Snow fights – part 1
Winter had settled in for good and temperatures were dropping in an alarmingly fast rate. The hot water from the volcanos was not enough to warm the buildings and often, fires had to be light instead. Despite the dragons' constant energy heat supply, even they, eventually grew tired and cold. This in turn had resulted in Fiord catching a cold and it was not uncommon to hear loud sneezes and sniffles in the middle of the night.
When Tristan woke up the next day he wasn't surprised to see snow covering every visible inch of Dis Atilan. He jumped from his bed and rushed to the windows to look outside.
First snow of the year, Vertigo. Come see!, he shouted excited in his dragon's mind.
He heard a tired growl and then saw his dragon's form moving and staring outside.
What is this sorcery?, Vertigo bellowed and started stepping away from the white stuff, with a horrified expression on his reptilian face.
Just snow…!, Tristan laughed and quickly dressed up, putting on many warm layers and stepped outside of his room. He knocked on Gwen's, Laer's, Gas's and Kayla's doors.
Soon the riders had gathered in the storage room, breaking their fast on dried fruits, nuts and freshly kneaded warm bread with honey. Tristan appeared to be the only one excited about the snow.
"It will just make the ground freeze and next year's crops might not grow as much. Plus if it's snowing in Alagaesia as much as it's snowing here, then the Games will have to be cancelled" Gas said looking at the grey clouds outside.
"I thought the Games would be cancelled because of the attacks? It would be foolish to hold them now with the shadow wyrm threat looming" Gwen replied.
She looked solemn and the way she was behaving was similar to how she had been acting at their very first encounter. Tristan did not know why but ever since they had returned from Ramirblaka her stance had been cold. He had tried talking to her, to understand what was happening but she had waved him off with the usual excuse of having errands to run.
"But there have been no attacks for more than two months now. The people in Alagaesia cannot keep pausing their daily activities because of the threat. And if the Games don't happen now when will they? Will we postpone them until the threat is extinguished? This may take years " Laer said in a thoughtful manner.
"I guess it will be up to the Leaders of the Races and Queen Nasuada to decide" Kayla said and Tristan watched Gwen's expression momentarily changing but she soon regained her previous composure.
"Let's go riders. We have lessons to attend to!" Gwen said and rushed out the door. Tristan ran after her before the other riders could catch up with them.
"Gwen, are you all right?" he whispered to her and caught her arm. The wind blew her curly, dark hair away from her face and he noticed that she had dark circles under her eyes.
"No worse than usual, rider. If you will excuse me, we have duties to attend to" she replied and walked away from him in a fast pace.
Tristan stood in the middle of the trees and the snow, feeling bewildered, until the rest of the human riders caught up with him.
"I hate the snow" Kayla complained and rubbed her hands on her arms.
Laer offered her one of his overcoats which Kayla happily accepted. They continued their trip upwards to meet the rest of the riders and soon they reached the volcano crater.
The only part which was not covered in snow was the volcano crater and there was a ring of brown earth around. Compared to the rest of the landscape it looked naked.
Tristan expected to see Octavian but instead he felt Vertigo's voice in his mind.
Flying lessons are cancelled today. Weather is too rough for flying and even though Saphira thought it was a good idea to practise flying moves Eragon disagreed, Vertigo said in his mind, sounding disappointed and landed on the snow next to him causing quite a few snowflakes to fly towards the direction of the riders.
Some of the snow reached Tristan's direction and he jumped out the way, raising his eyebrows at his dragon.
Woops, Vertigo said in his mind and made a throaty noise that sounded a lot like chuckling.
Fiord flew to where the riders were as well, but his landing was not as smooth as Vertigo's and more snow exploded around them.
Adrian paused the snowflakes in mid-air just before they hit him and he looked at the dragons disapprovingly.
"Dragons you should know how to land properly by now" Adrian said in an obnoxious manner and pointed at his mahogany dragon landing. "Mars did not even raise one snowflake"
Just then Octavian slid from his dragon's back and landed on the soft snow, his earring making a ringing noise upon contact. He looked at the young riders in a mischievous manner and grinned.
"That actually might not be such a terrible idea. Riders you will be split into four teams. You can use wooden sticks, magic and your dragons if you must. The aim of this game will be to find me and get this cloth" Octavian said and ripped a piece of his shirt and held it in the air. "No major mind duels or sword fighting is allowed. Magic should only be used when necessary" he said and smiled, obviously pleased with himself.
Tristan raised his eyebrows while Octavian was rearranging them into groups. He was placed in the same team as May and Maya, Grohn, and Adrian. Kayla was with Laer, Gwen and Maurine while Rikon was in another team all together.
This should be interesting, Vertigo said in his mind while regarding the rest of the dragons.
Considering I don't particularly like Adrian and find the twin girls creepy then yes this should be interesting indeed!, he said and the group gathered somewhere in a corner to devise their battle plan while Octavian went to hide.
…
"Dragons can fly so maybe it will be easier for them to search for Octavian?" Maurine suggested as Kayla pressed her back against the bark of a tree shivering.
She hated the snow and the idea of having to do anything near it made her cringe.
"You forget that the weather is not suitable for flight. The dragons might be able to fly slightly above ground but not too high otherwise the gusts of wind will throw them off balance" Laer said and pointed at the moving trees.
