Not black, not white just grey
"Water" he whispered and she rushed to bring him some.
Arya opened the pouch which was strapped across Firnen's saddle, looking for waterskins only to return back to the rider's side empty handed. More than half of their supplies had been lost during the battle with the Shadow wyrms across the Saphire Sea linking Dis Atilan to Alagaesia. Some of their losses also included the Eldunari.
The Saphire Sea was vast, larger than Alagaesia itself and finding the particular spot where the Eldunari had fallen, was near impossible for most. Riders, magicians and elves would have an easier time finding them, if only the fallen Eldunari had wanted to be found.
Arya had not forgotten how Eragon had strapped some of them with magic behind Firnen and Saphira. "For good measure" he had said to her before they departed from Dis Atilan but for whatever reason the Eldunari would not respond to their touch or questions. Eragon had said that they did not agree with his choice and had chosen instead to remain silent. Only Glaedr had acknowledged their presence, but nothing more. During the battle with the Shadow wyrms, Glaedr had also been the only Eldunari to aid her somewhat, providing her with energy to cast her spells.
Little good it did the riders, Firnen said, sounding disappointed.
Of course both her and Eragon could have bound the Eldunari to their will if they so wished, but both knew what a terrible thing that would be. And yet, during their moment of despair, that thought had crossed Arya's mind more often than she wished to admit. She had not acted on her thoughts, though, and at the moment it was hard to know if it had been the right choice.
So many riders dead, simply because the Eldunari refused to help us, Arya thought, perplexed.
Humans, Dwarves, Urgals… They are all vermin, sucking the life out of this earth faster than a bee sucks the nectar from a blooming flower. Alagaesia was not meant for them, they settled here because they were allowed to settle here, but they have forgotten that this earth does not belong to them and they are destroying it …. Giglandez, Orofan's rider had whispered into her mind before she had thrust her sword into his chest and ripped his heart out with her bare hands.
She had acted upon her feelings then, not able to comprehend what was at play as she watched Eragon and Saphira falling upon the large white waves. Her only thought had been one of revenge as she could not bear watch the second person she had loved dying at the hands of her enemies.
Even before Arya had left the elvish territory to aid the Varden against Galbatorix, she had known that she had been different, experiencing feelings elves often brushed away or refused to acknowledge. This was further strengthened by the many years spent with the company of humans and dwarves who were quick to shout in angry voices and even quicker to laugh, delighted at something funny.
He is as good as dead, the ever calculating and serious Urgal Giglandez had whispered inside her ear as he died but Arya had not listened.
Firnen had dived to the sea, faster than a hawk diving for prey and had grabbed Saphira by her neck, with large black talons and sharp white teeth; though he was gentle, aiming to help and not kill. With the help from both of them, Saphira and Eragon had been escorted to the nearest land and had lain there ever since.
If Arya had to put her finger and guess where they were she would have said at the shores of the Dawning Gulf, south of the Beor Mountains. The Dawning Gulf took its name after some elves who had accompanied Eragon to Dis Atilan, Meera, Bigran and Vaish. They had sailed the Saphire Sea daring to go as east as the sea permitted, trying to chase the sun's Dawn.
Indeed, the first day that the sea had washed them on the shores, the dawn had blinded Arya and Firnen and they had had to shield their eyes to protect them from the brightness of the sun. It was a welcome sight, compared to the previous night which had been dark and full of shadows clawing at their chests.
Giglandez had been one of the first Urgals to be selected as Dragon Riders. Arya still remembered the shock and awe of the young, then, Urgal male who had looked upon his pale yellow dragon as if he had been the rising sun. This was the only emotion Arya had seen him experience. She had escorted him to the shores of Surda, wishing him the best of luck but even then the Urgal had been cold, distant and deadly serious. Reports from Meera and Vaish told her that Giglandez had completed his training quickly, rising to the title Master of Sparring, soon, sooner than she would have liked.
