The terrible pounding in her head was the first thing Peri noticed as her eyes blinked open.. Her whole body tingled like she'd been struck by lightning and her eyes where blurry and unfocused. Moaning softly, she blinked to clear her head and looked around, not sure where she was. One hand to her forehead, she got to her feet, staggering as all the blood rushed out of her head. Once she'd established some degree of balance, she looked around again, and the memories crashed back into her brain. Iridessa, Dareth, the egg… the egg! Peri whirled to face the crate, which sent her staggering drunkenly across the room as the earth tipped beneath her feet
"Blasted witchcraft," she muttered, along with a few other choice words, and she began crawling towards the crate, giving up on standing at the moment. She reached the box without incident and pulled herself up to look inside. There sat the three eggs, looking completely ordinary. Peri frowned and reached out, touching her fingertips to the midnight egg and running them along its polished surface.
Out of nowhere, a bolt of happiness shot through her mind and she bit back a cry of surprise. She yanked her hand back and stared almost fearfully at the blue egg, expecting a firebreathing dragon to emerge at any second. But nothing happened.
"Of course, stupid," she muttered to herself. "It's not even hatched yet."
Scooting back over to the chest, Peri looked closer at the egg, admiring the pattern on its shell. Almost subconciously, she reached out and undid the straps holding the orb in place and eased it out of its nest. The egg was cool as she held it in her hands, and yet it seemed to radiate a sort of energy, an energy that increased whenever Peri touched it. Maybe it could hear her…?
"Hello?" she breathed, and the response was instantaneous. A wordless greeting appeared in her mind, and the presence felt familiar and right, like it had been there all her life.
"You can hear me?"
Peri.
Peri smiled at this, enjoying the sound of her name rolling through her mind. The unhatched dragon gave a hum of pleasure, which she could feel through the shell of the egg, vibrating in her hands. She sat there for a long while, and slowly the dragonling's mind extended towards hers, slipping past her walls with no effort at all and exploring her thoughts. Peri let it, even shoving some memories forward for the dragonling to experience. The dragonling seemed particularly amused when it came across a memory from when she was three, of the time her parents had taken her to the lake and she'd fallen off the dock. The dragonling gave another hum and flitted to the next memory, the one of her meeting with Smoke.
A stab of fear and worry pierced Peri's mind, sharp as a knife, and she cried out, letting the egg drop from her lap. It hit the ground with a muffled thud and rolled away, but Peri was to preoccupied with the foreign thoughts in her head.
"What, what is it?" she gasped out, holding her head to try and ease her headache, which had come back full force.
Peri. This time her name was a plea, accompanied by an image of herself, handing the midnight egg to Smoke. The dragonling gave an agitated squeak, and Peri rushed to comfort it.
"It's okay, I won't let him have you, it's okay, it's okay…" she trailed off as the dragonling's fear eased, and she could function well enough to retrieve the egg from where it had rolled. Dusting off the shell, she knelt by the bed, sitting back on her heels, hugging the egg to her body. She realized she was breathing heavily, her breath all too audible in the quiet setting. She tried to calm her breathing while comforting the dragonling at the same time, not an easy task. And the sound of the Lodge doors opening downstairs didn't help either.
Peri shot to her feet, destroying whatever progress she'd made with her breathing, and her gaze shot all over the room. She held the egg in one hand and closed the chest with the other, listening to the gears work as it locked itself again, and hurried to the door. She eased it open and peered down the hall, considering her chances of getting down the hall and into the room with the cold fire. The footsteps on the stairs greatly diminished those chances. Adrenaline racing through her veins, Peri backed into the room with the chest and shut the door again. Okay, deep breaths, no panicking, she thought to herself as she whirled around, searching for an escape route. Immediately her eyes went to the window and she realized it was her only choice. She slipped the egg into her secret pocket so she could have both hands free and strode silently over to the stained glass window. It portayed the battle between Eragon Shadeslayer and his half-brother, each astride magnificent dragons, the sword of Morzan in the great Rider's grip.
