Dear Readers,
The beginning of this story is under reconstruction. When you read a chapter that has nothing at all to do with what you have just read, please keep in mind that is the previous version of the story and I am redoing it as quickly as I can. I apologize for the inconveniance. I am not trying to confuse you! Later on, after chapter 28, things mostly fit together with the revised chapters of the story.
This is Chapter 11, revised.
Thank you and enjoy!
DragonRider2000
Taya woke up early the next morning, coming out of one of the most vivid dreams she'd had in a long time. Staring at the wall, she heard the two names that had been spoken to her just before she'd woken up.
Hawka… Galiay…
She could see the faces of the two girls the names belonged to, could hear the one girl's voice as she introduced herself and her friend. Taya shook her head and rolled over, feeling the baby dragon by her shoulder.
"Too bad my dream didn't reveal a name for you." She mumbled, causing the dragon to stir. "Unless you want to be called 'Hawka' or 'Galiay', but I don't think either will work. Too girly."
The baby dragon grumbled, his eyes still closed. Taya laughed and crawled out of bed, pulling back the curtain of her window slightly to look out. The storm had passed, leaving the streets muddy and the sky a pure blue. There was not a cloud in the sky, and by the looks of the plants outside her window, there was no wind to speak of. Taya released the curtain and turned back to the baby dragon, tilting her head slightly as she looked at him.
The little green dragon lifted its head and yawned, showing its glittering pearly white teeth. Then he stood up and stretched, then looked right back at her. But Taya's mind was miles away, thinking of the people she'd left in Uru'baen, and what she was going to do with Sasha and Raya that day. The events of the day before came back to her, and then she thought of their upcoming trek to the Varden.
She sighed heavily and sat down. Too many thoughts at once…
Thoughts…
Taya stared at the opposite wall with wide eyes. Then she looked down at the dragon, reaching out with her mind to him. The dragon blinked and reached back, putting a question in her mind.
"That's what we have to do today, little guy." She said softly. "In light of where we are going, who we are running from, those who we are protecting, it's time I teach Sasha and Raya how to block their minds…how to control their thoughts behind a mental wall and to communicate with their minds. This isn't going to be easy at all. We'll have to do it later today; do you think you can help me?"
The baby dragon blinked his eyes once and sent a confident feeling to her across their mental link, and she smiled.
"Good. This will probably help you communicate too… although you did come up with the idea of implanting thoughts in order to communicate all by yourself." The little dragon growled appreciatively at the compliment. "Let's hope Sasha and Raya can pick this up easily, otherwise this is going to be difficult, but hopefully not too difficult. How hard can it be?
In the castle of Uru'baen, Melcar Di'Acor and Larel Katzia were on their way to meet with the other Hljodhr Evarinya on the sparring fields when they were hailed by a guard. They both stopped and turned, watching him in anticipation. They both knew that whenever they were looked for, something was up. Usually they were left alone by everyone, except for Murtagh.
The guard stopped and saluted, looking rather uncomfortable.
"Sir," He said, speaking to Melcar, "You are ordered to report to the Red Rider in the map room for your new assignment."
Melcar froze. Larel drew in a sharp breath and asked rather roughly,
"What do you mean 'new assignment'?"
The guard glanced at Larel. "All I know is that the captain of the Hljodhr Evarinya is supposed to report to the Red Rider for the Hljodhr Evarinya's new assignment." He saluted and turned away, walking fast.
"Guard." Melcar's voice was low, but easily heard. The man stopped, his body tense.
"You are sure it is the Hljodhr Evarinya being assigned? Not just me? You said 'your new assignment' when you looked at me."
"I meant sir, the whole Hljodhr Evarinya. I apologize for my mistake."
"Accepted. Thank you, you may go now."
"Thank you, sir." The guard had not turned around, so he resumed walking, this time faster than before.
Melcar turned to look at Larel, whose eyes were narrowed.
"What do you think this means, Melcar?" The lieutenant asked softly.
"It means," Melcar replied slowly, "that Galbatorix has decided he no longer wants us around. Come on, let's go see what our sentence is."
"You think it will be that bad?"
"Knowing Galbatorix, I will not be surprised if our 'assignment' is something rather unique and probably deadly. He knows how strong our loyalties are, and to who they belong."
