Guard yourself against all dangers

Tristan woke up just as the midday sun fell on his skin, warming his chilled bones. He was on a very soft bed and he felt as if he was floating on clouds. Momentarily he wondered how his bed felt so soft since usually he woke up with knots all over his lower back, as if he was an old man and he had to turn in weird angles in order to untie them.

Something was licking his face. Had Daisy managed to sneak inside the house again, he wondered but no, the tongue felt rough, almost like a cat's …

He opened one eye and saw grey-blue scales rather than fur. A dragon was sitting on his face, its tiny forked tongue out and Tristan moved back at the edge of the bed, startled. The dragon rolled on its back, making a rumbling sound and Tristan felt thoughts of happiness, amusement and curiosity emitting from the creature.

The events from the previous night rushed into his mind and uncertain he checked his right palm only to find the gedwey ignasia symbol which marked him as a dragon rider. He smiled, widely as he struggled to believe that his biggest dream had come true.

Being picked as a rider was the hard part. Training should be easy.

Just then he realised than he was in a rather well kept place, with oak wooden furniture decorating the space and sun streaming from the large window that stood opposite his bed. He felt the dragon's consciousness press into his own and it felt as if he had been blind before and now he could see. The dragon's sensitive senses allowed him to see, hear, taste and feel things with a new perspective. He could hear the buzzing sound of a trapped bee and he could actually see it from up close, even though it was at least 3 meters away, as it kept going around in circles trying to find an opening.

The dragon rolled on its side again, Tristan's attention shifting to it, and he picked it up in both hands realising that it had already grown a few inches. Excitement coursed through both of them as the dragon started playing with his hands, trying to catch them while Tristan was holding them in the air, laughing.

The creature pouted, its two eyes, the colour of onyx looking back at him, and a paw tapping impatiently on the bed. He was momentarily dazed just as the dragon jumped up, reached for his left hand and grabbed it inside its mouth. Tristan felt no pain, however, realising the dragon was careful not to use its sharp teeth when holding onto him.

"Hello you" he said out loud and two clever, mischievous eyes gazed back at him. Tristan put his right hand out and watched as the dragon took delicate steps forward and then rubbed his muzzle against it.

He heard and felt the noise of someone approaching, five minutes before they actually got to his room. Yes, sensing things from the dragon's perspective had its perks.

"Good morning Tristan. We have been waiting for you to wake up for quite some time" the human rider said as she entered his room. The elf rider was next to her, looking deadly serious but calm as always.

"Good morning…. Wait. How do you know my name?" Tristan asked and raised his eyebrows.

"Does it matter? There are more pressing issues to discuss" the elf replied.

"You looked into my mind didn't you?" he replied and made himself appear horrified, while he was trying to contain a smile.

The rider crossed his arms over his chest. Tristan shook his head disapprovingly and tsked.

"This is not cool, man. Not cool." The dragon at his lap shook its head as well and let out a whiff of smoke.

"Look. There are some things we need to discuss…" the elf started again but Tristan cut him mid-sentence.

"One last question. Did you look into my mind while I was sleeping?" he asked and the elf didn't answer just pressed his hands on his temples lightly.

"Mighty seven riders, you did! This is creepy, you know. Very creepy" he added, the dragon pouring happily in his lap.

"ENOUGH!" the human rider said, as her hair seemed to become curlier. Tristan raised his hands in the air and gave her one of his brightest smiles.

She held her fists on her sides and then walked to the elf to whisper something in his ear. The elf nodded and he watched, as the human rider turned around and walked out of the room.

"So ... When are you going to ask her out?" Tristan asked him, while lazily rubbing his dragon's head.

"What are you taking about?" the elf asked, raising his eyebrows in the air, the first facial change Tristan had seen him make.

"Curly brown hair, big shoulders… You don't live forever you know" Tristan added and smiled wildly again.

The elf pressed his lips tightly together.

This is serious! Stop wasting your time and voice in useless things! he bellowed in a dark and rather scary tone into the boy's mind.

Tristan held his head and the dragon wailed. The elf looked satisfied.

"Now that I have your attention… It's time to tell you something about your sister"

"Oh yeah! Has the dragon hatched for her? What colour is the dragon?" Tristan asked, suddenly remembering he hadn't seen her for quite some time and he had fainted before he found out any more information about the situation.

