'Tis a heart of hearts, but not his. hehehe Enjoy!


"Show yourself?" Florina demanded as she drew her sword. "How did you get in here? These doors have been sealed for centuries."

"I know they have been sealed." The voice was female, Florina could tell that much at least as Kuldra joined her mind. "I am the one who sealed the doors to keep your father's secrets from becoming common knowledge."

"Show yourself."

"The window." The voice sighed. Florina looked and saw a pedestal with a cushion on it. On the cushion was a single Eldunarí

"You're an Eldunarí."

"I am. My name is Jarnunvösk. I was your father's dragon before Shruikan."

"Jarnunvösk?" Kuldra cut in privately. "Can it truly be?"

"I'm not sure."

"Why do you doubt me?"

"We were told you were killed. There was no mention of your Eldunarí being rescued or saved." Kuldra said to the long dead dragon.

"My Rider did not know that I had disgorged my heart of hearts. Not until he found me on Vroengard. It was something that I felt I had to do before we left on that trip. I put my Eldunarí in the hands of the elders, making them promise to tell Galbatorix of my act should something happen to me. When your father finally returned to the island and was to go before the council, I begged them to tell him of me and that I was not truly gone. I listened to the hearing and when I was not revealed to him, I turned from the Riders. The elders tried to tell me that they had only promised to tell him if he was not a threat to himself or others and that his madness in demanding another dragon was evidence of that. I did not give them aid in the war and I am not sorry for it. I am sorry that it had to be your blade that took him."

"How did you get here?"Florina said.

"When my Rider invaded Vroengard, he found me among the Eldunarí that had not been hidden. I had hidden myself from the Riders so I would not be taken from him again. I made sure I was among the first he found. He was overjoyed when we were reunited and I helped him the best that I could during the war two hundred years ago."

"So, you know what my father did to me then, if he placed a spell on me."

"He didn't place a spell on you per se. He placed a spell on his blood which you share. It is called blood magic. He did it to ensure that his line would reign forever. He knew that his time was nearing an end and would leave you alone among your enemies."

"My…enemies…allies?"Florina clutched her head in her hands and moaned in pain as it started to pound.

"I tried to talk him out of it, but he had become mad with desperation to preserve his rule upon the throne through you."

"Brave One, are you well?"

"I don't know. Everything is starting to get jumbled in my head." Florina sat on the couch and rested her elbows on her knees, keeping her eyes closed. Kuldra turned to the Eldunarí

"What is wrong with her? Do two spells work on her?"

"I do not know if there are two spells working on her. All I can tell is that her heart is fighting her head. That being said, it falls upon you to find the truth."

"Truth about what?"

"As her partner, you have known that her heart fights her head. It has been happening to you and until she discovers the truth will you know the truth. If you, as her dragon and partner-of-heart-and-mind cannot discover the truth, she will become madder than her father ever was and that will be dangerous for all."

"Do two spells work on her?" Kuldra roared. "You will tell me."

"No spell works on her except that of the blood magic. And with her it should stay. My Rider should not have done this to her. I told him that it would drive her to madness if she were to ever get confused about the truth. Whatever her truth is, I know not. So it falls to you to find it and share it with her. Tell her if it is her mind or her heart that is truth."

"I do not know the truth either. My mind is as jumbled as hers is."

"Then she and her human born descendants will go mad with this spell!" Jarnunvösk cried. "I have been trying for years to find a way to undo this spell my Rider has wrought. It has taken me this long to realize that the elders were right in their judgement to keep me from him. I am not sorry for my actions that got me back to him, but his actions during the war are my fault for I should have stopped him. Just as you are her conscious, I was supposed to be his. Help your Rider. Find the truth."

"But don't you know it? Why don't you know it?" Kuldra asked desperately. "You said you helped him in his war."

"Yes, I helped him. But I did not watch you and her while you were in this castle. It is here that her truth splits. It is here that you must find the right truth. You know what I speak of, Kuldra. Now, I must pass on. Now that you have found the beginning of his madness, you can destroy the texts and ensure the same does not happen again. These must be destroyed. And so must I. When she comes to, tell her what I have done to the texts and to myself, but do not tell her what I have asked of you until you are sure of it yourself."

Florina barely saw the flash of light from the window as she lay on the couch, clutching her head. She had not heard a word of the conversation between the dragons except for some yelling that she couldn't make out. Memories were vying for dominance in her mind. When the light was gone, Kuldra could not feel the mind of the other dragon. She focused her attention on her Rider and created soothing images and brought forth memories of them flying together. Florina seemed to calm and her breathing became steady as she fell into a peaceful sleep.