Larel grimaced. "Believe me, I know."
They started walking, taking their time. They were in no hurry to see what was going to happen to them.
"Whatever this is, do you think Zen will be sent with us?" Larel asked. Melcar frowned.
"I feel like this is too soon. It has been almost a month since Taya disappeared, but I was expecting Galbatorix to wait longer. I can't imagine him sending us without Zen, but it's hard to know now."
"Especially with Zen being so unpredictable." Larel mumbled, glaring at the wall.
"Especially with Zen being so unpredictable." Melcar repeated with emphasis. "I don't like it… not one bit."
As they approached the map room they began to walk past more people and more guards, and once the passersby noticed the insignia on the two men's cloaks they gave them a wide berth and careful glances. But the two didn't seem to notice and kept on at their leisurely pace until they entered two double doors and entered a wide hall filled with people. Quickly they moved to the side to avoid attention, and turned off down a winding hallway until they entered a corridor with one door along it. There were two guards on either side of the doorway, and when they say the two Hljodhr Evarinya, they snapped to attention and one knocked three times on the door and on opening it, motioned them both inside.
The room was devoted completely to maps, just as the library was devoted to books. Maps of Alagaesia, the distant islands and the oceans were pinned to the wall except where they were shelves, which were filled with rolled maps, ranging in sizes. There was a long table in the room, which had only one map on it at the moment, and leaning on the table surveying the map was Murtagh Morzansson, the Red Rider and King Galbatorix's henchman.
When the door shut behind Melcar and Larel, Murtagh turned around slowly and met Melcar's icy stare. Larel watched them both uneasily, knowing what could happen between the two.
"It's nice to see you too, Melcar." Murtagh said matter-of-factly after a long minute. Melcar's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I never said it was nice to see you, Murtagh. On the contrary, I wish you were nowhere near and that the Hljodhr Evarinya would be left alone."
"You have been left alone, Melcar." Murtagh replied coolly. "Be thankful it is me and not the king himself. If you talked to him in that tone you would not be in one piece."
Melcar made a noise in the back of his throat. "I have already used a worse tone of voice on him before, and I am still in one piece. But enough of this. What is this about a new assignment? We are not pawns of Galbatorix's to be sent wherever he wishes."
Larel winced at Murtagh's expression.
"I didn't know." Murtagh said smoothly, and then turned back to the map. Melcar stepped up beside him, remembering a time when they were not at each other's throats. But that day was past, and he knew dwelling on it would get him nowhere… if only it was that easy though.
Murtagh put his finger on a large dot on the map, with Elvin runes above it.
"This is Uru'baen. The King has a mission he wants carried out by a strike force. The destination," his finger traced the map across a lined section into another section and stopped on another large dot. Melcar caught his breath, his insides churning. Murtagh continued, "Is Surda's capitol, Aberon. I am leading a thousand hand-picked men, and the Hljodhr Evarinya are a part of that number. You, Melcar, will be in command of your own people plus a section of the troops. You will answer directly to me, no one else. Besides, no one else knows what you and the Hljodhr Evarinya are capable of." At this, Murtagh smiled slightly.
Melcar couldn't take his eyes off the map, his mind racing. He had dearly hoped he was wrong, but in fact he was spot on. Unique and deadly… suicidal, more like. He thought of Ayda trekking across the desert on a mission that would surely see her killed, and a growl escaped his throat. Murtagh looked sharply at him, and met his cold black eyes.
"Suicide, Murtagh." The Hljodhr Evarinya captain growled. "I knew the King wanted us gone, but to send a thousand men into Surda to strike at the heart of the resistance is suicide! He knows he will lose a thousand good men… and I think I know what you mean by 'hand-picked'. This is as bad as the spells he wove around those men so they could not feel pain!" He was furious, but Murtagh did not back down. He couldn't, nor did he want to, but he knew how the captain felt.
"Does he even think we will make it as far as Aberon? A thousand men are not easily missed. The chance of being challenged along that route is just as high as the chance of death, which is not comforting, Murtagh. I cannot let you do this, I will not!"
