Disclaimer: We all know what belongs to who, so don't sue me.
A/N: Sorry this took so long, I originally was going to add another Traveler section here but then decided that it would be better if I placed it later. That decision occurred after I had already typed up nearly 2,000 words for it, so I basically had to start from scratch.
Without further ado, enjoy!.
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Ryan wearily opened his eyes, his vision unfocused, and the world around him appearing blurry. His mind felt as if a great mist clouded his thoughts. He couldn't concentrate. He felt only the bouncing of what undoubtedly was a horse underneath him. He could hear a distorted voice speaking. The voice sounded urgent and carried a hint of anger in it. Ryan tried to open his mouth to speak but found that his body wouldn't obey his commands, lost as it was in its exhaustion. Another presence entered his mind, surrounding his consciousness with its own. The presence felt familiar, spelling safety to Ryan's groggy mind.
"Rest, my little one, Yamula has things well in hand and I shall keep you safe.", a voice said, lulling Ryan back to sleep through the feelings of safety and calm that accompanied it. Ryan didn't need any more encouragement before his eyes closed once more and he returned to his slumber…
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" A sacrifice given, a secret hidden, all to preserve that which we swore to defend and those we held dear to our hearts. For even as the world we strived for crumbled around us, we stood firm, believing that, even as darkness fell, dawn would eventually come, if not for us, then for the ones we left behind…"
The voice returned Ryan to consciousness as his eyes finally fluttered open. Ryan raised his head from his former pillow and slowly glanced around to check his surroundings, finding himself to be in a small camp with the remnants of a campfire in the center and the sun just beginning to rise in the background. He felt a firm yet gentle and warm presence around his body. He touched the presence, finding it to be made of something hard and sharp in some places yet soft and pliable in others. Ryan's mind clicked with the identity of the object surrounding him.
Samanya, he thought with a small grin. Ryan stretched out his mind towards her, finding her to still be lost in her dreams. Her thoughts seemed calm and content yet slightly distressed as well. Ryan responded by sending wave after wave of peaceful thoughts to her, wiping away the last vestiges of distress. An audible sigh and a small smile came from his partner as she started to hum in response.
Unfortunately, the peace was not to last as Ryan finally noticed that one of the lumps on the ground that he had missed before began to move. The blankets covering the lump fell to the side to reveal Yamula's unmistakable figure. A sigh of disappointment escaped Ryan as the elf slowly got up and stretched. Yamula instantly turned at the sound, finally realizing that the young Rider was awake. Ryan felt a mental probe touch his thoughts, seeking permission to enter. Ryan let it.
"Good, you're awake." Yamula said in his mind, "Wake up Samanya, we need to get moving." Ryan nodded in acknowledgement before turning contacting Samanya through their link.
"Samanya…Samanya, come on, it's time to get up."
Ryan felt his other half slowly return to awareness, however, only a displeased growl and a tightening her hold on him responded to him as she groggily responded, "Just…five more minutes."
"Come on, Samanya, Yamula says that we need to get moving and I agree with her.", Ryan said, pleading.
"Fine.", came Samanya's final irritated response as her eyes crept open. "And little one…", she started to add.
"Yes?", Ryan said a moment before Samanya's tail uncurled from its previous position and smacked on his head.
"Don't ever worry me like that again.", she finished as Ryan tried rubbing his head to get rid of the pain.
"I'll try my best, no promises though.", Ryan slyly replied with a smirk.
"Just remember what will happen after I get my paws on you afterwards.", Samanya replied with a chastising yet affectionate tone and a small draconic smile. She then unwrapped herself from around her Rider and stood with a massive yawn. After a few cat-like stretches she stood, ready to go.
Meanwhile, Yamula had been rousing Burell and Pallin, who were both very unhappy with their sleep being disturbed. They quickly made themselves ready, although they grumbled all the while. Ryan also got himself ready, still feeling slightly woozy from the after effects of what he had done. Footsteps jerked him out of his preparations as he glanced up to find Yamula holding out his sword and pistol belt in one hand and his duffle bag in the other.
"I believe you will need these. There is no point in attempting subtlety now that the Empire knows of our travels. I also placed that bag you grabbed from your opponent in your bag as well.", Yamula said in a factual tone.
"What of the horses and supplies? How long have I been out?", Ryan asked, seeming barely able to speak fast enough to suit his thoughts.