Peri shook her head and flipped the latch that held the window closed, moving quickly as the voices and footsteps reached the top of the stairs. She swung the windows open and stepped out onto the balcony, breathing in the fresh night air. She paused, considering shutting the windows again to cover her tracks, but she was running short on time and she wanted to get away from the scene of crime as fast as she could. Peri turned to face the wall, searching for a way up to the roof, but unlike the town hall, the walls of the Lodge were smooth and seamless, providing no escape for a certain thief on a balcony. Peri searched desperately for a way out and was about to duck back inside to find a hiding place when she heard someone grab the doorknob and twist it. Peri swore colorfully and spun around, placing her hands on the balcony's rail and vaulting over it.
Peri felt her stomach drop as she fell from the second story balcony, staring at the cobblestone rushing up to meet her, looking awfully hard. She closed her eyes and braced herself for impact. Her feet slammed into the stones that paved the square and she felt her ankle twist underneath her as she fell to one side. Biting back a cry of pain, she got quickly to her feet- too quickly, according to her throbbing ankle- and disappeared into the mob of people packing the town square. She only made it four hobbling steps before a roar of fury echoed across the city, mirroring by a shout coming from the Lodge. The entire city fell silent and still, so Peri did the same. Running now would make her stick out like a dragon in a china shop. There was a long moment of silence, and Peri was finding it hard to breath.
Suddenly, the doors of the Lodge burst open and Dareth stormed out, looking murderous. Wingbeats thundered above, probably Freida's. Whoever flew above them let out a second roar, and after a moment it was answered. Iridessa pushed through the crowd and ran to Dareth, a look of shock and anger on her face. She fell into step beside him and the crowd parted as the made their way to the fountain in the center of the square. Peri began edging ever so slightly towards the nearest road, the weight of the egg dragging her down. She gave herself a mental slap for being so sloppy. Everything about tonight was sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. She'd let herself get distracted and she hadn't planned her escape route… the list went on and on. Dareth and Iridessa reached the fountain and they climbed up onto the rim, their heads visible above the crowd.
"Who has it?" Dareth hissed, his feral features drawn in anger.
"Has wha?" a slurred voice called, belonging to someone with way too much alcohol in their system. Dareth shot the poor man a glare that could have killed a basilisk.
"The egg," he said, his voice high and mocking like he was talking to an ignorant child. "Someone stole one of the dragon eggs from the Lodge tonight."
If possible, the square got even quieter, and slowly the noise from the rest of the city peetered off as well. Dareth's gaze swept the crowd and Peri had to fight the urge to cower in fear.
"If our thief would step forward and return the egg now, their sentence will be less severe. If we have to hunt you down…"
Peri gulped and her legs trembled, but she managed to remain standing and shuffle closer to the edge of the square. She could easily fill in the blanks Dareth left. None of it was fun. Dareth remained silent, eyes scanning the crowd for a guilty face. Peri was glad she was wearing her hood, because she wasn't sure she could keep the elf out of her mind. She watched the elf's expression grow even darker when no one stepped forward, and the elf lifted one hand. His lips moved like he was speaking, but Peri couldn't hear what he'd said.
Suddenly, her muscled siezed and her whole body went rigid. Her eyes flew wide, but that was all she could do besides breathe. She was paralyzed. A single glance around at the square told her that the other citizens were experiencing the same thing, all except Iridessa and Dareth. The pair stood up on the water fountain, looking slightly drained from casting such an enormous spell. On a silent signal they climbed down from the fountain and began making their way through the crowd, searching each frozen figure thoroughly. Peri's heart began to speed up again as Iridessa got closer, her normally open face cold and drawn. Peri's ankle throbbed painfully but she could do nothing to relieve it of her weight. All she could do was watch as her iminent death drew closer, one citizen at a time.
Iridessa finished searching a redheaded man with a shocked grimace on his face, which at any other time would have been hilarious, and stepped up to her, reaching up with one hand. Peri wanted to flinch but, of course, she couldn't. Iridessa tugged her hood back and Peri's raven hair tumbled down her back, the moonlight illuminating her face. She stared unblinkingly at the Rider, who stared back at her. For a heartbeat neither of them moved, and Peri knew that she'd been caught. But then the strangest thing happened. Iridessa's mouth quirked in a knowing smile and her eyes sparked mischieviously. The Rider lifted Peri's hood back over her head, leaving her blinking in the darkness of her cloak. Iridessa lifted one finger to her lips, smiled conspiratively, and moved on to the next villager.