No one could deny that the Urgal was a good swordsman; some argued that he was too good. None had ever voiced their doubts though, opting instead to follow his lead. He was calculating, clever and surprisingly just. Diriwan, the dwarf who had died the previous night at his hands, had been one of his students. During one of her visits to Ellesmera, the dwarven rider had told Arya how one of the students had taunted her once because she had been short and Giglandez had told that particular student to stay upright for two days, while the rest of the students could sit down and gaze up to him.
Most of the Urgals Arya had encountered had yellow eyes but Giglandez had had the strangest pale shade of yellow in his eyes, both cold and calculating. Nonetheless, when he had spoken to her after Eragon and Saphira had been struck down by lightning, he had been almost gentle, his eyes betraying his genuine intentions.
Leave him be, Arya, he had said. He was a foolish youth, playing with powers greater than he imagined. Already the earth weeps with what he has done. Join me and join the others. You are of elvish heritage, surely you must understand what awaits Alagaesia if the humans continue to savage this land. Peace there may be but the number of dwarves, Urgals and humans has almost doubled in the last twenty years. It needs to stop.
Giglandez had told her more, of how the elves had sided with the shadow wyrms while she was unawares, of how the Dwarven clans were uprising against their new King and the Queen of Alagaesia but she had refused to believe him.
She had attacked him with a ferocity that surprised even Firnen, as he later confessed to her, driving her silver blade towards him.
There is no right or wrong. No black and white. There is only… grey, he had said while they were sparring, maintaining a mental conversation with her even though she chose to ignore him. And indeed, his actions followed his words. To him this was war, nothing more, nothing less.
"Water" Eragon whispered to her again, bringing her back from her strain of thoughts and went to grab at the sleeve of her tunic but she quickly brushed his hand away.
What little water they had left she had used to clean his wounds. What little power and energy she had left she had used to heal his injuries. There was no more left, not even in the great green dragon.
As the blinding sun fell on them, making her throat burn and itch, Arya wished she could use the spell that Eragon had taught her once to summon water from the ground, only she could not.
"Water" the Master Dragon Rider said in such a low voice that it was barely audible.
Arya brushed the stray hairs from his face and moved his body sideways so it would not burn from the sun. What remained of his now, useless legs, dangled after him.
"Soon" Arya croaked and as she looked at the blazing midday sun she wished with all her heart for rain.
….
Kayla had fallen asleep in one of the desks in the Library in Glieonard. Yes, there were plenty of beds in Dis Atilan including her own in the human dorm, but she had wished to sleep alone contemplating her thoughts.
She should have woken earlier and was perplexed to find herself sleeping atop two big books, one named The History and Folklore of Alagaesia and the other Gods and Deities. Despite her fears of imminent war, her dreams had been clouded by images of dancing water spirits and herself dancing among them.
Kayla picked one of the books she had been reading and looked it over, quickly skimming it from front to cover, trying to remember why she had chosen to read those books. She may have paid more attention to them if not for the sudden cold choking feeling that rocked through her core, the island of Dis Atilan rocking with it. It felt as if a gigantic invisible wave had just crushed her and a dreading feeling settled over her.
When she went outside of the library she understood the cause of it. The streets of Glieonard were alive with movement as riders, dragons and the elves and dwarves of the shore were running around, panicked, throwing shields, mail plates, swords and other weapons to the riders.
Angela was with them as well, dressed in black and green, in armour that glittered every time a ray of sun fell upon it.
"I told them to use more intricate spells!" Mirin complained exasperated, looking at the sky. His orange hair and beard were combed and braided and he was wearing a bronze mail plate with a relatively long but thick sword of similar colour. It was a two-handed sword, the hilt of it was strapped with dark brown leather and its sides were ornamented with wild bears and fires.
"The first boundary would break sooner or later as will the others. You cannot change the past only prepare for the future" Angela said with a hint of a smile.
Mirin sighed exasperated once again, his dislike for the herbalist evident. He was ready to utter something when he noticed Kayla standing at the entrance of Glieonard's library.