The elf didn't reply for a few seconds. Tristan looked at him and only then did he realise the grave expression the rider bore.

Kayla…, he thought scared and he jumped from the bed, holding his dragon in his arms, his heart beating faster inside his chest.

"My sister… Is she okay?" he asked, his voice slightly shaking in the end.

"I am afraid there have been some… Complications"

….

Kayla woke up in a dark room and the first thing she thought was that she could no longer sense the dragon's presence. She sighed, thankfully. Yet when she concentrated a bit harder, there was this tingling at the edge of her mind, very much resembling the pressing consciousness of another being.

She remembered the events that had occurred yesterday and that very familiar feeling of dread settled over her. As her eyes adjusted to the dark of the room, she noticed that her wrists had thick metal chains around them, the same that were also around her ankles. She tested their power, by pulling her left hand hard but the chain held and she was sure that apart from the strong metal, magic had been involved in their making.

With nothing else to do, she began to study the room around her and wonder who her captors were. The room was rather small with four walls, three made out of grey stone and the fourth made out of tall metal bars with narrow spacing between them. Even if she did manage to break the chains, she doubted she would be able to fit her body between the bars.

The last thing she remembered before she fainted, was the grey-purple reptile and the dragon riders watching her in shock. Yes, she knew exactly who her captors were and her theory was confirmed when the Urgal dragon rider opened a door from the outside of her prison and entered.

He looked weary and solemn, his skin greyer than usual and his horns and talons did not glow when the light fell on them. The rider put his hands in front of his chest and sat down on the ground, so that his eyes were on the same level as hers.

"I have done a lot of thinking over the past few hours and I have realised, amongst other things that we have yet to be introduced properly. I am Stoic, son of Theon who is head of the Kull territory in the East of the dessert" he said.

She debated whether she should reply or not but with nothing to lose she gave him her answer.

"I am Kayla, age fifteen, daughter of Borosson" she replied knowing full well that this was the exact way people were referred to, during the calling of names.

Stoic's brows pulled together.

"Kayla, age fifteen, daughter of Borosson, let me explain the situation to you. You are a clever girl, I can see, and you might have figured this already but still I ought to give you an explanation about our current behaviour. Two days ago there was an attack in Arhan village with many injured and some dead. The city square is all but destroyed. It will take years to rebuild the surrounding buildings, people will not be able to continue their current occupations and it's very possible that some will not even survive the coming winter" the Urgal said and paused.

"Most importantly two eggs were damaged and one was stolen. We still do not know the source of the attack as we have never seen anything like this before but our opponent was strong, as you might recall. He did attack and almost kill you" Stoic said and paused again.

Kayla met his dark eyes, which were surrounded by a yellow exterior.

"I remember. But I didn't expect, you would as well" she said.

"Yes, I have a rather long and good memory but that's not the matter at hand. The day after the attack, two children arrived in our camp, demanding to see the eggs. In my mind I am thinking that you were just unhappy about the attack and had the illusion that by becoming dragon riders you would be able to get revenge on the ones who wronged you. I did not expect the eggs to hatch. The chances for that were incredibly small and your brother had already seen the eggs once. However, suddenly, not one, but two eggs hatch one after the other. I am sure you can sense our confusion" he said and paused, his gaze calculating.

"However, this was nothing compared to what followed soon after. Your brother bonded with the dragon but the events were standard, nothing out of the ordinary… As opposed to you. We have never witnessed or heard of a similar dragon or rider behaviour. And we demand an explanation" the Kull said, his eyes becoming slits and his arm muscles flexing.

She did not know how to respond. Of course she understood the riders' behaviour, but that did not mean she held the answers to their problems.

"There are strong wards around your mind and I do not know how you are able to do this, since you have never been taught the skill. I cannot enter your mind but I would very much like to. I suggest you put the wards down, so I can determine whether you are a threat or not and put the matter at rest" Stoic ended.

Kayla could pretend she didn't know what wards he was talking about but then thought better of it, as she sensed the barriers she had put up, in order not to allow the reptile's consciousness to slip into her own. She had not been taught this skill, that much was true, but she had read many magic books and the introduction to them all was the same.

