Angela quickly went off on her way, interrogating everyone about toads. Amicia had never been quite sure about the subject. Amicia saw Katrina nudge Ismira away form three girls about her age and pointed towards herself. Amicia nudged Elva, and Elva understood, and began leading Amicia towards a group of people who seemed a little separate from the rest. In the group, there were two male humans, two dwarves, of their gender she was unsure, two male Urgals, and a male and female elf. Amicia had met some elves, who seemed more distant than she had expected, but soon realized that it was because of the major changes in their once secluded environment. They could now live in peace with the rest of Alagaësia.
Once they were within ten feet, the female elf spun around and looked directly at them harshly, but then seemed to recognize Elva. She laughed and ran towards them to greet them. The other seven turned at her sudden movement, but relaxed when they saw to whom she running towards. She stopped when she neared them.
"Elva!" She greeted Elva with a kiss on the cheek. "And could you be Amicia, the were-human?" Amicia smiled and nodded. "Wonderful! I am Alanna, Daughter of Invidia, one of the two ambassadors of the elves." Amicia nodded and Alanna took both their hands. "Come! You must meet the other ambassadors! They will be delighted to meet one such as yourself. We were hoping to meet you and Angela!" She led them to the other seven. They seemed excited and curious by Amicia's presence.
"Elva. Who is your companion?" The Urgal who was the tallest in the group said. He stared at Amicia, and although it would have intimidated many, however, she smiled slyly. She uttered some words and the two Urgals stared at her shockingly. Everyone else present, including Elva shifted awkwardly.
"I am Amicia, Daughter of None. I am the child of human and werecat and I was raised by Angela the herbalist." She smiled, and everyone relaxed a little.
"We have heard much of you and your skills from Elva and the herbalist. I am Sarkzvan, Son of Skgahgrezh, cousin to Notharna, of the Bolvek Tribe." Amicia nodded and began to examine everyone in the way that Angela had taught her. Sarkzvan had long horns and was most certainly a Kull. He had vicious yellow eyes that had seen much in their time and they were cautious of her. He wore a rough, brown fabric with a blood red belt that was tied in a knot in the front. He had a sword in its sheath tucked into the belt.
"I am Vayskor, Son of Dazhgra, of the Bolvek Tribe." The younger Urgal was also a Kull, but was still shorter than Sarkzvan. His horns were duller than the typical Kull, which showed that he was quite young, and he wore clothes similar to Sarkzvan, only he had a club tied to his blood red belt.
"I am Ndeh, of the Dûrgrimst Feldûnost clan." The shorter dwarf smiled politely. His voice was deep and gravelly, and his beard was braided. He wore a helm with the symbol of his clan and he had an axe attached to his belt inlaid with glimmering topaz.
"I am Yukor, of the Dûrgrimst Ebardac clan." He was slightly taller than his companion, and had a higher voice. He also wore a helm bearing the symbol of his clan and had a belt inlaid with topaz. However, instead of an axe, he had a hammer.
"I am Vaughn, Son of Timmorn, from Teirm." He had dark brown hair that was long enough that it covered most of his brown eyes. He had a pale face with lots of freckles and looked to be in his late twenties. His clothes were a light, loose fitting green shirt and long navy pants. He had a bow strung to his back.
"I am Shea, Son of Elliot, from Gil'ead." He had bright orange hair, which if Angela saw, she would declare him a Ginger, for what reason Amicia never. His emerald eyes gleamed brightly as if from curiosity and he bore a long sword that was sheathed. He was wearing a light blue top that was also loose and his pants were a dull brown. He offered Amicia kind smile, which she returned.
"And I am Loki, Son of Laufin.*" When Amicia faced him, she was taken aback by his hair. It was the purest blonde hair she had ever seen, and it was short with a bit of floofiness to it. He smiled shyly, his face blushing a little bit. Amicia was immediately drawn to him.
"It is a pleasure to meet all of you." Amicia turned her gaze away from the young male elf to Alanna. "Alanna, you said you were hoping to meet me. Why? And how did you find out about me?" Alanna laughed. Both of the elves were so full of emotion, and they were much different from the ones who she had met in Du Weldenvarden.
