Disclaimer: If you've seen it somewhere else before, I don't own it so don't sue me.
R&R please!
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The sun crested the horizon as a new morning dawned. The sky glowed red as if in remembrance of the blood that had been so recently spilled. Or at least that's what the twenty strong Varden patrol thought of it. It had only been a couple of days since the Battle of the Burning Plains and clean up of the battlefield still continued. Hundreds of bodies were picked clean of weapons and armor and awaited burial by grave or fire. Meanwhile, several patrols had been sent out to hunt for stragglers from the Imperial army and perhaps recover any supplies they had left behind.
"And how successful that has been", Burell thought with a groan. He and his nineteen fellow soldiers had been scouring the area for the enemy ever since the battle had ended and they had yet to see hide or hair of the enemy.
"It may be necessary but gods this boring, at least I'm not getting shot at, it be a shame to survive the battle yet die in the aftermath", a small smile growing on his face. "Looks like another small wood up ahead, and in 3…2…1".
"Alright men prepare to dismount", came the captain's order.
"Never saw that coming", a smirk played across Burell's face.
"Patrol dismount! Zuke, Jumar, Uvek, and Makin guard the horses, everyone else with me!", shouted the captain. The patrol proceeded to dismount and move to their assigned positions.
"Burell, Pallin you're our scouts, let's move", and with that order the patrol advanced into the forest, drawing their swords and bows in anticipation of any hidden Imperials waiting for them. The area grew darker as the group moved further in, the thick canopy blocking out the morning sun."Keep it loose, we don't want to be sitting ducks for any archers hidden here", the captain said in as small a voice he could manage.
"This forest is perfect for an ambush", Burell thought with a scowl. He and Pallin continued to advance, with Pallin in front, until Pallin suddenly stopped, raising his hand to halt us.
"What's wrong", Burell hissed.
"Look at this", came the reply as Pallin's hand waved Burell forward. What met his eyes was the sight of a dead Imperial soldier, the soldier's right half practically burned away and his face scorched black.
"Any idea what could cause that", Pallin whispered.
"A dragon obviously maybe magic, but the amount of power necessary to do this would be too much for any regular magician, right? And it wouldn't make sense for the Red Rider to do it, maybe one of Shadeslayer's?"
"What's the problem", came the captain's voice.
"Dead Imperial, looks like a dragon got to 'im, but I thought Shadeslayer had left a couple days ago", came the reply.
"He did, so that only leaves the red dragon or the king's, either way we've got problems. Pallin! grab someone else and get back to the horses, tell Zuke to report to Jörmundur about our situation", came the order.
"And here I thought this would be a boring day", Burell thought.
"Alright, let's keep moving, but stay alert", the captain ordered.
The patrol continued to advance, finding no other trace of magic or dragons in their path. Until they came upon a clearing with burnt out of the forest surrounding it.
"By the gods… What happened here! The magic to accomplish this is beyond any mere foot mage isn't it?", Burell thought as he stared blankly at the clearing.
A lone whistle sounded out, "Wow… somebody can sure do a lot of damage", someone muttered behind him.
"Burell, check it out, we'll cover you", the captain ordered.
"Great… and I had such a wonderful life too", Burell thought as he cautiously moved forward. Step by step he advanced into the clearing, moving his bow back and forth through towards the treeline as he watched for any sign of a trap. He stumbled. He then looked down to see a large olive green bag that blended in with the little remaining foliage around it.
"What's this doing here", he wondered. He looked around for any sign of the bag's owner to see a lone figure lying near a burned-down tree.
"Captain! I've got something!", he yelled.
His captain cautiously walked up where he stood, "What is it"?
"Look", came the reply as Burell's hand pointed to the downed figure.
"I'll take a look", the capain moved up toward the body; he glanced over the man, concentrating on the his features and clothing, "He's human, civilian, I'd say sixteen to twenty years old… by Angvard how'd he get here...? Alright, half of you men secure the area, everyone else help look for anything suspicious." Burell walked up to the captain, glancing at the young man's face,
"Maybe he's apart of the Imperial caravan (referring to the practice of people of certain trades [like a baker] to follow medieval armies to provide food or services) or a late conscript."