"Guard yourselves against all dangers" was the chapter's name and as she now was a dragon rider and had magic she had put theory into action. She wasn't sure she wanted to put the barriers down, though, afraid the creature would sneak in.

"Where is the dragon?" she asked Stoic, the third time she had spoken thus far.

The Urgal studied her carefully.

"He is in a safe place, not very close to here" he replied.

She hoped that "not very close" would be at least 20 miles away, as she sighed and let her barriers drop.

Kayla felt the Kull's consciousness as a brush against her own and she winced in displeasure.

She watched him carefully, as he examined her thoughts and a mixture of feelings enveloped him. First confusion, then anger, then horror and finally sorrow.

After he was finished, he retreated into his own mind and when Kayla felt the nudges of the dragon's consciousness she quickly put her barriers up.

"You should have told us, we would have been able to help" Stoic finally said, his expression blanc, a stark contrast to the plethora of emotions he had before.

Kayla laughed, a rather depressed laugh.

"I really doubt you can help me now" she added in a solemn tone.

Once you became a dragon rider you could not go back unless your dragon died, but Kayla was not sure if she could or would kill the dragon. There was also the matter of the dragon riders and she was certain that they would not be too happy if she did this.

"You should have told us the truth from the beginning" the Urgal insisted.

"Would you have given Tristan another chance if it was him alone?" Kayla asked.

Stoic seemed to consider this, before he answered in an honest tone.

"Unlikely" he replied and Kayla nodded expecting nothing less.

"I am assuming there is no way to reverse this, then" she added.

"Not that I know off", the Urgal replied, another honest answer but Kayla's heart twisted.

She thought about her mother, how sudden and baffling the news would be to her, how devastated she would become…

"When are we leaving?" she asked Stoic and the rider got up from his knees and held a key in his hands, the key that no doubt opened the metal chains around her limbs.

"We were supposed to leave today but due to the events that just occurred we had to postpone it. We are leaving tomorrow" he answered and went to unlock the chains.

Kayla's wrists and ankles felt sore and had red markings around them but when dry tears run down her eyes it was not because of this. The Kull stood before her, a towering figure, as she tried to get up. She raised her eyebrows at this, bewildered.

"You might not want to take my advice but at least consider it. Try to communicate with the dragon. You might find yourself enjoying its company" he added, his tone almost gentle.

Doubtful, Kayla thought but she did not say so out loud.

"And please, by no means, should you attack the dragon again. You do not know how to control this power yet, despite the impressive barriers you have put around your mind and next time it will kill both you and the dragon" he continued.

She wanted to protest and say that it was the reptile who had attacked her first but she kept her lips firmly shut about that matter.

"Can I go see my mother?" she asked instead, her tone almost pleading.

The Urgal nodded, his arms crossed over his chest.

"It has been arranged for both you and your brother to go back. You will be escorted by two riders of course and you should have enough time to pack your things and…" he was saying but she was not listening any more. When the door to her cell was open she run back home for one last time.

…

Eragon stood near the island's volcano, its molten lava inside, boiling, like a thick rabbit stew above the fire, as flashes of a certain memory entered his mind.

Him standing near the hundreds of eggs below, Saphira on his side as they recited the words of the ancient language together, the flow of magic clear as a summer day…

Little one… Stop torturing yourself, his dragon said, sensing his mood change.

Saphira ….Is there any chance that what we did to the eggs might have caused this?

His dragon was thoughtful, as she gazed at the never-ending deep blue sea, a colour, close to the ones her scales were.

We had no other choice, Eragon… You remember Umaroth's warning, don't you? The eggs needed to hatch and quickly, she replied in his mind as she flew higher into the skies, testing her limits.

There is always another choice, Saphira. You took more than eight days to hatch for me and you examined my mind every single day. We are giving the dragons less than a minute to decide on their rider. Is it possible that they might have been wrong?

Possibly but if this is the case the repercussions of this would be …

Devastating? Eragon added in a rather depressed tone.

Saphira said nothing but he could feel that she was flying fast between the clouds trying to lose herself between them.

As Eragon pressed his head between his hands, a certain thought repeated in his mind, again and again.

One minute is not long enough and the dragon might just have hatched for the wrong rider. Arya, you were right.

What do you guys think of the story so far? Do you like the pace? Any characters you would like to see more/less of ? Review, follow/fav and let me know :).