"Magic? How so? Either way, he still could have-" Nyte interrupted him yet again with another low growl.

"Are you still so foolish as to not listen to the rest of the words to be spoken? It is surprising that you have lived this long, considering your great amount of stupid-"

"Oh hush up, Nyte. I know that you're just trying to give me the chance to speak, but you don't have to be so rude." I looked over at him, and continued the small chat with him, just for him and myself, "You know, at first I thought your behavior meant that you dislike him, but now I realize that it's almost exactly the same way you treat Dylan and Jak. Does this mean that you've taken a liking to Eragon?"

"Who said that I even like the two idiot twins? Humph."

I just laughed quietly to myself at Nytes reaction, which proved that I was so right. "Anyways, Eragon, there's nothing that Murtagh could have done. Nyte is right, you need to stop jumping to conclusions and just listen to what I have to say. Because of certain events, I am led to greatly believe that Galbatorix is controlling Murtagh by an inescapable bond. Can you guess what that bond is?"

"Err, the fact that Murtaghs father was one of his most trusted men?"

"Do you really think that could possibly make Murtagh listen to Galbatorix and do his bidding? No! Galbatorix is controlling Murtagh using his True Name!" It almost hurt to speak such words, but I knew it had to be the truth. Ever so slowly I let my anger and hatred towards Murtagh slip away.

A shocked expression passed over Eragons face as he absorbed my words. "I completely forgot about that possibility. Ugh, I'm so stupid!"

"Eragon, you must open your mind to more possibilities in the future. What Kyra says is a great possibility, one that is not only the best possible situation, but also the worst possible."

"How can that be so, Master?" Eragons use of the word master made me realize that I should probably do the same when speaking to Oromis.

"Best possible because it means that Murtagh has not truly betrayed you. Worst possible because there is naught that we can do to help him. Freeing him from his current state will be nearly impossible. Also, it seems that Galbatorix has given Murtagh some sort of means to use magic and powerful magic at that. This wound on Kyra's arm can be just as bothersome as the wound that Durza left you with, Eragon."

I looked down at the gashes on my arm, and watched as Oromis slowly traced his smooth fingers across them. Surprisingly, the slight pressure of his touch did not hurt in the slightest. "Master, is there anything you can do to help? I only recently learned how to use magic, and when I did so, the wound bled profusely and I was left unconscious for over a week. But, this unconsciousness was like nothing I had ever experienced before. My thoughts were fully intact, but there was nothing else, nothing but a sea of darkness. I could not feel anything, not my own body, not the pain that I knew should have been pulsing through me, not my own breathing, or even a heartbeat. I couldn't even feel Nyte's presence; it was as though he didn't even exist, as though nothing existed."

I shook my head at the thought of experiencing something like that again, and looked up at Oromis with hopeful eyes. "It truly is a terrible curse. At the moment there is nothing that I can do. When I converse with the other spell weavers of Eragons calamity, I will inform them of yours as well. Hopefully we can get this worked out, and fast. For now, you can continue with your story."

I continued with my tale, letting Oromis interrupt as he pleased, recounting almost everything that happened within the last two months, everything aside from my dreams, and some rather seemingly irrelevant information. Eragon had decided to stay and listen to my story, and for some reason I didn't feel like sharing them with him just yet, so I decided I would inform Oromis of the dreams at a later time.

When I reached the end of my tale Oromis asked to see my palms. He said that one could learn many things from the palms of a person's hand, if they knew what to look for.

Tentatively I removed the black fingerless gloves from my hands for the third time since arriving in Du Weldenvarden. I held my hands, palm up, towards Oromis, who gently grabbed and examined them. "Hmm, rather interesting. You are left handed, no?" As he spoke his eyes detoured from my hands and briefly to the golden chain linked bracelet that was on my left wrist. It shined lightly in the light as he moved it with one of his fingers.

"Yes, more or less. I can still use my right hand just as easily as my left, with a bit of practice." As I answered he adverted his attention from the bracelet back to my hands.

"Your gedwëy ignasia is definitely interesting. It is rare for it to be in such a unique shape, and such a clear one at that. Well, I guess it only makes sense, considering the rarity of your dragon. It is extremely rare for a dragon's eye color to not match the color of his scales. This is my first time witnessing it myself."

"As is mine, and I've seen many a dragon in my time." Glaedr added in, as he moved his head to inspect Nyte more closely.

"It also seems as though you have done a great deal of sparing before and some of it recently. Though, you have never properly wielded a sword, have you?"

"No, I haven't ever had a real chance to. I held a sword for a few short minutes when I was in Dras-Leona. I'm sorry that I have such little experience in not only magic but swordsmanship as well. I am unworthy to receive your training." I hung my head in shame as I realized how true this was.

"There is no need for apologies, and the only thing unworthy is that sort of thinking. I can feel that you hold great promise, both you and your dragon." Oromis's eyes were kind and warm when he spoke to me, making me feel better about being here. "Now, I suggest that we truly start. Saphira, Nyte, you two will go with Glaedr today. Since I have not had a chance to asses Nytes capabilities, Glaedr will have to do so for me."

"And do so I shall. Now come, young ones." Glaedrs voice echoed in our heads as he uncurled his wings and lifted himself into the air. Saphira was quick to follow, not wanting to waist any precious time with the old dragon. Nyte on the other hand seemed almost reluctant to follow.

"Behave yourself Kyra. I hate it when I have to leave you like this, even if I can still keep in contact with you. I will be watching and listening to everything that happens, so if you need me I will be there in a flash." Nytes voice was clam and quiet, but more serious then normal. He moved his head so that it was resting in my lap for a split second, then nudged the side of my head before backing up and lifting himself into the sky to follow Glaedr and Saphira.

"I too will be listening, my friend." I quietly said my short goodbye to Nyte before standing up to follow Oromis and Eragon, who had already started to walk away. I ended up following them to the far side of the clearing where there was a square of hard packed dirt waiting for us.

End of Chapter 9! ((Up next: Chapter 10: The Values of Training.))

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