"Why do you not have a sword?" he asked and pointed at her outfit which was a simple pair of trousers and a loose white-grey linen shirt, the same outfit she had worn the previous day. "Did you not feel the first boundary breaking?"
His tone was rushed and he looked nervous and scared as he tapped his foot on the ground. Angela looked at him and started laughing, much to the dwarf's displeasure who narrowed his eyes at her. From the corner of her eye she saw a dark river of hair moving.
"Catch!" Laer shouted and instinctively Kayla went forward and almost fell to the ground trying to catch the blade that the rider had thrown at her.
She stood up and brushed the dirt from her knees with her left hand while holding the blade on her right. It was a one handed blade, shining bright sliver, slim and elegant. The hilt was decorated with small diamonds around the base and some further up, towards the blade. Her grip was clumsy and the sword seemed to move quicker than she intended.
"Its too light" Kayla said in a careful tone, not wanting to sound disrespectful.
"Then we shall find you a heavier blade and see what happens when the enemy comes close to you and you are not able to lift it to defend yourself…" Mirin started, his cheeks red and flushed.
"Look at her. The girl does not know how to wield a blade" Angela commented.
Kayla was about to protest when she saw Aiedail landing next to her. The purple dragon was strapped in silver mail covering her from head to tail. As her wings opened up to steady herself her scales and mail glittered like a thousand stars.
I don't like it. It's too heavy. Flying will not be easy, she told Kayla and lifted one of her front legs suspiciously.
Rikon run in front of them out of breath and also covered in mail, which seemed to have been tailored just for him.
"Idel and the twins estimate that the shadow wyrms will break the second boundary within the hour. She wants everyone in the Grand Hall to discuss battle plans" the boy said quickly and then run back inside.
Mirin swore under his breath and followed Rikon and Laer. Kayla went to follow them but the herbalist grabbed her arm forcefully.
"Look at me" Angela demanded and Kayla did as she was bid.
The herbalist's nails dug into her skin. She gasped in pain and Angela released her.
Kayla took a few steps back looking at the other woman suspiciously but she only gave a gentle smile in response. "You are not meant to wield a blade. You have been trained to use a staff and so you will"
Angela pulled out of its sheath, a long weapon she had strapped across her back, the like of which Kayla had never seen. It looked like the two-handed staff she had used during her training with Maud, only this was different with a sharp blade at either end of it.
The herbalist threw it at Kayla and the girl caught it with seemingly no trouble, even though she was beginning to get annoyed with everyone throwing her things.
They can always just give me things instead of throwing them, she complained in Aiedail's mind and the dragon made a snoring sound that almost resembled laughter.
Nevertheless, Kayla balanced the stuff in both hands, enjoying the weight of it. The middle part of the stuff was covered with a dark brown, almost black leather which surely aided the person wielding it. Kayla had expected the staff-sword to be made out of wood but instead she found that the weapon was made with something else entirely. She could not put her finger down on what the material was, but she grazed her thumb and index down the sides of it, feeling the carvings, until she reached the blades which were also covered in carvings.
"I have never seen anything like it" Kayla said, breathless.
Angela smiled. "You have the blood of Gods running through your veins and you need to wield a weapon which is no less than you. This staff is called Hûthvír and it is used by the dwarf priest clan Dûrgrimst Quan. I might add that they were not very pleased to part with it but nevertheless I won it fair and square. It took me years to learn how to wield it skilfully and I doubt you will be an expert at it but you will have better luck with this than a normal sword"
Kayla stared at the woman with an open mouth, her heart beating quickly inside her chest, not quite sure as to how to respond to what the herbalist had said. By then Angela was almost inside Glieonard's Grand Hall but Kayla run quicker than she could have ever hoped and stood in front of the woman, grabbing her arm forcefully.
She swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
Angela's bouncy hair fell in front of her face. "Simply that you need quite some practise. Make no mistake though I want the weapon back and ideally in its current form. Of course I do have Tinkledeath at hand but how will I be able to taunt the dwarven priests without their staff?"
