Landing on Dis Atilan
Tristan was becoming impatient. They had been on the ship for more than a month now and they had yet to reach the island. They had passed some islands, true, but they had not stopped anywhere and they continued sailing in a southeast direction.
To fill their days the young riders would spar and fight, under the watchful eye of the Urgal rider who kept making comments about their stance, or the way they were holding their wooden sticks, or about the amount of strength they should be using.
Tristan could feel his body becoming stronger as each day passed. Looking back at his 'training' with Buster and Grion he realised that indeed it had just been play-fight.
Sometimes the elven rider would teach them words in the ancient language and ask them to try and use magic, but so far none had succeeded.
"Stenr reisa!" the elven rider said and the rock rose just a few centimetres above his open palm. "Repeat after me"
Tristan raised both eyebrows and looked at Laer, who appeared to be uninterested and Rikon, who was gazing at the rock intently and his cheeks had started turning red from the concentration.
"I think you actually have to say the words, Rikon. Otherwise you are only going to succeed in an early visit to your chamber pot" Tristan commented and the dwarf turned into an even deeper red. Tristan smiled brightly and the elven rider pressed his lips tightly.
"At least he is making an effort whereas you two are wasting my time" he said in a stern tone but his facial expression didn't change much.
"Fine, fine. Stenr reisa!" Tristan shouted but the rock in his palm, didn't move, not even an inch. He sighed, exasperated and Vertigo narrowed his eyes.
Maybe I could try giving you some of my magic as a start to trigger yours…, he started but Tristan shook his head.
Nope. As a dragon rider I need to do this all by myself.
Stubborn. It shall take forever and I am getting bored of watching you, petty little humans, looking at a rock all day.
Tristan raised an eyebrow.
Go play with your friends or whatever it is you do up there, he said and shook his head, smiling.
We are looking around for potential danger so we can save your skins if the need arises. A simple thank you would suffice, the dragon replied and send a mixture of feelings through the bond which appeared to be of hurt.
Tristan tsked.
You are getting quite good at this 'fake feeling' thing.
The dragon let out a throaty noise that very much resembled a laugh, his emotions, now amused and happy.
Thank you. I have been training… Oh! It looks like the short one managed to get it!, Vertigo said and Tristan turned around to see Rikon, with his open palm and the rock above it, slightly trembling.
"Steady, now, steady…" the elf said but as soon as he did, the rock fell on the ground with a loud thump.
Sweat was dripping from the dwarf's forehead.
"I did it, I did it!" he shouted, excited and went to grab the rock and try again.
"I feel like we are being left behind" Tristan said in Laer's ear and nudged him on the shoulder. The rider smiled and then started repeating the words as well but not much seemed to be happening to him either. That day Tristan tried again and again but nothing worked and in the end he slumped against the wooden deck, exhausted.
The sun was beginning to set and just then, his sister came up. She had a blanket around her shoulders, holding it tightly in her hands and shivering every once in a while.
He smiled brightly at her and went to hug her. Kayla tried to raise her hands up but he ignored it and he just closed her in a tight embrace.
"I am so glad you are better!" he told her because this was the second time he had seen her since she had woken up. Most of her time she spent in her cabin, sleeping.
"Tristan. Air" Kayla whispered and Tristan let her go, smiling widely, but as he did so he realised that the bones on her back were more profound.
Is she eating enough?, he wondered.
Should I catch some sharks for her? I am still working on my skills but I can tell you for sure than I can catch at least one!, Vertigo said proudly.
Tristan shook his head just as he heard a noise from behind him and turned to see Rikon hiding beneath a blanket, struggling to do something.
"Nagz reisa! Nagz reisa!" he kept repeating. Blanket, rise.
"I feel like I should go and help him but at the same time it's so much more entertaining just watching him" Tristan said, chuckling. Kayla smiled as well but Stoic, who was watching from the deck above them, was shaking his head every so often, disapprovingly.
In the end Rikon gave up and went to stand next to them, holding the blanket, his cheeks, a bright red colour.
Laer smiled and took the blanket from him.
"I think maybe we should concentrate on the rock for now and see where that takes us?" he offered, politely.
"Aye but I am done for tonight. You can do whatever you want" the dwarf sighed, exasperated and slumped on the wooden deck.
"Since no one is using the blanket, can I have it?" Kayla asked, shivering and Laer went to put it around her shoulders. Tristan watched this exchange, closely, realising that his sister and the other rider had met before.
"Cold, are you? Tristan asked both curious and concerned.
Kayla nodded, shaking slightly once more.
"I take it you don't want to experiment with magic then?" he asked her and at his question she looked horrified and quickly shook her head.
Tristan nodded and then heard his stomach growling.
"Food?" he asked and all the young riders nodded. The older riders were on the higher deck of the ship, talking amongst themselves. He brought the food out, and most of it was jam, bread, cheese, dried cuts of meats, fruit and nuts. Tristan put the giant platter in the middle and the riders sat down, cross-legged just as their dragons descended from the air with their food, which included mostly fish.
Kayla staggered back from all four of them, startled, as some of the fish landed close to her. Tristan, Rikon and Laer laughed. This had been their daily routine while on the ship, so he hadn't realised that it might look a bit weird to his sister.