"We were able to scrounge enough from the town and horses from the dead Imperials after the fight to move on and you have slept for nearly one and a half days now. Now get moving, the Empire is still following us and I would like to be far away when they find this place.", Yamula responded before turning and walking away.
"Nice to see you too", Ryan mumbled dismissively before completing his preparations and strapping on his weapon belt. The clod of horses' hooves sounded from his right and Ryan looked over to find Burell and Pallin leading four horses for them. Ryan immediately noticed that, unlike their previous horses, these horses were undoubtedly warhorses. These mounts looked significantly larger than their previous ones and appeared far more muscled, excellent for travelling the distances that they would have to cover before reaching the elven lands. Ryan quickly snatched his bag before rushing over and taking the reins that Pallin wordlessly offered him. After securely strapping his bag over his shoulder and making sure that the saddle was in order, he stepped up and mounted the horse with an ease that he had gained from the massive amount of riding he had done lately. The others quickly followed then turned their mounts northwards and trotted off. Ryan was about to follow when he noticed Samanya stretching her wings out in preparation for flight.
"You're going to follow us?", he asked.
"Of course, someone has to keep you out of trouble.", Samanya smugly replied before pumping her wings and taking to the sky.
Ryan only smirked in reply before he started off to catch up with the others. It only took a few moments for him to catch up to them, placing himself next to Burell and Pallin, with Yamula taking the lead. They silently rode on for what felt to Ryan to be like hours until he decided he couldn't take it anymore and decided to strike up a conversation.
"How are you both doing?", he asked.
"Alright.", came Burell's curt reply. Ryan was surprised at the usually lighthearted man's tone before Pallin spoke.
"Don't mind him, Ryan," Pallin began with evident weariness, "he and Mariv were close and he still hasn't gotten over it."
"I'm doing just fine, Pallin! Shut your trap!", Burell yelled at his friend before pushing ahead of them, leaving the other two to talk between themselves.
"How close were they exactly?", Ryan asked in a hushed tone.
"Very close, Mariv was almost like a second father to him after his real father was killed when we fled our village.", Pallin replied with a somber voice. Ryan thought of his own feelings for Mariv as Pallin spoke, filling him with sadness as he a few tears left his eyes.
"He's in a better place now, Ryan. None can harm him anymore.", came Samanya's soothing voice.
"He's still gone, Samanya. Just like so many others and nothing can change it. Why are the best of people always the first to be lost in a war like this?", Ryan asked, his tone shaky.
"It is one of the terrible things of war, young one. The best of us, the ones who inspire the best in us fall because they all always the final bastion between the freedom and morality we strive for and the desire for power and control that heralds the dawn of tyranny. He died so that you may live on, young one. He died so that you may continue on, so that you can make a difference in this war torn land.", Samanya began in a sorrowful tone before switching to one with far more force behind it, "We shall not let his sacrifice be in vain, young one. Stand strong, Ryan, for the road we tread is a long and difficult one, but it is not insurmountable. Always remember that I will always be there for you, even you may fall. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Samanya and thank you.", Ryanreplied with gratitude.
"He was a good man.", Pallin simply stated as he gazed out into the horizon.
"One of the best.", Ryan added with a small nod.
Pallin slowly turned his head back to the Rider before asking, "If you don't mind me asking but how did you do what you did to that Imperial earlier?"
"I don't really know,", Ryan began while he searched his own mind, trying to find the presence from earlier, "it felt as if I was operating on some sort of instinct. I don't know where it came from, but it felt so familiar that it didn't trigger any of the barriers in my mind."
"Well, whatever it was, it was damn impressive. I've never heard of a man going up against a member of Andlat Datia one on one and win, even if the man was a magician.", Pallin said while Ryan was still searching. Finally, as he searched some of the deepest vaults of his mind, Ryan finally found what he was looking for. In his mental world the instinct simply looked like a massive blue ball encased in some sort of reactor-like apparatus. Ryan approached the object and placed his hand on what was undoubtedly looked like some sort of palm scanner. Suddenly the reactor flashed in a blinding pulse of light before massive amounts of information began to appear before Ryan's eyes along with a large amount of magical energy that surged through his veins.