"Tinkledeath…? No… That's not what I meant. I don't have the blood of Gods running through me. Gods don't even exist" Kayla whispered and Angela looked at her with a small smile.
"Did you not know? Strange. Urgralgra did" she said and then moved her hand in the air as if to brush it off. "We need to go in the Grand Hall before the second boundary breaks"
Kayla released the herbalist's arm and stared after her form as she walked inside. Her hands held on the staff tightly, until her knuckles turned white.
"Thank you" she finally said and walked inside the building deciding to think upon what the herbalist had said later.
Aiedail growled in response, the dragon's thoughts mingled with her own, thinking about heritage and bloodlines.
Kayla shook her head angrily.
No this was war. That was the only thought that should occupy her mind. And yet inside the Grand Hall, the storm of people took her by surprise. Someone took her by the hand and led her near the Glazing Waters, which acted as a shield to the vault with the dragon eggs. Before long someone must have dressed her in mail plate, because she soon stared down at herself and noticed she was in full gear with three daggers strapped on her ankles and another two at the sides of her waist.
But how could it be? It made no sense. Her mother and father… Were they Gods? Were they descendants of Gods? No… That could not be right. Her father had died in front of her and her mother looked ill and tired most oft than not. If they had been Gods surely she would have known, surely there would have been a sign, surely they would have been powerful, able to fend of all opponents. Yet, her father had died at the hands of a white ancient creature the likes of which she had never seen before. She had been there. She had watched the dragon rip her father to pieces.
But what if it was true? Did her brother also share the blood of Gods?
Another creeping thought started settling over her and she tried to brush it off but she could not. What if her parents weren't her parents? What if her mother had been unfaithful?
"Kayla?" Maurine asked, looking concerned.
The girl nodded and grabbed the shield from the floor that the dwarven girl had been holding mere seconds ago. Maurine gave it to her without protest and Kayla looked at her reflection.
She started from her long, blonde hair which fell down her shoulders in a straight line but curled at the edges, like her mother's hair, like Tristan's. She noticed her slender body, so similar to her mother's. Her eyes returned to the top of the shield - her head - and tried to see her facial characteristics. Her eyes were a deep blue-purple colour similar to all three of her family members, but not exactly the same. Her lips were pink and full, something which she must have inherited from her father as her mother's lips were smaller and thinner. Her nose was no bigger than either Tristan's or her mother's. Her face was slightly angular, almost like a mix between her mother's round face and her father's sharp jaws.
There was one way of knowing for certain. Kayla smiled uncertainly, looking at her reflection.
There was no doubt about it; she had her father's smile. She was her father's daughter as much as she was her mother's daughter. Whatever doubts she had, she put them at ease, assuming that the herbalist had been somehow mistaken.
"And then we will race them to the Southern part of the island, near stenr Abr Andlá. The ground is filled with sharp rocks and stones and they know not the territory as well as we. The volcano is situated on the North-Eastern part of Dis Atilan and they might attack us there but we will lead them here….." Gwen said pointing at the map with her sword "…and here"
"They will not attack us on the ground" Mirin protested but Octavian stepped forward smiling and shaking his head.
"They will. Even dragons grow tired of flying and both the wyrms and the dragons must have flown quite some distance before reaching Dis Atilan. Our dragons are well rested and fed. The battle will continue ashore before long. If the wild dragons join us then the enemy stands no chance"
This is true, Onyx added knowingly.
The mention of wild dragons made Kayla think of her brother and wished that he was nowhere near Dis Atilan and still strapped in Ramirblaka where at least he would somewhat safe.
"During this time Bigran and Vaish will channel the energy of the dwarves and elves of the shore to us. The young riders will stay on the ground unless otherwise advised…" Idel began but Grohn and Rikon both stepped forward looking angry.
"No" they said with a common voice.
Never!, all of the young dragons repeated.