"Why, you have met Loki and I, when you were in Du Weldenvarden, and when Elva mentioned you, we realized that we also knew you. Once we knew enough about you, we knew that we wanted you to help us escort the eggs. You have such unusual abilities, that they could provide quite useful." Amicia nodded, understanding. Because she was probably the first were human in history, she possessed untapped talent.
"I would be delighted to accompany you." Amicia smiled, silently hoping that she would be in the group with the blonde elf. Elva smirked for a moment before Amicia could block the thought from her. "However, I don't recall meeting you and Loki in Du Weldenvarden."
"Ah, well, that's a story for another time. However, we must enjoy the moment, and we shall discuss escorting the eggs for another time." Alanna smiled. "This is a picnic for all of us to enjoy. And I believe that I will take advantage of that." She smirked and walked off to Nasuada. The Urgals left quickly, heading back to the main city. The men and dwarves quickly joined in the celebration.
Loki approached Elva and Amicia. He stopped once he stood next to them. Amicia turned to him and placed two fingers to her lips and said, "Atra esterní ono thelduin."
He smiled and placed his fingers to his lips. "Mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr."
Amicia responded in turn. "Un du evarínya ono varda."
"Alanna has left behind most of the elven ways. She has gone through many hardships and finds the ways of humans relieving. It is complicated." Amicia nodded, and noticed that Elva had slipped away and was talking to Nasuada with Alanna and Angela.
"She seems content with the path she has chosen. She fits in quite well with everyone." Amicia observed.
"Quite true. Yet, she has deserted many of our ways. Do not take it as a personal offense, but she seems more acquainted with humans than you are, and you are partially of the same race as them." Amicia thought for a moment.
"Humans prefer it when they can understand someone. When I was born, they were uncomfortable with elves, but now that they have grown accustomed to them, they know how to accept elves, and one such as Alanna, who embraces human culture, makes them believe they are more similar than they actually are. Whereas I, who is the half-breed of an unheard of combination, and has spent her entire life with a mysterious herbalist, traveling constantly, is practically repulsive to humans because they cannot understand me. Humans only accept that which they understand, which I believe is what partially drew Galbatorix into power originally." Loki pondered this for a few moments.
"Your statement proves true with much of what I have observed in the company of humans." He paused for a few moments, blinking rapidly for a second. "If you will excuse me, I must return to Ilirea to check up on the eggs, however, I would very much enjoy your company."
"I would love to." Amicia smiled, taken aback. "I should go check with Angela first, so she doesn't freak out though. Would it possible for you to wait just a moment?" He nodded. Amicia ran off to Angela, and Loki couldn't entirely understand the feelings he had had when he first saw her. She possessed such a grace that was only rarely found among werecats, yet she also had a human and elf-like piece to her. Plus, he thought she was quite beautiful. But he was still unsure how he felt, whereas he had always understood before, so he remained where he was, puzzled. Plus, the fact that he had met her in the past confused him as well. He remembered almost everything up until now, but he had never remembered meeting her.
Amicia swiftly stalked over to Angela. "Ah! Amicia, good, you're here. Please tell Alanna and Nasuada that toads don't exist and that there are only frogs."
Alanna was shocked. "Why! How can you even suggest that they are both frogs? They have different names in the Ancient Language!"
"Well, Dragon Riders also have two names in the Ancient Language, Argetlam and Shur'tugal, and while they both translate to different things, they are both still a reference to the same type of person." Amicia smirked as she Nasuada and Alanna rethink their beliefs because of her statement. "If I may borrow Angela for just a moment, and then you can resume your argument." Nasuada appeared disapproving of Amicia's choice of words, but ignoring the Queen, Amicia led Angela a few steps away. "I was wondering if I could leave with Loki."
