After laughing, they sat in silence for awhile. Amicia's mind brushed against the little black dragons. Eventually, Loki broke the silence, with a question neither of them had the answer to.

"What do we do now?" Amicia smirked in amusement.

"I have no idea." The both thought, and an idea fell upon Amicia. "What if," she paused, unsure if she should say, "what if we didn't tell anyone? And then revealed it at the big ceremony?" Loki seemed startled, but smiled at the thought. The little black dragon clambered up her shoulder and sat on top of her head. "The only problem would be sneaking out our wonderful companions and keeping them a secret for tomorrow and part of the day afterwards." She let the thought sink in. The white dragon squirmed and placed himself on Loki's shoulder.

"Let's do it!" Loki laughed again. "Why not? And another problem would be keeping it a secret from the other egg guardians. Eventually, they'll figure something out. I suppose we should tell them." Amicia nodded.

"That would be for the best. Do you want to let them know?" He tipped his head, and closed his eyes in concentration. Amicia noticed his fluffy blonde hair and noticed how it fell around his head. She couldn't help but find it attractive, and began blushing. Loki's face revealed a small smile, and Amicia worried that she had accidentally sent that to him.

However, the reason he was smiling was because he saw some of the reactions of his fellow guardians, who were all shocked at what he said:

I would appreciate it if all seven of you would grace Amicia and me with your presence. We have some interesting news that I assume would be of great importance for you.

What could be so important? Vaughn scowled. Can't we have a moment of relief from our duties?

Oh, I suppose that the hatching of BOTH of the dragon eggs isn't of that much importance to you?

We were already heading back to the palace anyway…

Sounds like fun! I think I'll join you all as well, since this involves Amicia. Teehee! Loki shuddered back to where he was at the interruption of Angela. How could she have intercepted the conversation? He glanced over at Amicia, and a wave of calmness washed over him. How could he be worried around her?

"Nice hat." He said, and they both laughed. The black dragon tilted her head to the side and emitted a noise that sounded like a laugh, and they both stifled their further laughter.

The seven remaining guardians quickly dismissed themselves from the picnic, which was coming to an end. Nasuada was surprised when they allowed Angela to join them. When she inquired why, and they all remained silent, she requested that she come as well.

"Your majesty, as pleasurable as your company is, this is more of a personal matter that we must deal with." Sarkzvan stated. When Nasuada raised and eyebrow, he dismissed the group, and they headed off back to the city.

Nasuada summoned Elva. When she appeared, Nasuada asked her to see if she understood what was going on with the group. Elva closed her eyes for a moment, and then gasped.

"Your majesty, to reveal what happened, would deprive you of future joy." A tear of happiness ran down Elva's check. "You have no need to worry or fear, for everything will be much better afterwards than it is now." Elva drifted away. Nasuada couldn't help but notice the difference in the girl. She had changed from the cold, dark girl, to a young teenager, full of life and love.

The group came rushing down the stairs to see the sight of the two dragons walking about the room and their two Riders, who were much larger than the little creatures, sitting against the wall and watching their companions.

"How marvelous!" Yukor exclaimed when he saw the little dragons. He approached the black one. "Who is your Rider?" The beast looked shocked at another person and scurried away back to Amicia. "Ah, it fits. I assume the white one is yours?" He tilted a head towards Loki, who nodded with a large smile on his face. Angela pushed her way through those taller and shorter than her, and approached Amicia and knelt down beside her.

"Intriguing! To think that you would be a Rider! Not only are you a were-human, but you are also my apprentice! That has never happened before!" He brunette curls bounced excitedly as she straightened up, and Loki and Amicia also did, each holding their dragons. "So, I assume you kept it a secret from Nasuada for a reason?"

"Well…" Loki started, unsure how his friends would react.

"We thought that it would be fun to reveal the dragons the day after tomorrow during the palooza!" A few appeared confused by her word choice, however, Alanna was impressed by the idea.

"Why, what a brilliant idea! Let's do it!" Amicia, you can borrow my quarters, because they're closer, and that way the two dragons can be together, and they're right next to Loki and Shea's!" Angela nodded in approval. "Besides, I've got a few friends who've already offered to room, and I'm sure a late acceptance wouldn't bother them."

"I'll bring your stuff down. I'll go get it now." Angela winked at Amicia, saying that she wanted to tell Amicia something. Angela jumped to the staircase. After a moment, her head popped back in. "I'll distract the guards. You guys have exactly four minutes, once I reach the top of the stairs." Her head disappeared. They heard her distant footsteps clanging against the staircase.

Alanna headed over to the pedestals and scooped up the eggs shells, sticking them in her bag. Then she touched both, began murmuring something in the ancient language and slowly, an exact replica of the eggs that had been there appeared. "I can hold those for up to three days, and still have quite a bit of energy. They only appear when someone is present. Let's go."