"Doesn't make sense, even if he was conscripted late they still would've given him armor and a sword at least, and the Imperial caravan's camp was several leagues from here, I don't see why he would've walked this far away. The captain glanced over at Burell, "Check his bag, see if you can find anything that could help us identify him."
"Yes captain", replied Burell as he moved to carry out the order. "Let's see here… what's this", he thought as he spotted a small black case on the ground. "I'll examine it later", he thought as he set it next to the bag. "Now what've we got here… hmm some clothing, some small, odd, brown bag (Army MREs), now what's this…", in his hands was a sword, a beautiful sword like none he'd ever seen. Its scabbard was made with a sage green metal, with blue and steel grey colors lacing its length in intricate designs. He drew it… to be met with a shining, curved, green blade that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight.
"Looks like a dragon rider's sword", came the captain's awed voice, "I've only seen the one Shadeslayer had and it looked as beautiful as this one." "Elmar! Come over here", Elmar, the group's magician, trotted over to them.
"What is it, captain", he asked.
"Can you read the symbols on this sword's scabbard?"
"Of course, sir."
"What does it say?"
"It's ancient language… it says garjzla, which means light. A rider's sword sir?", asking as he glanced between the sword and captain.
"That's what we think. Anything else in there Burell?"
"I'll take a look sir." Burell continued searching throught the contents of the strange bag, only finding a few more survival items until he found something hidden at the bottom. "S…Sir, you may want to see this", he stammered as he held out what he found.
"Is...is that w...what I think it is", mumbled Elmar.
"By the gods! Everyone back to the horses, Burell, Elmar, help me carry him and his things there, let's go!"
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"All in all, a pretty dull day", thought Nasuada as she listened to Jörmundur continue on with yet another report on the Varden's status.
"...so foodstuffs are adequate for now, but we will need to move soon as the local game supply is wearing out", droned Jörmundur. A Nighthawk then suddenly entered the tent. The eyes of those present glancing nervously at him as he awaited permission to speak. Jörmundur waved the man over with his hand. The Nighthawk walked to his side, leaning over and whispering into Jörmundur's ear. Jörmundur's eyes grew wider with each word and by the end an expression of shock and contemplation remained on his face as the man left. "We have a problem", Jörmundur began, "one of our patrol groups spotted an Imperial soldier, evidentially a victim of a dragon attack. The group reports that they haven't seen any dragon and they are continuing their patrol to make sure there isn't one."
"With Eragon gone we have practically no defense against a dragon rider, this is terrible news,", came Nasuada's reply. "which group made the report?"
"Captian Mariv's group found it. They were patrolling about twelve leagues north of here." Then suddenly a Nighthawk watch's captain ran into the tent.
"Sorry for the interruption my Lady, but there is a Captain Mariv outside and he requests to see you immediately."
"By all means, let him in captain." Nasuada replied, as tension built up inside her gut.
"Yes, my Lady", came the reply.
The captain left the tent, soon reappearing with a Varden captain and soldier behind him. The two men bowed before her and the Mariv began to speak, "My apologies my Lady but I believed that you would wish to hear my report as soon as possible".
"Please proceed, captain."
"We had dismounted to examine a small wood in our patrol's path. As we advanced we happened upon a fallen Imperial soldier, as I'm sure my messenger informed you. After examining the man, we continued to advance until we happened upon a clearing burnt out of the forest around it. In this clearing, we found a young man, along with large green bag and small black case. That wasn't the strangest thing we found however", he turned to the soldier, a grim expression on his face, "show her." The soldier revealed a large gray cloth covering a long object. "While searching through his bag for any clues we found this." The soldier unwrapped the object… revealing a shimmering green blade and scabbard, the unmistakable look of a rider's sword. "We found this and something else as well, something, that if it is what we think... is a miracle." The captain grabbed the string that fastened a large bag onto his back and pulled it free. The man set it on the table and began to open it.
He pulled back the sides of the pack to reveal…
A stone…
A sage green stone…
A shining sage green dragon egg.