"We will not stand idly as our friends and Masters of Training die" Grohn said and Maya and May coughed, as if they shared a secret.
Grohn paid them no attention.
Idel sighed. "Eragon has given strict orders and you will only get in the way…"
"Eragon is most likely dead and the young riders will be of more help in the skies than on the ground" Angela inferred.
"They will die" Maud said, stepping inside the Grand Hall, prowling.
For a few seconds everyone held their breath until Maud continued. "They will die but we have no choice"
"I would rather die a rider's death in the skies fighting alongside my dragon, Haifen, than on the ground, chained and tortured like a slave" Grohn said and the rest of the young riders - one of them being Kayla - agreed.
The break of the second boundary settled the argument and the riders rushed to Glieonard's streets, where their dragons were already present, sniffing the air suspiciously.
Kayla heard a noise from somewhere above her and she looked up to see a shadow wyrm descending upon Glieonard. She held her breath, fearing for the worst but the creature only hit the boundary that encompassed Glieonard with force and was then blown back. The wyrm growled in annoyance and more shadow wyrms came to join him, trying to break the boundary as they crushed onto the invisible wall encompassing them. By that point everyone was looking up. The noise they made every time they bounced back from the boundary reminded Kayla of frying eggs.
Ride your dragons, riders. It will do us no good if they have the higher ground, Octavian advised. Angela climbed upon Lenor and the Master of Sparring regarded her with caution.
"My aid will be needed more in the skies than on ground. I need to look upon the enemy and show him the strength we possess" the herbalist simply said.
A louder noise sounded and Kayla rose her head to the skies again, clutching the Hûthvír tightly in her palms. She could count at least twenty shadow wyrms and dragons and the way they fell…
They reminded her of a warm sunny day in the forests of the Spine. Recent rainstorms had formed a small lake and oblivious insects had fallen in its depths never to rise again. A flock of swallows had descended from the sky then, one after the other picking the dead insects and rising to the skies again, only to fall down seconds later.
Aiedail's warm breath caressed her skin and the girl climbed on her dragon, touching her scales coolly, her heart still racing inside her chest.
Suddenly, war and death were a lot more imminent than the night before.
We shall live through this. We shall live and tell the tale of how we bested the enemy that even Eragon and Saphira themselves could not slay, Aiedail said knowingly but Kayla was not so sure.
….
Tristan watched from afar as the shadow wyrms and dragons gathered and attacked Dis Atilan. Adrian and Mars were next to him gliding gently across the water. Adrian had cast an invisibility spell on them and for that, Tristan was glad. Despite the fact that they were cloaked in an invisibility spell, the two riders were still hiding behind a big rock near Dis Atilan. Even though he wished to join the fight he knew well enough that two riders against twenty and more dragons and wyrms would stand no chance. To make matters worse neither of the riders or dragons had mail plate or swords. The only weapons they carried was Tristan's wooden bow and Adrian's two daggers.
During their time atop the sea's surface, Tristan had watched how the wyrms assembled. Contrary to common belief, the shadow wyrms literally appeared out of thin air. Tristan had watched this event take place at least five times. A wyrm would suddenly appear in a specific spot near Dis Atilan looking as if it had been teleported. The same had occurred with two dragons.
"They have dragons with them!" he whispered surprised to Adrian who only nodded, never taking away his calculating gaze from the wyrms.
It seemed as if hours had passed when the second boundary broke and Tristan clutched his teeth together.
"I bet the herbalist helped them in casting these spells. Each boundary is different than the one before. They have used the previous boundaries as base only to further strengthen them. How the wyrms are able to break them is beyond me" Adrian.
"It is not the wyrms though… Its what controls them" Tristan replied but just then he watched the island blazing with light momentarily and blinding the wyrms.
He heard pained growls from the creatures and that made him reassess the situation. "They don't like the light. Why are they attacking in the middle of the day, then?"
"I know not" Adrian replied but just then the final boundary broke.