The group headed up the stairs slightly, and they heard Angel's distant footsteps silence. When they reached the top of the stairs, she guards had a glazed look on their eyes, yet remained to still be breathing and shifting as if nothing was wrong. Everyone except Amicia, because she knew how, mentally noted to ask Angela how to do that, and they quickly rushed off to the left. Then the guards looked at where they had been standing, and spoke to the air, which confused the ennead. The turned around, and discovered that the guards were having a conversation with what would have been them if they weren't sneaking away.

Amicia urged everyone forward, and they continued on down the hall. The group tramped up the nearest staircase a few levels, until Alanna, who was at the head of the group, stopped and exited through the nearby doorway. The dwarves and the Urgals remained in the stairwell. When Loki turned around, he raised his eyebrow at them.

"Got places to go and people to see. We'll catch up with you five later. Nasuada can't stay suspicious for long if some of us are with her." Yukor chuckled. It was then that Loki realized his friends would never treat him the same again. Suddenly, he wished that he hadn't touched the second egg, even though it was his instinct. He would miss being with his friends normally. He hurried down the hall after the others.

Once he reached the room he shared with Shea, he waved to Amicia and Alanna and the two stepped inside.

"Wow! To think that one of my closest friends is a Rider!" Shea laughed, and plopped down on his bed with his hands behind his head. "It's crazy, ain't it?" Shea's face was in a wide grin.

"Wait, you aren't annoyed that I'm a Rider? Vaughn seemed pretty ticked off…" Loki sat down on his bed, on the opposite side of the room. His little dragon jumped down from his eyes and began examining the bed.

Shea just laughed and rolled onto his side so he could face Loki. "Vaughn is more jealous than annoyed. He's glad that the eggs finally hatched, but he wishes it was him. That much is clear. And why would I be annoyed? Being a Rider seems like a huge responsibility. I can barely protect the eggs; I doubt that I would be a suitable Rider. Too much stress." They sat in silence and watched Loki's white friend waddle around the bed. "What are you gunna name him?"

"Name him? I think that I'll leave that up to him. When dragons are ready for a name, they choose one. However, since I am going to be cooped up here, I suppose listing off some names and seeing what he thinks are a good idea." Shea nodded and rolled back onto his back, staring up at the ceiling.

"You need something regal, or legendary. He's such a pure color."

"Your hair is such a pure color." Both the boys laughed at the comment. Shea's hair had been a longstanding joke between the two of them, but as to why, it was a mystery. Loki allowed himself to relax and lay his back against the bed.

"Say, what do you think of Amicia? She's something, ain't she?" Loki couldn't identify the tone of Shea's voice. He'd never heard it before. "Not only is she a Rider, but she's Angela's apprentice, a were-human and she's beautiful…" As Shea's voice faded out on the last word, Loki felt a pang of jealousy and immediately came to the conclusion of what Shea's tone meant. Shea quickly pulled himself up. "But don't tell her that I said that." He sat up and smirked and leaned against the wall, in the same fashion that Loki was, except for that Shea pulled up his right leg and locked his fingers around it.

"Don't worry, I won't." Loki pulled a fake smirk onto his face. "She does strike one as very unique. I'm sure that twenty years ago, everyone would be shocked to discover that the Riders are made up of two elves, a dwarf, an Urgal, a were-human and their leader is a human. Oh, and there's a Rider who hasn't officially joined them, but hopefully soon will." Shea laughed.

"Ha! No one would have believed it."

Alanna led Vaughn and Amicia down the hallway. Vaughn flipped his dark brown hair, and dismissed himself. He quickly shuffled down the hallway.

"Oh Vaughn…" Alanna chuckled to herself. She unlocked the door, and the two girls stepped in. The room was large yet sparse. And right in the center was Angela carrying two bags. "Angela!" She laughed to herself. "I should've known you'd already be here." With a smile on her face, Alanna used magic to quickly put all of belongings away into a bag, and slung the bag across her shoulders. "Well, this is your room for the next few days, and it can be permanent if you want it to. "I came up with a reasonable excuse. I already told the others. We'll, oh, wait, I can mentally send it to you! I'll do that, so no one overhears, just in case, even though I had this place de-bugged." We're going to tell Nasuada that a magical gas was released, and you and Loki were both affected, but you should be alright in a day or two. However, it might be best if your predicament was kept quiet. "What do you think?"

"Brilliant!" Amicia responded, fully approving of the idea.

"Well, I'll see you later! Oh, by the way!" I was thinking that tomorrow you and Loki could go pick out your swords? There's quite a few to choose from, but I assume that you can use a weapon? Alanna gestured to the hûthvír on Amicia's back. Amicia nodded. Good. Oh, would you be alright with me telling Arya? Amicia nodded yet again. "Okay, I'm actually leaving now. Bye!" Alanna skipped out of the room. Turning to her foster mother, Amicia sat on the bed next to her and let the dragon onto the floor, to shove her head into corners. The little black creature ran head first to a wall, and bumped into the wall. Amicia felt the dragon's pain, which was more shocking than painful, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Here's most of your stuff. I couldn't fit all of it into this bag, but I can bring it up later." Angela tossed the bag onto the bed. "These, however, are some things that I know you are going to need." The first thing Angela pulled out was a belt. "This isn't for you, sorry." Angela chuckled. "It's the Belt of Beloth the Wise. I want you to give this to Eragon when you first meet him. It's something I recently discovered and it's precious to him." Angela put it on the bed. "Up next, we have this beautiful thing, and I was going to give it ya anyway, but nows as good of a time as any." Angela pulled out a necklace with a plain silver chain. There was a circle of silver, filled by three oval shaped diamonds splitting the circle into thirds, and opal in between the clear gems.