If Peri had control of her body, her jaw would have dropped open in shock. What just happened? Why didn't Iridessa tell Dareth she found the egg? Was she in league with Smoke? Was Dareth in on it too? He certainly looked like he wasn't, but with elves you could never be sure. Peri's eyes followed Iridessa as she carried on searching, taking her own sweet time. After roughly an hour hours, everyone in the square had been thoroughly searched, and Iridessa still hadn't said anything to Dareth. The two convened back at the water fountain, speaking in hushed tones. All through their meeting, Peri kept expecting Dareth to whirl around and charge towards her, palms glowing with magic. But he didn't.
With no warning, Peri's muscles unlocked and she tumbled to the ground, along with every other man, woman, and child in the city. Peri managed to catch herself with her hands before she faceplanted the ground, while the redheaded man wasn't so lucky. Confused and sore from standing still for over an hour, Peri got slowly to her feet, muscles screaming, glancing over at the fountain. Dareth and Iridessa stood on the rim, watching the citizens recover from their spell. After a long minute of stretching, complaining, and a whole lot of groaning, the people in the square were standing, more or less. Iridessa and Dareth were getting plenty of dirty looks, but no one dared break the frigid silence that coated the square. Dareth cleared his throat, drawing every set of eyes that weren't already on him.
"Our search has yielded little results, but we will recover the egg," Dareth announced, his voice echoing over the entire city. "As of now, this city is on lockdown until the egg is returned or recovered. Go to your homes and stay there. Anyone caught outside falls under the shadow of suspicion and will be taken in for questioning. Go!"
Dareth shouted the last word, sending the crowd bolting for the edges of the square, fearing magical retribution if they were the last out of the space. Peri went with the crowd, thoughts still in turmoil. The whole walk home she expected Freida or Kaji to come swooping out of the sky and pluck her off the ground, but neither one made an appearance. Peri was so lost in thought that she had walked halfway down the street before she realized she'd passed her alley. She hurried back and snuck inside, listening for thundering wingbeats in the night sky above. But the city was eerily silent as she made her way to her room. She strode through the door and closed it behind her, something she never did because it cut off an escape route should one of her clients or enemies find her here. But tonight it made her feel safer, more hidden as she sat down on the edge of her bed and slid the cobalt egg out of her cloak.
She held the orb in her lap, the events of the night finally hitting her. She'd stolen a dragon egg. And not only that, but it had Quickened for her. Her, a wanted thief. It all made no sense to Peri. She ran her fingers along the smooth surface, admiring the silver flecks set in the stone. Like the night sky, she thought to herself.
Peri.
Peri smiled, then was interrupted by an enormous yawn. Now that the adrenaline was fading, Peri realized how exhausted she was. She got up and went to the corner, where she pried up a few floorboards, revealing a small hollowed out space barely big enough for the egg to fit. A few random items rested in the bottom, so Peri scooped them out and threw them behind her, not caring where they landed. She slipped her cloak off and used it to line the hole, then gently placed the egg inside. She reluctant to leave it there alone, but she could hardly sleep with it, where anyone could peek in the window and spot it. No, it was safer here. Peri sighed quietly and replaced the boards, then strode over to her bed, her long, black hair swinging like a pendulum. She crawled into bed and wrapped her thin blanket around her, closing her eyes. She tried to sleep, but all she could think about was Smoke. What would he do to her once he realized she wasn't going to deliver the egg? He already knew where she lived. Where was she supposed to meet him, anyway?
Peri.
The thought came loud and clear, even though the egg was all the way across the room. Its tone was gentle and soothing, yet scolding at the same time. Its message was clear: Go to sleep. Peri smiled wearily and tried to calm the storm of questions in her mind. The dragonling helped by filling her mind with a mental hum, drowning out all her thoughts, and soon Peri was deep in sleep. The dragonling kept her sleep dreamless, keeping watch over her mind.