The impact of it rocked Tristan to the core and helplessly he watched as wyrms descended on Dis Atilan.
"This is our queue to leave" Adrian whispered although his actions screamed otherwise. He clutched the necklace he had around his throat tighter.
Vertigo was the first to climb into the skies with Tristan pressing his legs tightly around his dragon's waist. Even though the day had begun sunny and beautiful Tristan could see dark clouds gathering in the horizon.
His dragon's wings flapped quickly and Tristan pulled out the first arrows from his sheath. Tighten. Release.
His arrow caught a shadow wyrm right on its left eye and the creature fell towards the sea. Unfortunately that caused the rest of them to take notice they all descended on him at once. Vertigo climbed higher and higher trying to lose the wyrms. He reached the furthest point that he could go to without him fainting and waited for the wyrms. The creatures reached the altitude quickly but seemed unaffected from it.
Tristan released another three arrows just as a jet of black liquid was ejected from the wyrms and towards his direction. He let out a shout just as Vertigo dived to the side, avoiding the liquid and releasing a jet of flames which made the liquid catch on fire. From a distance it might have looked as if fire was descending from the skies, or maybe one of those fictional fire creatures, a phoenix.
While going down Tristan pressed another arrow on his bow, ready to fire his target but the fact that one of the wyrms had a rider caught him off guard.
There is a rider!, Vertigo exclaimed almost simultaneously as him and the blue dragon flew higher trying to discern the rider.
The rider was female and she looked familiar as the wyrm flew closer to Vertigo and she made an attempt to slice the dragon's wing.
She looked to be his age, with what may have once been a gentle face. Only now, it was obvious that she was a Shade and she tried to slash at Vertigo again but the dragon avoided her and let out a long jet of flames while climbing higher.
Come catch me, Vertigo thought and taunted the shadow wyrm, flying close to it and then away and then finally flying higher. The wyrm soon followed.
Tristan looked at the Shade again and she laughed. "Can you not remember me?"
He thought he did. "Natalie"
She had been the servant girl in Dras Leona. It felt like a lifetime had passed since then. How had she ended like this? Why?
He wished he could ask her but he had no time for this. Instead he attacked her again and she dodged easily.
Can you not remember me?, the Shade asked again, only this time in his mind.
Tristan shivered upon first contact with the Shade's mind and he tried to shield his thoughts away using the techniques he had thought from Idel, Maud, Octavin and Eragon.
He sung of a children's bedtime tune.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
What used to be Natalie laughed, as if he had said something funny but Tristan continued with his tune.
The Shade attacked him again but Vertigo was too high and suddenly flying became a hard task for both his dragon and the wyrm. He felt the nails of the Shade's consciousness trying to claw at him again and panicked he continued singing the tune but he could feel the creature probing deeper inot his consciousness.
Vertigo tried to aid him, singing along with him, that bedtime favourite tune of his, suddenly becoming a nightmare.
Tristan!, he heard a voice and he felt his sister's consciousness pressing upon his own.
The Shade's face changed, becoming angry and horrified and before long Aiedail and Kayla were next to him with Kayla looking intently at the creature.
This time Natalie did scream and Tristan watched as the creature started clawing its skin, clawing the wyrm's skin, biting and writhing.
All the while Kayla's eyes never lingered, or else she would have seen the foreign dragon approaching. He had the darkest green colour Tristan had seen and a female Urgal rider was atop it. Tristan fired his arrows without warning, three in a row. None of them, however, reached their target as all of them were rebuffed by some protective spell. Vertigo fell upon the other dragon without any warming and the female Urgal turned to him, surprised.
Tristan continued firing arrows at her direction, noticing how none met their target but refusing to stop. Soon there were no arrows left in his sheath but Vertigo had his claws deep inside the other dragon's flesh while the other dragon was biting hard on Vertigo's left leg. Both were flapping their wings quickly but the ground was coming closer to them.