"Octavian is a master of trickery and hiding will probably be one of his specialities. Finding him will not be as easy as you might expect. The best course of action would be to sense him by magic, it's easier to find him and it won't be like looking for a straw in hay needles. But the three of you…" Gwen said pointing at Kayla and Laer "…don't know how to sense beings around you just yet which causes a problem" Gwen continued and kneeled on the ground, drawing lines on the snow with a twig, absentminded.
"What if we split and searched?" Maurine suggested again but Laer quickly shook his head.
"That would be again like searching straw in hay needles and we would also be vulnerable if we split because the other teams can attack us" Gwen explained and sighed.
Kayla rubbed her arms on her shoulders to warm herself and Aiedail landed next to her. Surprised, she stepped back from the dragon but the heat emitting from the creature was enough for her to reconsider and bring her closer to Aiedail.
Thank you, she said to the grey-purple dragon who nodded.
We might not be able to fly but there must be a way we can be helpful, Onyx said and Gwen raised her eyebrows.
We do have acute sense of smell you know, Aiedail said and Saturn gazed at her appreciatively.
"Are we looking for Octavian or his dragon though? They may have split ways to confuse us" Laer said and Gwen was thoughtful.
Both, Saturn replied. If we see their smell splitting then we will go our separate ways but until then we follow the trail.
They all nodded and Gwen looked at Kayla's direction.
"Any thoughts on the matter?" the human dorm leader asked politely and Kayla raised her eyebrows.
"What if we get attacked or don't find the trail?" she asked and waited for a reply. Laer smiled, while Gwen's forehead wrinkled in concentration. Maurine eagerly awaited an answer.
"Out of the four of us I believe Laer and I excel in fights but for mind duelling I think Kayla, you will be our best shot. If we get attacked you can try blocking any mental attacks and Maurine will slip away with one of the dragons so they can find the trail. If we cannot find the trail then I have no other choice but try to mentally sense Octavian's presence while you guard me" Gwen said and Maurine whistled.
"You have thought of everything, haven't you?" Kayla said and she found herself pleasantly amused and smiled.
The human dorm leader nodded.
"We shall see. Let the Snow Fights begin!"
…..
Tristan was running around as fast as he could but the snow made his task difficult. He didn't particularly like Adrian's plan but as they had no better alternative he had agreed to follow it. Vertigo was flying above him but not too high as the gusts of wind were particularly dangerous. Yet, he was the best dragon situated for the task and Vertigo did not take his role lightly.
Focus, young human, Vertigo said in his mind and flew extremely close to the volcano crater while Tristan jumped to the other hand side.
Do you think it will be enough to catch their attention?, Tristan wondered.
Possibly, although I hate being bait.
Me and you both, Tristan said and sighed just as he saw something poking from the end of his vision.
He paused and hid behind a bush just as Rikon emerged from the other side of the hill.
Tristan hid a secret smile just as he held one of the snowballs he had just created.
And … Attack!, he shouted in his partner of heart's mind and jumped from his hiding place.
The snow balls took Rikon by surprise and hit him full on, while Vertigo landed on the snow with such force that he caused a mini avalanche.
Sweet!, the dragon bellowed, obviously pleased with himself.
Suddenly they both saw Gas flying on his dragon and moving fast towards Adrian and the twins.
Shoot! I knew it was a distraction!, Tristan shouted while Vertigo roared loudly to warn their team members of the upcoming danger.
He climbed on his dragon's saddle and watched the two headed grey-white creature and Mars attacking Gas's dragon.
Gas's female dragon, Inal, was a tough one but against Mars and Cyclops – the twins' dragon- she stood little to no chances. Somewhere behind the dragons the three elves sat deep in concentration, trying to find Octavian's aura. Out of the five of them the elves were the most skilled in magic so they had stayed back, with their dragons protecting them, while Tristan, Grohn and their two dragons were to act as distractions.
Soon, Inal lost against Mars and Gas jumped from her back, trying to reach the elves. Tristan let a loose arrow at his direction which was enough to sway the rider from his original intentions. He turned towards Tristan who shot another arrow, which landed a few feet near him.
Theoretically, he could injure Gas as long as the injury was not fatal, but still he feared the consequences of such an action so he refrained from doing so. Instead he started throwing snowballs at the rider's direction, but Gas dodged them all and ran faster towards him.
Vertigo, are you busy?, Tristan asked his dragon.
That depends, Vertigo said and Tristan felt the strong gusts of wind against his dragon's scales.
I might need your aid against Gas.
Adrian informed me of Lenor's - Octavian's dragon - hiding place and I am checking it out. Aiedail and Onyx are following my trail though so I need to be fast!
I will deal with Gas then, Tristan said and threw more snowballs at the rider's direction.
Direct combat with the older rider would be useless. Tristan already knew what the outcome of this would be. If Vertigo was indeed close to finding Octavian the only thing he needed to do was stall the human.
He quickly run to the nearest bush and threw more snowballs at Gas's direction as well as arrows.
"Ha!" he shouted happily, but then realised he could no longer see the human. He felt a presence behind him and at the very last moment he grabbed a stick to defend himself from Gas's attack.
A/N: Don't forget to leave reviews! Part 2 will be posted tomorrow. Also I have changed the Prologue so that it now contains a list of all the names of the riders, dragon names etc.