There was so much…so much that Ryan felt that he could spend several human lifespans analyzing it and still not have accessed over three-quarters of it. Ryan then examined the energy that the instinct had given him access to. The amount of energy was astounding to Ryan, who was used to the relative magical weakness of his body compared to say…an elf. The amount of energy certainly approached an elf's in amount if not more. While Ryan immersed himself in trying to understand what this thing was Samanya's mental avatar suddenly appeared next to him.
"Amazing…", she said, her eyes wide as she used their bond to see and feel what Ryan currently was.
"Indeed it is.", Ryan said, still staring up at the object. Through Ryan's quick probing of the object, he found that it did not have a mind of its own and that it was just attached to his, attuned to his thoughts and emotions. Ryan couldn't help but think of dragon magic as an appropriate comparison, except far less powerful. "It certainly equals an elf in strength I would say.", Ryan commented.
"I would agree.", Samanya said as she began to circle the 'instinct' as Ryan had decided to call it, looking at it with a quizzical expression. "And it only activated after I felt your mind go blank…maybe it works somewhat like my ancestral memories?"
"Maybe…at least I know how to activate it in case we get into a particularly sticky situation.", Ryan added. The two both nodded before returning their attentions back to the outside world where Ryan was met with Pallin's concerned expression.
"Hey…hey, you alright? You looked as if you spaced out for a moment there.", Pallin said as he waved one of his hands in front of the Rider's face.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I discovered what the cause of all this was though.", Ryan responded, brushing away Pallin's hand.
"And what might that be?", Pallin asked with evident curiosity.
"I'm not exactly sure how to explain it, but it's like some kind of instinct or something."
"Like an animal's instinct?", Pallin replied, incredulous.
"No, it's something far more in depth and complicated than that, but instinct is the best word I have to describe it with, so that's what I've decided to call it."
"By Angvard you have a screwed up life, between your magical arrival and now odd instincts...", Pallin said, chuckling halfheartedly as he stared at the young Rider.
"Aye, that I do.", Ryan replied with a smile.
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The trip proceeded in much the same manner, with Ryan alternating talking between talking with Pallin and Samanya. Ryan was glad for the company, which kept his mind off of the ramifications of everything that had happened. Their conversations covered pretty much everything imaginable, Samanya even spoke with Pallin directly briefly, something that the man considered a great honor. Burell, however, still retained his frosty demeanor throughout the entire day and Yamula never was much for idle conversation, so that made the trip a little more irritating to Ryan than he thought it should have been.
The group only stopped twice during the day, once to allow the horses some time to drink and eat what they could, and once for the group's evening meal, which Ryan could have sworn only lasted about five minutes. After the meal and remounting to continue their travels, Ryan and Pallin's conversations died down as the two began to tire. Ryan spent the silence searching through the information that his 'instinct' contained. He found many interesting tidbits of information within, much of relating to simple survival and hunting techniques, which surprised Ryan considering that it specifically spoke of seven different ways to silently kill a deer without weapons and while on foot, and somehow information as to draconic growls and what they each ment. Ryan felt incredulous at the information, wondering why in the world such things would be included in with the rest.
Ryan, however, diverted most of his focus to the limited amount of information pertaining to fighting and magic, and found comparatively little when compared to the amount devoted to other topics. Most of the information spoke of how to attack different enemies indigenous to Alagaësia, such as Fanghur, Ryan was shocked when he found dragons also on the list, and several other creatures that Ryan had never heard of before. The most useful information pertained to the magic that he wielded. The most significant discovery that Ryan made about it was the change in vision that Ryan witnessed briefly when the instinct first awakened. As he experimented with what the visage could do, he discovered that it detected magical energy and sentient minds, evidenced when he lit a magical fire in his hand with a mumble of "Brisingr!", and changed his vision. The resulting fire changed from its normal color of green tinted flame to a bright white color, which brightened or dimmed as Ryan fed different amounts of energy into it, and the rest of the world dulled into black and white, except for his companions and their mounts, which glowed a subdued blue.
Suffice it to say that Ryan was more than happy to get off his horse once Yamula had decided to stop for the night. She insisted he have a quick spar with Pallin, which he did with her silently supervising to the side. Ryan briefly tried using his newfound instinct to assist him, but found that it only provided him with the a boost in strength and energy, not the knowledge that it used to defeat the member of Andlat Datia from before, which confused Ryan. He was, however, content with the knowledge that he at least had some more energy and strength to help protect himself and Samanya with. The biggest surprise of the night, however, occurred a little later that night, when Ryan decided to examine the bag that the Imperial agent had dropped after his death.