Angela raised an eyebrow. "But we just got here! You haven't even met most of the people who are your age. Ah, well, you seem set on going, so I might as well let you go." Angela pause for a moment, letting her brunette curls bounce for a moment. "This Loki, does he happen to be the Son of Laufin?" Amicia nodded. "Ah, do you remember meeting him and Alanna all those years ago in Du Weldenvarden?"
"No, Alanna mentioned it as well, but I couldn't remember." Angela's eyes grew wide for a moment, giving away her surprise.
"Perhaps, perhaps." She mumbled. "Well, go ahead. I'll meet you back in our rooms later tonight. If you both have time and you don't get too caught up," Angela winked, "I believe a smaller group of us are going to head back to Nasuada's quarters to speak to Eragon, and I wish for you to meet him, since you probably don't remember us scrying him that one time when you were little." Actually, Amicia did remember some of it, but she wished to speak to him. "Well? What are you waiting for, my blessing?" Angela laughed at her joke. "Go!" Amicia headed back to Loki.
"Shall we be off?" Loki asked once she came up next to him.
"Yes, we shall." And the two head off for the city of Ilirea. "Now, why exactly are we heading back? I know that you have to check up on the eggs as carriers, but is there anything else in particular?"
"Ah, well, Nasuada mentioned that you and Angela were curious as to seeing the many treasure discovered in the city after Galbatorix was defeated. I offered to show you when I checked on the eggs."
"Wonderful. Over the past few years, Angela and I have tracked down many different wonders, and I believe that adding them to the collection would be the best idea possible." They continued to idly chat for a while, and then Amicia asked about the ambassador groups. "So, how are the ambassadors organized with the eggs? I'm curious as to how all of it works."
"Well, a member from each race guards the eggs. Shea, Yukor and Vayskor and I guard the black egg, and Alanna, Vaughn, Sarkzvan and Ndeh guard the white one. During the winter, my group resides in Farthen Dur, and in the Spring we travel to Du Weldenvarden, then the Spine in the Summer and Ilirea in the Fall. The other group is there during the opposite season. Make sense so far?"
"Yes."
"We haven't switched the egg between groups as we did with the last two, but that was a different scenario." By now, they had reached the inside of Ilirea.
"Why not?"
"Well, just to be sure that the dragon in the egg isn't confused. We were thinking of switching after the celebration, however." Amicia nodded. They continued to discuss the matter of the eggs for awhile and then drifted onto the topic of Eragon and his new order of Riders.
"Did you ever meet Eragon? I've heard a wide assortment of things about him." Amicia questioned.
"Well, actually, I was born the day of Arya's coronation, so I am just a few months older than you." Amicia's eyes grew wide. She had always assumed elves were older than they appeared, but this one appeared to be her age and he was.
"So you and Alanna are some of the youngest of your kind. Why are you protecting the eggs then? I don't mean any offense, but you both seem quite young, and it is very rare that power is put into the hands of the young."
"Well, elves believe that when you are younger, you have a certain magic that you lose with age, and Alanna and I both excelled as students of magic. Plus, the elves believe that since we are the elves of the current generation, we should control what happens to the future." The two had entered the castle and descended into a chamber after receiving a pair of nervous from two guards.
"Humans certainly don't do that." Amicia said, and they both laughed for a short moment. They descended in silence, and once they reached a door, Loki muttered some words and there was a large clicking sound. Together, they pushed the doors forwards. And entered into a sparkling room that was unlike anything Amicia had ever seen before.
All along the left wall were swords. And they weren't piled upon each other like the rusted metallic, but they were all lined up vertically along the wall, each surrounded by their own glass case. They varied in all sorts of different colors, from the dirtiest brown to the deepest red, from the emerald greens to the sourest pinks. And in the hilt of each sword, there was a large gem that matched the color of the blade, and in some cases, there were other smaller gems varying in different colors surrounding the largest one. However, in the center of all the glimmering swords, there were two that stood out. Both were breathtakingly white, and sparkled the brightest in the light. However, there was a space wide enough in between the two of them for another, yet it was empty. Amicia immediately recognized the two, and they were Islingr, Vraels' sword that Galbatorix stole and renamed Vangr, and Garjzla, the first Eragon's sword. It took her a moment to realize what the spot in the middle was for, and once she realized, she gasped aloud.
