Gedwey Ignasia

Tristan looked around, bewildered, as elves, magicians and soldiers run inside and stared at the two eggs which had now began to crack, the noise even louder than before.

This was not at all, how he had expected this to go down. In the most far-fetched scenario, he could see himself walking up the stage, touching one egg and then this one egg would crack. What was unravelling in front of him was rather unrealistic. There was a feeling of pressure at the back of his head that only seconds ago had not been present and he recognised it as the dragon's presence.

"Nobody go near these eggs! Do you understand?" the Urgal dragon rider barked, his yellow eyes glowing as his horns appeared to be growing longer and his facial features twisted into a bewildered and angry expression.

The crack that had appeared in the middle of the blue-grey egg started getting thicker and a sound resembling very much the sound of a bird's beak atop a tree, echoed once more inside the tent.

"What is happening?" one of the magicians asked, as he closed his eyes trying to concentrate on something, but then quickly opened them again as if his spell was not working.

"I think this is something we are all quite curious to find out" the dwarven rider bellowed entering the tent, the human rider next to him.

She took the scene in front of her and her brows pulled together.

"Never have I heard of two dragons hatching for one rider" she whispered as she, as well ,closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate on something.

"Maybe they didn't" the Urgal commented and Tristan turned his attention to him. Never in his life had he felt so stunned. He was frozen into place, afraid to move forward, afraid to move backwards. Despite the immense amount of reading he had done upon dragons, nothing had prepared him for this.

"What ever do you mean?" the elf asked and turned his head around as a second crack appeared on the grey purple egg.

"Two humans touched the eggs, two eggs cracked. Coincidence? I do not think so... " he said and suddenly all gazes were fixed upon his sister. She was hiding in the back, trying to avoid attention but failing.

"The question however remains. If this is the case then which egg is for which rider" the dwarf said and scratched his beard which under the light appeared ginger.

Tristan knew how important matter that was. If first contact happened with anyone but the intended dragon rider the bond would be weak. He looked at the eggs both magnificent and unique and wondered which egg harbored his own dragon.

He heard the riders shooing the elves and magicians out until only he, Kayla and the riders remained inside. Something was entering his mind again, a presence he welcomed. Tristan remembered how he had felt something stirring in both the eggs, the purple and the blue, with the blue one being stronger than the purple but then again he could not be sure.

"I can neither enter the humans' minds nor the dragons. Something is blocking me" the elf said and his dark gaze fell on Tristan and Kayla. "How sure of yourselves you were, when you entered…"

All riders stopped talking and looked at each other, the silent trail of words passing between them, obvious.

"Tell us what you feel girl" the Urgal dragon rider said after a while and looked at Kayla.

"I… I am not sure" his sister replied but Tristan could tell that there was something she was not sharing with them. The Urgal sensed so as well and he pressed his lips together tightly.

"What about you, young boy?" the elf asked him and he tried to put into words the emotions he was feeling. His answer seemed to satisfy the riders and they turned upon his sister once again.

"Is there nothing in your mind right now, not even a single nudge?" the Urgal dragon rider asked Kayla. It was the second time in his lifetime that Tristan had seen her like this, lost of words and terrified.

"I..." his sister began but was cut mid-sentence by the elf.

"This is obvious, Stoic. The eggs are hatching for them both, as small as this chance might be. The purple belongs to the girl as she touched that one first and it was the first to crack as well and the blue to the boy. We can confirm this, once the eggs are fully cracked. The dragons should turn to their riders" the elf said, his fair hair running down his back in small waves.

"The dragons are only hatchlings, we cannot expect them to ..." the woman rider started but a sharp piece of the grey-blue egg's shell flew towards her direction and silenced her.

Another one fell just a few inches away from Tristan's feet and he could see the blue egg rocking fast on top of its pedestal just as a muzzle poked from the cracks. Despite himself Tristan walked forward and he watched mesmerized as a series of squeaks echoed and the dragon emerged from its shell. It had a tiny head the colour of the dark grey blue ocean and a small body no larger than his forearm, the colour, a dark silver blue. The dragon pressed one paw on the ground tentatively, as if it was testing it and then slowly extended its wings, which had the colour of liquid silver. Its two black eyes rested on Tristan just for a moment, before it lazily hang its tongue out and started fanning its wings quickly. Without further due Tristan watched as the dragon started running quickly at his direction, using its wings for balance and awkwardly fell on his leather boots.