It was Murtagh's turn to growl. "You have no choice, Captain Di'Acor. I would like to see you say all that directly to the king."
Melcar raised an eyebrow in mock surprise. "Do you think I wouldn't?"
Murtagh suddenly hesitated. Larel could only imagine what he was thinking, because Larel knew Melcar well enough to know he would say what he'd said to Murtagh, to the King and he would not hesitate.
The Red Rider met the captain's eyes. "I doubt you would refuse a direct order, actually, and-"
The captain laughed, cutting Murtagh off and catching both men off guard. Melcar kept laughing, until Murtagh was fed up and snapped,
"What do you find so funny about that?"
"You, Murtagh. You're what is funny. Don't you remember that I've already refused a direct order from the King? He was standing right in front of me and I refused to his face in front of a large group of people. I do think that you said that just to see how I would react, but that was hardly thought out well."
Murtagh's expression did not change, but on the inside he was berating himself for speaking without thinking. He was talking to a man who was supposed to be dead… two men who were supposed to be dead, actually. For the first time he looked over at Larel Katzia. The blond young man looked worried, as he should. But he too had escaped death at Galbatorix's hand by the aid of Taya Corsallen.
"The fact remains, Melcar, that you and the other Hljodhr Evarinya have no choice." He reached inside his vest and drew out a sealed envelope. "These are your official orders, Captain. You are still military, and a part of the empire, no matter who you truly serve. All the Hljodhr Evarinya have been assigned to the strike force, and there is nothing anyone can do about it."
Murtagh took the orders, dread growing inside him. He looked at the paper, and then back up at Murtagh.
"What about Zen?"
Murtagh's expression turned to one of curiosity.
"Is Zen still a Hljodhr Evarinya?"
The question caught Melcar flat-footed, and he hesitated, feeling all of a sudden very small and helpless. Larel winced. Murtagh noted their reactions and answered his own question.
"His name is on the list. He will be going… he actually volunteered."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Larel growled softly, speaking for the first time.
Murtagh was taken aback. "You aren't surprised?"
Larel shook his head. "That he volunteered for such a unique and deadly mission? Not at all."
Murtagh surveyed him for a second, and seemed to decide not to take it any further.
"All right, then. You have your orders, you have seen the route, and you know the risks. That is all I have for you at the moment. I want you ready by the end of this week."
Larel stared. "The end of this week?" He said, more to himself. But Melcar only nodded. He didn't seem surprised at all, which worried Larel.
Melcar saluted Murtagh. "I'll report to you when we are ready. Murtagh."
"Melcar."
Larel saluted quickly and followed Melcar out of the map room and past the guards at a quick pace. Melcar didn't slow down once they entered the hall, or even when they reached Taya's wing. Abruptly, Melcar stopped, causing Larel to almost bump into him.
"Everyone should still be at the sparring fields… probably wondering what happened to us. That took us a long time. Hang it all, this is the worst thing that could happen right now…"
"Melcar!" A new voice resounded through the hall, causing them to whirl around. Ayda Sen'Dala was jogging towards them, Weston Kliviyan on her heels.
"Where the blazes have you been!" She cried, letting them know how worried she had been. "We've been waiting and waiting with no word, I finally had to come back to find you. Everyone else is right behind me."
"Good." Melcar said darkly, startling the two newcomers. "Larel, I want you to stay here and wait for the others. We are going to meet in Taya's room."
Ayda's eyes were wide. "Melcar, what is it? What's going on?"
The Captain couldn't look at her. He turned around and started walking again. "We've been ordered on a suicide mission, and there's nothing I can do about it."
Taya began that night to teach Sasha and Raya how to control and block their minds, and it was no easy task to teach or to learn. While Taya struggled to explain it to them, the other two struggled to do what she said. The whole idea was foreign to them, and it took a lot of effort just to stay calm when they became frustrated.
Taya had never realized how hard it was for an ordinary person with no training to do things she found to be easy. Yet she had had the training from an early age, from people who had taught others before. While she had taught a few of the Hljodhr Evarinya, those she had taught already had at least a little bit of experience at it.