"Yes." Loki responded once he followed her gaze. "Nasuada has hopes of recovering her sword, however we have no idea as to where it could be."
"Hraustligr, Dauntless, the sword of Skye, the first human Dragon Rider." Amicia said the name in awe. "They say her dragon, Jade, was darker than a pitch black cave, She was once one of the greatest secrets of the Riders, because," Loki cut her off.
"Because she was the greatest among them, but she was the first Rider to ever leave the organization, because she disapproved of them. Why she wouldn't say, but just before Galbatorix came to power, Vrael discovered their bones farther north than most of the Spine, and he wept at the loss of his close friends and teachers. Their cause of death was unidentified, but most people assume that it must have been some great power that came from another land." A few moments of silence followed. "They say she possessed some traits that were so unnatural. Yet while she was small, she was the most powerful Rider ever, which may have been one of the reasons she left the Order. She reminds me of you." Amicia blushed and Loki smiled nervously.
She turned her eyes to right side of the room. All along this side of the wall, trinkets of all sorts were on shelves. There were rows and rows of shelves that went on for at least a hundred feet. She walked over and examined a shelf containing cups of all sorts and sizes. Some were crystal and other where made of stone. She continued on to the next to discover rings and necklaces and bracelets all of fascinating beauty. They each possessed a certain individuality and grace that no other jewelry could ever compete with. One piece, however that caught her attention was a necklace made entirely out of sapphire. It glimmered in the dim lighting of the room, and something about it stayed in her mind. She quickly examined the other shelves in the first row in awe and turned back to Loki. He had a smirk on his face, and Amicia was unsure why.
"Why, you've over looked the masterpiece." He said coolly. In the center of the room on two pedestals sat the eggs. Amicia stepped towards the eggs for a closer look.
The white egg was about two and half feet tall, and it had the faint tracing of grey veins running through the shell. It practically glowed a vibrant white. The black egg was much smaller, it was only about a foot tall, and it had darker, veins running around the egg. Loki stepped towards her with the eggs.
"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Amicia could only nod. She'd only heard of the beauty of dragon eggs, and she still couldn't comprehend them. However, she felt drawn to black egg. She stepped forward and picked it up. Almost immediately, a deep growl came from the egg. She stumbled backwards in surprise, but she didn't drop the egg. Loki's eyes grew wide. "Could it possibly be?" They waited for a moment in silence. Slowly, part of the egg began to crack. They watched the crack make its way all the way around the egg, splitting it into the top and bottom half. Then, out of the side nearest to Amicia's body, a little snout popped out. Amicia gasped as the little dragon pulled itself out of the shell. The dragon jumped onto Amicia's chest, and she flushed with embarrassment. Then, it pulled itself up onto her shoulder, and shimmied its way down her right arm. After a minute or so, it reached her hand, and touched the center of her outstretched palm with its snout. Then, from where the dragon had touched, a silvery sheen spread out over Amicia's palm. She gasped when the shimmering died down, and it was unlike anything she had seen or heard of before. It was silver in the middle, but along the outer edge, it was a dark black. The dragon then crawled back up her arm.
Loki's mouth dropped, which was very unlike and elf. What have I gotten myself into? He thought to himself. He quickly grabbed the white egg and carried it over towards the wall, protecting it incase a sudden burst of magic came from the joining of Amicia and her young dragon. Then, to his shock, the white egg began to crack. He just recalled that he had never touched the egg, and slowly it began to crack to. His eyes gave away his delight and Amicia laughed. The little black dragon gave off a sound that sounded like laughter, and when the white dragon that popped out of the shell looked Loki in the eye, he couldn't help but laugh as well. He stroked the dragon, still laughing, and they sat against the back wall for the next few minutes laughing uncontrollably, with the dragons making awkward noises every so often, which made them laugh even harder.
*Haha, He's the son of Laufin, not Laufey. Get it? XD You guys have no idea how excited I was to discover that. Like seriously!