It seemed as if the dragon had a mischievous expression on its face and Tristan kneeled down to get a closer look at it. The dragon pulled its tiny forked tongue out, once, and pressed its head on Tristan's hand. A sudden rush of feelings enveloped him and he felt as if he had been dropped in an icy cold lake, with ice crystals poking on every inch of his being. He let out a loud scream as the pain intensified and felt his body going limp as he slumped into unconsciousness.

…..

Kayla watched horrified as her brother was making first contact with the dragon. She walked backwards slowly, the riders' gaze fixed upon Tristan and not paying attention to her.

"No" she whispered as she saw the two cracks on the purple-silver egg becoming thicker. There was a lump in her throat and no matter how hard she swallowed it would not go away. She could feel her heart beating fast inside her chest.

At the edge of her consciousness there was that annoying tingling and she tried to shield herself from it, but with not much luck.

She watched Tristan scream and faint as the small blue reptile curled inside his hand. The human rider rushed to his side while the Urgal watched her closely as she was taking more steps backward and the tapping noise inside the purple egg, increased.

"I do not want this" she whispered both to herself and the riders staring at her, feeling moisture at the edges of her eyes. The dwarf's expression was sympathetic.

"The pain will only last a moment…" he started but Kayla shook her head angrily.

"I don't want any of it!" she shouted furiously, because the riders had misunderstood, thinking she was afraid of the pain.

The pain was the last of her worries actually, as she saw the remaining egg shaking, moving forward and backward faster, and the tingling at the back of her mind intensified. The egg shined brightly for only a moment until the shell broke into a thousand fragments that flew around the confined space. Some of these fragments landed close to her, others missed her face by inches and others sliced her thigh. Unable to move her gaze away, she watched as the dragon was propelled from the explosion and for a moment, she dared hope that the creature would fall to its death, but instead it expanded its silvery wings at the last moment and flew.

She only had a second before the reptile's violet eyes spotted her in the corner and started flying aggressively towards her direction. Kayla shrieked, just as the dragon fell on her hand with such force that her breath caught between her lungs.

The pain was intense, liquid ice running through her veins so quickly, that she didn't have time to process exactly what was happening. But she did not faint. No, she would not give the creature the satisfaction.

Kayla felt the reptile demand entrance into her mind but she would not bend. She gazed darkly at its violet eyes and the creature hissed at her direction. It took a few steps backwards, showing her the sharp array of teeth it bore just as Kayla raised her right hand up and noticed the silver oval marking in her palm.

Gedwey Ignasia, she thought and felt a tightening in her chest, realizing with despair that she could no longer deny it.

I am a dragon rider, she thought to herself and the words left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

The silver-purple dragon was at her feet again, parts of membrane still sticking out from its skin, an unappealing sight. She felt the alien entity nudge at her consciousness again and without a second thought she raised her right hand and let out a blast of silver energy towards its direction.

She saw the creature falling backwards and satisfaction coursed through her, just as another wave of pain hit her, ten times stronger than the one before and this time she did faint.

…..

Eragon was standing on top of a tall oak tree, easily extending 25 feet in height. It had strong, big branches and dark green leaves that concealed some of the midday sun. The resemblance it had to the trees in Elesmira was striking. Eragon could hear the river water running from the top of the snowy mountains and he remembered the feeling when he had first tasted it, sweet pure and cold. He was debating whether he should extend the length of the tree branches, as he saw an image flashing in his mind and almost lost his balance. He was far away from Alagaesia, but often if the riders wanted something urgent they would send him an image.

Saphira…, Did you feel that?

His dragon was out hunting, catching fish and sharks from the waters near the island while he had been working on the wooden structure.

Little one, his dragon said but her thoughts were scattered, trying to make sense of the image they had just seen. Saphira abandoned her lunch to fly back to him and Eragon run to the island's base.

What do you think it means?, he asked her.

His dragon mulled over it.

I have never seen or heard of anything similar. We need to speak to the riders. Soon, Saphira replied, in a very serious and worried tone.

Eragon couldn't agree more and using the ancient language he made himself run faster, as a set of unjustified angry violet eyes pierced into his mind.