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Ryan cautiously lifted the small bag from its previous place in his duffle bag while he sat away from the others, who silently sat by their small campfire nearby, with Samanya curled around him, carefully examining the bag, wary for any magical wards that may be active by his attempts to access its contents. Samanya's mind stood connected to his own and her head turned so that one emerald eye could stare at the small bag in his hands. Ryan found a couple simple wards surrounding the object, which were easily disposed of.
"They must have never thought that someone would manage to kill them to take this.", Ryan said to his partner.
"Arrogant fools.", came Samanya's angry reply. Ryan only gave a small nod in reply. He slowly untied the small ropes tying the bag's opening closed and tossed them aside. He stretched his gloved hands inside, only to feel a hard, smooth, round object within. He drew it out, to behold a maroon red orb that was about a little over a foot in length with a glowing center.
"What in the world is this?", Ryan thought out loud.
"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it.", Samanya said with near reverence. The pair just stared at the orb for several minutes, momentarily dumbstruck at the object in Ryan's hands. Suddenly an idea as to the object's identity snapped into Ryan's mind before he quickly hid it from Samanya. He didn't want to get her hopes up if his idea proved incorrect. Ryan swiftly took of his right glove and stretched to touch the stone with his bare hand.
"What are you doing?", Samanya asked with a tinge of suspicion.
Ryan just smirked up at her and answered, "Just a little experiment.", before his hand made contact with the outer edge of the stone and the world around him faded away…
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It appears that my idea was correct. Ryan thought with satisfaction as his mind probed towards the orb's inner depths, searching for the occupant that would surely rest inside. That endeavor, however, proved to be much more difficult than Ryan initially thought as another presence instantly began to assault his consciousness. Ryan instinctively recoiled from the blows as he deflected the strikes and counterattacked, trying to pinpoint the source. The answer wasn't long in coming. A powerful, almost ancient mind rested behind the blows as it desperately tried to fight the young Rider off. Ryan found his energy being quickly sapped away by the mental battle that they waged. Ryan quickly accessed the store of energy inside his instinct and pressed on as the strength filled his veins. Suddenly another presence entered into their mental battle.
"You could have just told me you know.", came Samanya's unmistakable and slightly irritated voice.
Outside their mental war Ryan's body smiled. "You know me, Samanya. I just can't resist causing problems. Besides, I'm just helping you develop those killer detective instincts you're supposed to have."
"Smartass." came Samanya's amused reply. "Now…do you want my help, or would you like me to help this thing tear into you?", she asked with mock seriousness.
"Some help would be lovely, oh great and wise one.", Ryan replied sarcastically.
"And don't you forget it.", Samanya finished before joining her strength with his own and attacking the presence as best she could. The might of the single mind inside the stone felt immense, but it was obvious from the beginning that it still hadn't recovered its full strength from the battle from before. The Rider and dragon slowly gained ground, pushed the consciousness further and further into itself, until finally, they broke through its defenses and seized control of its actions.
The mind behind the attacks was indeed very old and felt immense to the young Rider and dragon, disconnected as it was. The consciousness appeared scattered and fragile almost as if it was nearly broken. The consciousness surprised them as it yielded itself to them, offering up everything it had remaining as it submitted to them. The two were startled by the old mind's actions as they pushed its offerings aside and responded by showering it with feelings of forgiveness and compassion, hoping that the mind would respond.
They were not disappointed. A weak mental probe touched their thoughts, seeking entry. With a quick glare at Ryan's body, Samanya shoved his consciousness away from the presence as she cautiously allowed it to access her mind.
"W…Who…are…y…you?", a very weak voice whispered almost whimpering with fear. The voice sounded broken and was undoubtedly masculine, although it likely bore little resemblance to what it sounded like while it lived. Ryan couldn't communicate with the entity, as Samanya had erected a barrier between them.
"I am Samanya, dragon of Ryan Williamsson, and who might you be?", Samanya responded in the most gentle and respectful tone she could manage.
"I…I…I can't remember…I remember fire and pain…and darkness….then the master's voice laughing as…as he…", the voice said before it degenerated into whimpering.