"Don't worry. They stick to their food, we stick to ours" he said happily and went to grab bread and cheese.
Tristan hadn't even finished his first slice of bread before the dragons had devoured their fish. Each one of the dragons was eating according to its size, and at the moment all of them were bigger than horses which meant plenty of fish. He wondered how long it would take until he would be able to ride Vertigo.
His grey-blue dragon - at the moment - was playing with Aiedail's purple tail, excited, jumping from side to side. The purple dragon shot him a look of annoyance and let out a warning growl.
"Am. Aiedail kindly asks if you can tell Vertigo to stop playing with her tail" Kayla said and bit her lip unsure. Tristan raised his eyebrows.
"Why doesn't she ask him, herself?" he asked and played with an apple in his hands. Rikon was still eating, paying little attention to their exchange while Laer was looking at the sea.
"I think she already did" his sister continued and looked on the wooden ground. She obviously wasn't happy delivering Aideail's messages and she tapped her foot impatiently.
"Your dragon appears to be very short-tempered and…" Tristan was saying just as Laer yelled loudly.
"There, do you see?" he shouted and all four of them rushed to the edge of the ship to look at where the young rider was pointing at.
I don't see anything, Vertigo said, squinting his eyes. Tristan did the same but he only saw dark, blue sea.
I think the tall one is imagining things.
Tristan almost agreed but then he noticed the white of some waves in the distance and as he looked more closely, there was a sort of mist enveloping a specific area.
Waves means land.
But where?
"Gath un reisa du rakr!" the elven rider bellowed and the mist started dispersing and rising high. Unite and raise the mist.
Rikon let out a whistle of appreciation, Laer's eyes were wide with astonishment and Kayla's mouth had formed an O.
Tristan swallowed, once, and took in what lay in front of him.
There was a giant island, the size of which he could not exactly discern. It was long and thin on the edges while a lot wider in the middle. As he looked more closely, he saw a volcano rising high in its centre. On the end of one slope was a very fertile land, filled with green, tall trees, rivers and lakes whereas on the other side the land had a more rocky appearance. Even though the sun was low in the horizon Tristan could see that there were plenty of beaches around the island.
The island had the perfect form to host all races indeed, but one thought kept repeating in his mind.
Who on earth would think of putting the dragon rider training base near a volcano?
Vertigo let out a throaty laugh.
I better hope it's dormant. Dragons fair well near volcanos, but even we, won't be able to survive if it awakens. Oh! Speak of the devil!
His blue-grey dragon looked at the distance, where Tristan could only see a small spot. He squinted his eyes and then he saw the spot growing bigger and bigger and he was able to discern giant sapphire wings flapping up and down.
"Saphira!" Rikon bellowed, his eyes growing large and he almost jumped from excitement. Indeed, the dragon Saphira was approaching them and Tristan couldn't help but gasp at her size and beauty. She was enormous and stunning.
On her back rode no one else but Eragon himself, with his brown hair blowing in the wind. The giant sapphire dragon let out a loud roar and dragons rose from every corner of the island with their riders, joining Eragon in his flight.
There were quite a lot of dragons, with different colours and sizes and all together they formed a striking rainbow as they flew towards them.
"Mighty seven riders…" Kayla whispered and looked up at the sky along with everyone else. She held the blanket closer to her shoulders.
"Actually, to be precise, there are more than twenty but…" Tristan was saying but then from behind him the four riders that had brought them to the island jumped on their dragons and flew to the skies where the rest of the group was.
Their ship was quite a long way from the shore and they weren't going very fast. It would take ages until they reached land.
Is this a challenge?, Tristan asked both himself and his dragon.
His dragon let out another throaty laugh.
I believe it is…
I wish I could ride you. That would make things easier.
His dragon eyes sparked just at that moment and he looked at Aiedail, who was gazing at her talons admiringly.
She is right.
What did she say?, Tristan asked but his dragon winked and flew into the sky with Onyx, Fiord and Aiedail behind him.
Rikon pouted.
"I don't like being left behind…" he admitted but just then their dragons held on the front and back edges of the ship and started flapping their wings fast.
Wind blew against Tristan face and he saw the ship sliding through the water's surface, quick, like a knife slicing through butter. All four riders rushed to the front of the ship and looked above where the dragons were, below where foam rose and opposite them, where the island was. Just as the ship reached the shore - which to Tristan's surprise contained black sand - the dragons let go of the ship and landed gratefully.
Without further due Tristan was the first to jump from the ship and onto steady ground and Laer followed close behind, while Rikon and Kayla struggled a bit. In the end they all managed and they looked opposite them to where twenty and more dragons and dragon riders stood with stern expressions.
Eragon was in the middle and smiled just then, opening his arms widely just as his beautiful dragon Saphira let out another load roar.
"Atra esterní ono thelduin, Shur'tugalar" he said in the words of the ancient language. "Welcome young dragon riders, to Dis Atilan"
Next chapter will be from Eragon's perspective. I will try to post it by tomorrow. And as CP would have said ...: Sé onr sverdar sitja hvass!