The two Dragon Riders looked at the assembled dragons. They were blocking them from crossing the ocean. Every time they tried, the dragons would block them using their bodies and fire. They were wild dragons who seemed intent on protecting Vroengard and the Riders there. That meant that the Riders there had no clue that they were about to be invaded and forced to serve the queen or die. It wasn't the concern of the wild dragons. The man who had tried to kill them off before was dead and the queen has declared that she would not do the same. But their children had been given to the Riders, most of which resided on the island. That would be the only reason Edan and Murtagh could think of; the dragons' children were on the island as bound dragons.

"What do we do?" Edan asked Murtagh. "We can't exactly go back to her and tell her that dragons blocked our way to the island."

"Is there another way to the island?"

"No. There is a barrier around the island that requires a special flight pattern. It was put up when Florina left and was considered kidnapped. One way in and one way out which begins and ends at this point, the shortest distance to the island. If we try to get around these dragons, we will not make it to the island. It was actually Florina's idea and is her enchantment which Lifaen activated."

"If I am following your logic correctly, that means that if any of them were thinking to invade the Empire, they would have to leave through this same enchantment." Murtagh said. Edan nodded.

"We might have enough time to call for help." Edan pulled out the mirror from his pocket. "Two dozen may not be enough to deal with wild and bound dragons. She must have forgotten about this enchantment."

"And you forgot to mention it. This falls on you."

"I did not forget. Had these dragons not been here, then I would have led you all through the maze and to the island." Edan looked at the mirror and said the spell. Murtagh watched the dragons. When he had taken Florina from the island, no such enchantment had been there. It made sense when he thought about. She had been taken. They had been stolen from without even realizing it. Of course they would need another element of protection after that.


"Majesty." A voice called to her. She didn't want to move. Her head was killing her. She just wanted to stay in the darkness that was soothing to her. "Majesty, please, you must come to your study." She felt a mind brush against hers. It wasn't Kuldra's, but someone else's. It was another Rider. It seemed odd to her that she was being referred to as a royal. Why was that? She didn't take the throne from Galbatorix. It had been given to Nasuada. Unless that had all been a dream and he had won and she was now queen. But where was he? He was a Rider. "Majesty, Edan calls for you. There is a problem with your plan." Her plan. That didn't make sense either. What plan could she have that involved this Edan person. She didn't remember him.

"Brave One, are you well?"

"Kuldra?"

"Yes, Brave One. The magic of your enemy worked on you to the point that it was driving you mad. I protected you, but now you must do your duty as the queen. You sent an invasion to Vroengard."

"But Vroengard is poisoned…no. It's inhabited by Riders who defy me." Florina opened her eyes to see the Rider standing over her with a cup of water. Florina sat up and accepted the cup of water. "What is wrong?" Florina asked, standing. The Rider smiled and bowed.

"Edan calls for you, Majesty. Something about a blockade."

Florina nodded and strode out of her father's rooms, the events of the past several hours coming back to her. it was dark outside and she figured Kuldra had let her sleep until she was calm and in her right mind again. Jarnunvösk had not helped and Florina had noticed the texts were missing and so was the Eldunarí. Florina would talk to Kuldra about that later.

The queen entered her study and turned to the mirror where the faces of her brother and her third-in-command waited.

"What do you have to report?" She asked. Edan turned the mirror and a large amount of dragons filled hers. She scowled as he turned the mirror back to face him. "Are they bound?"

"It does not seem like it, Majesty." Edan said. "Every time we try to fly across, they stop us. They must be protecting their bound offspring on the island."

"Is there another way?"

"No. When I left, an enchantment had been placed that allowed for only one way in and one way out at the shortest distance across from the mainland. If we try to fly around these dragons, we will not make it to Vroengard."

"We can stay here and prevent an invasion. But our forces may not be enough." Murtagh cut in.

"I only sent two dozen of you. If we are invaded and the wild dragons join in the attack, your numbers will not be enough. No, I will not waste lives needlessly. Come back to Ilirea. They are bound to come here soon enough and they will think to strike at me directly and not at my people. Here, we will have the forces necessary to hold them off if not defeat them. I expect you by sundown in two days." She ended the spell and turned from the mirror and sat at her desk to look at the maps. "What happened to Jarnunvösk and the texts, Kuldra?"


We are nearing the end of this fic. Will she live or will she die? Hmmmm, I haven't decided yet. Thoughts?