When they first started, Sasha and Raya understood the concept of what Taya wanted them to do. Once they started trying to do it, they both literally could not wrap their minds around it, leaving them all in dispirited moods. However, Taya did not give up and kept them at it until finally Sasha, out of desperation, managed to block Taya for a split second with a mental image of a stump. Taya started laughing, at which time Raya blocked her for a second. This tiny bit of progress boosted their resolve, and so they kept at it. But their little bit of progress only lasted so long and then they were back at square one. Only this time both Sasha and Raya knew what they had to do, they just couldn't do it.
The whole time the baby dragon watched them curiously, but after almost two hours he became completely bored and suddenly brushed his own consciousness up against Raya's mind, and then Sasha's. Startled and afraid it was someone else because of the foreign feeling and being so used to Taya's consciousness, Sasha and Raya both yelped. Taya stared at them in confusion, looking from one to the other. She hadn't done anything…
The baby dragon found their reactions to be quite funny, and with a glance at Taya, he brushed his mind up against Raya's, retreated, and did it again. He repeated this over and over again. Taya glanced sharply at Raya when she gasped, and then she suddenly understood.
"Block him, Raya." Taya whispered, realizing what the baby dragon was doing. "Do what I told you to do and block him with your mind. This is your mind he is accessing, so block him out!"
Sasha's eyes widened as she stared over at the little green dragon, which was staring straight at Raya, who was staring right back at him with a determined look on her face.
Taya could have sworn the dragon smiled, and all of a sudden Raya's face went ashen. Taya felt her sister straining as hard as she could to fight him, to push him away, but the baby dragon kept increasing his strength, probing the outer reaches of her mind easily.
Then they all jumped as Raya cried out, and then there was silence. The baby dragon blinked, and then blinked again, staring at Raya, as were Sasha and Taya. The younger girl was breathing hard, clutching the bed frame with both hands until her knuckles were white. Her eyes were closed, and all together she looked like she was in pain.
"…Raya?" Taya asked after a minute of complete silence. Her voice sounded intrusive into the silence. She felt the little dragon probe out at Raya again, but he was met with a fiercely strong barrier of blackness.
"He… he accidentally found the memory of when… when I was branded." Her words came out in a whisper. "I never wanted to remember that moment again…" She slowly opened her eyes. "I couldn't let him see it, I wouldn't. So I shoved him out and focused on what came next that day. Now I think I truly know what you wanted me to do, Taya."
"Does that mean he will have to run across one of my worst memories for me to be able to block him?" Sasha asked in alarm, thinking of a dozen horrible memories at once. Then she made a startled, angry noise as the baby dragon pushed at her mind, taking advantage of what he'd just done with Raya and knowing she would be thinking of something she would hate for him to see.
"Oh no you don't!" Sasha hissed, panicked but determined.
The dragon sat up and narrowed his eyes, his wings twitching.
Oh yes I do!
They all froze in astonishment, including the baby dragon. The pressure on Sasha's mind disappeared as the dragon slowly looked over at Taya.
Did I just…? He asked her in total amazement. Taya's heart leapt as his words came to her in a gravelly voice that was slightly scratchy, but obviously male.
Yes… yes you did. She replied with her mind, and the dragon growled with pleasure.
"He just spoke!" Raya cried. "I heard his voice… didn't I? I wasn't imagining it?"
No, Raya. The dragon looked at her, focusing completely on forming the words and speaking them to all of them at the same time. You were not imagining it. It seems… um…
"I think that using his mind to help you both learn to use yours enabled his ability to speak to grow, tearing down the barrier his age and size have built and strengthened his mental capacity to learn. Does that sound about right?" Taya watched the dragon, finding herself once again amazed to be a rider, especially of this particular dragon.
Yes, it does. Thank you. My thoughts… ex…. Exactly.
Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it. Taya said reassuringly. The dragon nodded its head, and then looked over at Sasha.
Oh yes I do. His gravelly voice came out a little too smug for Sasha's liking. She stared back at him warily.
"'Oh Yes you do' what?" She asked suspiciously, and all of a sudden she realized the dragon was pushing against her mind, but he wasn't getting anywhere.
See? That's not too hard. The dragon said smugly.