The female Urgal jumped from her dragon and onto his and Tristan knew he was cornered. He had no weapon other than his bow while she held a two-hand sword with a curved edge. She attacked him and Tristan dodged but she landed her blow on Vertigo's saddle as well, the tip of it hitting his scales as he writhed in pain.
Vertigo dived to the right and the other rider was thrown off balance while Tristan held on tightly. When her next blow came he dodged it with his bow which, however snapped in half. All the while Tristan gritted his teeth in the process and then used the splinters of wood to dodge more of her attacks but he knew that she was playing with him as a cat plays with a mouse.
Angrily, he threw himself of Vertigo and onto the opponent dragon. He dove the end of his bow where it was splintered into the soft spot between neck and belly and the other dragon growled loudly while Vertigo dove to the left and right the female rider being thrown off balance and then spiralling downwards. Tristan held on tightly to the other dragon until neither rider nor dragon could hold on to Vertigo any longer.
The female rider was thrown off first and her dragon released Vertigo's leg after chasing after his owner. Just before he did Tristan threw himself off and Vertigo rushed to meet him.
Boy and dragon met mere inched before a sharp rock and then Vertigo started climbing upwards but the climb felt slower than usual, Vertigo's injuries slowing him down.
Another wyrm attacked them from the side but Vertigo dived to the left and then right but he was slow to do so and the wyrm managed to hit both of them with its tail.
They fell towards the earth with Vertigo trying to steady their fall as much as possible. They had never had a more unsteady landing. Tristan slid to Vertigo's side. The dragon was breathing heavily.
I can still fly. Just not as fast, he said but Tristan bit his lip and pressed his palms on the dragon.
Above them fire and black jet liquid descended and Vertigo moved to the side pushing Tristan with him. Tristan had more scratches on his arms and legs than he could count and he wished… He wished that no wyrms would attack them… Not now…
He heard someone approaching him at the same time as Vertigo and clutching his broken bow he prepared whoever came to the death. His eyes were in slits, his legs apart, and his fighting stance obvious.
He shouldn't have worried. A groups of elves and dwarves approached him, the dwarves and elves of the shores. Silently they pressed their hands on Vertigo's side and together they chanted Waíse heill over and over again until Vertigo's wounds had healed and some of his previous energy had returned.
The dragon stoop up and then bowed to the healers.
Thank you, he said in their minds and they nodded.
One of them, an elf Tristan knew by name due to his wolvish appearance, Blödhgarm, approached him. "Rider, wait"
From his bag he produced a bow which was long, dark and elegant, with curled tips and decorated with a pattern of dogwood leaved inlaid in silver.
"It appears you are in need of a bow and that just might do" the elf said. Tristan received the precious gift in both hands and wished he would use something else instead in battle as the chance of him breaking this bow as he had done with his previous one was high.
"This bow was sung to life by Queen Islanzadí herself. Whatever weapon is used against it, it will not break" Blödhgarm reassured him and Tristan nodded, thanking him and the elven Queen for its making.
"Why?" Tristan couldn't help but ask as Blödhgarm gifted him with a sheath of silver arrows.
The elf was silent. "It was given to Eragon as a gift by the Queen herself and so he chose to gift it to you when the time came and you were in need of a weapon"
Blödhgarm's tone almost seemed displeased and Tristan could not blame him as this was an honor he did not deserve. No doubt the elf wanted the bow for himself.
Nevertheless he said nothing as boy and dragon took to the air once again. His encounter with the elves and dwarves could not have lasted longer than mere minutes and yet in that amount of time the weather had changed to a point where no one could have known that it had been bright and sunny.
Dark, dark clouds covered the horizon and a few rain droplets started falling on his face as he rose higher and higher only to soon fall.
….
A/N: Next chapter is almost finished, it just needs some editing. In the meantime I have made two dragon related videos on youtube if you want to check them out. Just search for sblack on youtube, it should be the 15th channel down. Next chapter should be posted again within the next 2 weeks. Dont forget to follow/fav and leave reviews!