"My necklace! You found it!" Amicia quickly took it and put it on.

"Of course I found it. Even though you lost it eight years ago in the Beor Mountains, I found it our last trip there, a few months ago." Amicia smiled. Of course Angela did. She was Angela. "I was going to give it you on your birthday, but I figured I'd give it to you know. I added a bit of energy to it." Amicia, who was gifted with magic, but preferred physical combat, stretched her mind out to the gem and found it swarming with energy. She quickly pulled back.

"How did you…" Angela winked.

"I have my ways. And the necklace isn't all. Calm down." Amicia felt her heartbeat slow down, and Angela pulled out a sheath. However, it wasn't a normal sheath that fit any sword. It was completely black, with some symbols engraved on the side. "Sadly, I couldn't recover the sword, and I thought that after this visit, we could visit the Spine, and I could locate it. However, we never had the chance. Coincidentally, your dragon's scales match perfectly, which means that the blade will match as well." A tear slid down Angela's face. Amicia was taken aback, for she had seen Angela cry out of joy, but for no other reason. This is was beyond comprehension. Angela quickly wiped the tear away. "I knew her. She was a good person, with only the best intentions. You seemed a lot like her, and you two have practically the same height and build, so the sword should suit you." Angela closed her eyes, and since Amicia was so close to her, she felt Angela's mind stretch out. "Good. I know that if you're destined to have that sword, you will find it. Besides, your ride should arrive for the palooza. After quite a few years of solitude I'm sure he'll be grateful to have something to do." Angela handed the sheath to Amicia. "Then of course, you'll go to Eragon, and this is for that." She handed Amicia a mirror. "It's connected to this," Angela pulled a chain that hung from her neck. "That way, if you ever need me, I'm available."

"Angela, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." Amicia hugged the old, yet young-looking woman, who smiled. A cat jumped down from the window sill. "Why, Solembum, how kind of you to join us." Angela smirked and the feline jumped into her lap.

"One last thing for you and your dragon is this." Angela shoved her arm into the bag and fished around for something. "One moment, please." Angela smiled, sat up, and then threw her whole upper body into the bag. Surprised, Amicia jumped back. "Don't worry! It's somewhere in here." Amicia took a few deep breaths and then sat back down. After a minute or so, Angela pulled herself out of the bag, and handed Amicia a book. "I found this in the area to the north of the Spine, when we went there when you were just a year old! I figured I'd wait to give it to you, but now seems as good as a time as any." Amicia took the book. The cover and spine were a dark blue and in the center of the cover was a bright white stone, in the shape of a hexagon.

"Angela, thank you. This is so… amazing." Amicia leafed through the pages. She looked up and hugged her adopted Mother. "You know something, Angela?"

"Depends. I know a lot of things."

"I may have spent my entire life with you, but you still surprise and amaze me."

"Aw, thanks!" Angela smiled, but glanced down and frowned when she saw Amicia's hand. "Well that's odd."

"What is?" Amicia held up her hand, and looked at it intently for the first time. Her dragon had come back over and nosed her gedwëy ignasia. She realized that while it was silver in the center, it was black on the edges. "Is that… normal?"

"No, I have never seen anything like that before. And I've seen quite a lot." Angela raised an eyebrow. "I'll leave you be, so you can spend some time with your dragon, but I'll look into that." Angela walked to the door. "You coming, Solembum?"

I wish to speak with Amicia alone.

"Okay! Oh, Amicia, also, feel free to come up any time tomorrow to help me with knitting. Solembum, meet me in the library when you're done? Toodles!" She left the room without an answer from either of them.

"You said you wanted to talk to me?" Amicia was curious. Even though she had grown up with Solembum around, and he had told her that she was more were-cat than human, she didn't really know him well.

Yes. Last night, I had a dream. Amicia waited for the were-cat to continue.

"And?"

And it was about you. You were flying on a black dragon, which is clearly yours. You muttered a few things in the Ancient Language, and then a flood of words came over me. I feel like you should know them, since they most likely pertain to you:

When Black surrounds White

The North is home to one who is torn

Where death's supposed victim is wrenched free

Over the river of forgotten tears is the key

Then under the Heaven's tears

One final choice must be made

Fate will be decided

Love and Soul forever divided

Hey guys! Sorry for the late response XP It took me forever to come up with that last bit