"How?" Sasha was amazed, unable to figure out how she'd done it. The dragon tilted his head, trying to come up with the words, but he couldn't get the right ones out. So he sent his thought pattern to Taya for her to decipher and explain. Taya thought for a minute, and then said,
"From what I gather, when he spoke the first time he was in the process of accessing your mind, and the suddenness of his unfamiliar voice caused your mind to react and instantly block him. So when he said those same exact words to you just now, not only wereyouwary of him trying something, but that wariness acted as a trigger to your mind and so you very carefully and quietly were able to block him."
The dragon nodded. Pretty much my thoughts exactly. He said. They could tell by his tone that he was thoroughly enjoying his newfound ability.
Taya sat back in her chair as the dragon worked with Sasha and Raya some more. He was relishing being able to speak, to be able to do something to help. By getting Sasha and Raya to block with their minds, he had done what Taya could not, while they in turn had helped him begin to speak for himself. Taya knew she would only be his translator for a day or two. His intelligence was so high that now that he'd made this breakthrough, his vocabulary and ability to talk would grow.
Taya thought back to some of the books she'd read in Uru'baen, wracking her brain for a name that would even slightly fit him. She thought back to the day before when he'd made his first catch, and then she remembered what she'd said to Raya.
'Well, he made his first catch, and he is incredibly proud of himself. Dragons are hunters of the sky, after all.'
Her expression became thoughtful as she thought of the last sentence. 'Hunters of the sky.' She tried to think of a dragons name she'd run across in one of those books that meant either 'sky' or 'hunter', but nothing jumped out at her. She sighed, stuck at a dead end once again. She looked over at the dragon, and grinned.
"What are you grinning for?" Raya asked curiously.
"Oh, just thinking about what to name him. It has me stumped, as usual."
Do you have any ideas? She asked the dragon. He shook his head. Oh well, worth a try.
"Now that you two have learned the art of blocking your minds, I have a quick little thing I want to do with Sasha." Taya reached down and picked up a book, tossing it to Sasha, who opened it and stared at what she knew to be words in the Ancient Language. She looked up at Taya, who explained.
"Someone needs to know the Ancient Language besides me, and I also want to try you on a different piece of magic besides trying to raise the stone. That is very, very original. My first bit of magic was with fire, so see if you can't concentrate on an image of a flame and then read the word for fire. Concentrate on the image and the word, and then speak it."
Sasha nodded, and focused on the book.
Taya thought she felt a sudden warmth spark around Sasha, and then her cousin's lips moved, and she said with feeling,
"Brisingr."
Taya expected a flame to catch somewhere, but there was no spark of warmth anywhere in the room, not even around Sasha where Taya had thought she'd felt it. Sasha stared incredulously at the book as if it had failed her, and then she looked up at Taya to find her grinning madly.
"What? I didn't do it!"
"It's the thought that counts." Taya winked, and Raya laughed.
"Yes, the thought. How original."
Sasha shook her head. "You two…"
"Have no fear, Sasha. If you have the ability and the mindset, you'll get it. Sometimes it takes a while, especially because you have to do it on your own. Something might aid you when you least expect it, so just be careful, and be easy about it." Taya thought about her first magical experience. The only person who had known what had happened was her mother, who had been astounded. Remembering her mother's expression made her smile.
"Besides, Sasha," She said as an afterthought. "There is certainly no rush for you to do magic, if indeed you can. What matters today is that you are able to defend your mind, both of you, which is no small feat for only working on it for a few hours in a single day. We'll keep working on it, don't you worry."
Raya suddenly stood up and dragged Sasha up off Taya's bed.
"Now that you've done your 'quick little thing with Sasha'," the younger Corsallen said with mock-authority, "I am going downstairs to fall onto my bed and not wake up until late tomorrow. I am dragging Sasha with me, so we will leave you to yourself… and the dragon."
Taya laughed, and opened the door for them. "At that, I have no way of making you stay longer, so I bid you both goodnight and good dreams, and I will wake you up early in the morning."
"Ha! Hardly!" Raya rolled her eyes, and marched out of Taya's room, followed by Sasha, who was staring at the book and shaking her head. Taya heard her mumble as she stepped out the door.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing!"
Not nothing. Taya thought to the dragon as she shut the door, thinking back to the spark of warmth she'd felt. There was something. There was something.