"It is alright, Elder, you are safe now. You are free once more. No others shall harm you while we are here.", Samanya said, trying to reassure the presence. She continued trying to talk to the ghostlike dragon while Ryan brushed the dragon's mind with his own and tried to figure out the extent of the oaths that it had been forced to swear. He found them fairly quickly, appearing like black chains around the dragon's consciousness. The oaths seemed fairly simple, oaths of fealty and others to not allow him to harm the Imperial agents that utilized his energy. Luckily it seemed that Ryan's opponent from earlier was as arrogant as Ryan had hoped, as he found no oaths restricting the dragon from speaking to them, resisting them until they were forced to kill it, or any wards that would destroy the Eldunarí so as to deny its usefulness to them. Ryan sighed with relief, happy that he would have to harm one who had already suffered so much.
The next feeling to cross his mind was rage…pure, primal rage at the pitiful state they had found the dragon in. That rage flowed on into Samanya, who tried to suppress it to keep the already fearful dragon from panicking. A few more moments passed as she slowly lost the battle against the anger that snapped towards her from her Rider's mind. Suddenly she felt some ancient presence rise from within both her and her Rider. Their eyes began to glow, blue for Ryan, green for Samanya, as a surge of magic the likes of which Samanya had never felt pulsed through her, begging to be released. Both her mind and Ryan's stretched towards the shackled dragon, who cowered before the primal rage of the pair in absolute fear. Their consciousness's surrounded the traumatized mind before speaking as one…
"Our gift, in repentance for our failures,
In remembrance of our duty,
In remission for our sins.
Sorrow flooded our veins as we watched you fall,
Unable to resist the tide of darkness,
Your defending light sacrificed long ago in the hope that such a day would never come.
We were wrong,
We did nothing,
We forgot who we are.
So lost were we in our grief,
That we let these horrors come to pass,
No longer."
A massive flood of magical energy encompassed the fearful mind inside as it tore away the bonds it held. The black chains broke, one by one, until none remained and the surge of magic stopped, returning the young Rider and dragon back to full awareness. They quickly tried to touch the fearful Eldunarí, only to find it dormant as if asleep. Ryan then turned to stare at Samanya with wide eyes, which still held remnants of the blue glow they held only a few moments before, and finding Samanya to be in a similar state.
"D…Dragon m…magic?", Ryan finally managed to asked, stammering. The others of the group had noticed what the pair had done and rushed over to their side, with Yamula yelling, trying to ascertain what had occurred. The pair did not hear her, her words wounding like nothing more than a buzz in their ears.
"I…I think so.", Samanya finally managed to reply, still incredulous over the entire event. The world slowly began to return to their awareness as Yamula's voice started to break through their magic induced stupor.
"…did you do?", she was yelling, shaking the Rider's shoulders in an attempt to get a response.
"What…?", Ryan mumbled, still feeling a bit out of it.
"I said! What did you do?", Yamula yelled, even louder this time.
"Yamula, I…", Ryan began before noticing Burell and Pallin standing next to her and speaking in the most conciliatory tone he could, "I'll tell you tomorrow, alright? I…" Yamula angrily cut him off.
"Why must this wait till tomorrow? No, tell me what's going on, NOW!", she almost screamed. Ryan had never seen her this angry with her face completely red and her eyes without any hint of the normal indifference that they possessed, now they only held anger…and a hint of worry?
"Yamula, I can't tell you, not with them," he pointed to Burell and Pallin while speaking in as reasonable a tone as possible, "around."
"Why can't we be here?", Burell yelled at Ryan.
"Because it is not your place to know of what I speak of!", Ryan yelled back as his eyes relighted and hardened as they stared the soldier down. Samanya even started growling threateningly at him as well. "What we have to speak to Yamula of concerns a great secret that her people keep, a secret that only the Riders and a select few of the top elven spellcasters know of," Ryan glanced over at Yamula, "and I would guess by your assignment to Eragon's personal guard that you know of it as well." Silence reigned over the camp for several moments as the others absorbed the information.
"Very well, Ryan Williamsson," Yamula finally relented, moving to walk away before finishing, her tone still retaining its steely edge, "but tomorrow I WILL have answers." "Now get some rest," she ordered, "you're going to need it." Ryan only nodded in response before slowly laying his head against Samanya's flank.
"How are we going to explain all this to her?", Samanya asked, betraying a little of the anxiousness she tried to hide.
"Very carefully.", Ryan wearily replied before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep…
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So, how many of you saw that coming? And nobody's guessed the correct answer for the Guardian's enemy yet, so I encourage you all to take a whack at it.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
R&R!