THanks for reading. Here is the river journey in the chapter of Fears and Truths. Enjoy!
"Disclaimer: I do not own Alageasia or it's people, just Florina and Kuldra
"Where are Florina, Kuldra, and Orik?" He asked the elf as he roused Saphira.
"They are already at the lake. Florina and Kuldra stayed the night there, guarding the rafts. Orik joined them around midnight." Ûndin and his warriors formed a block around the three of them once they were all ready and Saphira's claws and Snowfire's hooves were tied with rags to muffle the sound on the stone. Eragon looked in all directions, keeping an eye for any trouble that might trouble them. They passed through the city without incident. When they reached the stone quay, he saw two rafts with five figures on one and four on the other. Two of the five stood up as they neared the pier. A golden head appeared as the two figures, one short and one tall, stepped onto the shore.
"Good," Orik grumbled, "you made it here alright." Florina said nothing as she helped Eragon and the dwarves hobble and blind the horse and coax him onto the second raft. She let them tie him down and stepped onto the shore and grabbed her weapons. Eragon stepped off the raft as Saphira joined Kuldra in the water.
"Here is where we part." Ûndin said, grasping their arms. "You have my best men. They will protect you until you reach Du Weldenvarden."
"You have the gratitude of the Riders, Ûndin, chief of the Ragni Hefthyn." Florina said. If Ûndin was surprised, he didn't show it.
"I accept your gratitude, but this is not the matter for it. It is my duty. I am only shamed that your stay was darkened by the hatred of Az Sweldn rak Anhûin."
"Nevertheless, you ensured I and Eragon were protected regardless of what they believe. May you axe stay sharp."
"And yours, Golden Rider." Eragon and Florina bowed and boarded the first raft with Orik and Arya and then they were hurrying down the river.
"Florina, are you angry with me?" Florina cracked open an eye and found Eragon sitting next to her. She had decided to stretch out on the raft since she had stayed awake most of the night and she had almost been asleep. He didn't look at her and she sat up.
"No, Eragon, I am not mad at you."
"But if we had taken your way, we never would have been threatened by that clan."
"That is true. But then, they may have declared themselves blood enemies to you later on."
"Why was it directed just at me and not at you?" Florina sighed and looked at him.
"Think about what Ûndin said at the feast. You may be a guest, but you are also a dwarf by law. But you are also a Dragon Rider, of the same kind that destroyed all but a few of their clan. They saw it as an insult that Hrothgar adopted you. That is what you must remember. You are loyal to all three races, Eragon. You are a dwarf by law, the elves will train us, and you have sworn fealty to the leader of the Varden, a human." She took a breath and looked back out across the river. "But you also have a fourth loyalty. You are a Dragon Rider, a completely different race. We are no longer completely human, Eragon. Our partners live inside us as we live inside them. That is why you cannot speak for the Riders now."
"So, you are not mad?"
"Oh, I am angry. Just not at you." She looked pointedly at Orik.
"Oi! Don't blame me!" He cried from across the raft.
"Well I can't exactly blame Eragon. He did the only thing he could under the circumstances." She noticed Eragon quietly slip into the water to join Saphira. "It was, after all, your idea to put the choice to him." Orik was about to reply when Kuldra grabbed Florina and pulled her from the raft. She chuckled at the look of complete rage on the dwarf's face and Arya's smile in her eyes. Florina climbed into Kuldra's saddle as the golden dragon rose to Saphira and Eragon.
"Won't being in the water ruin Kuldra's saddle?" Eragon asked when they were at the same level.
"Not exactly." Florina answered coyly. "But it is not the same as Saphira's." Florina focused on five brown specks that had launched themselves from the ground ad were ascending rapidly. She tightened the straps on her legs. As they neared, the four of them were able to see that the creatures were twenty feet long and similar to dragons. Before she could tell him not to, Eragon reached out with his mind toward the creatures. They shrieked. Florina curled inward. The dragons veered to the left and right and rose above the creatures. After a few moments, Florina was able to block her mind from the shriek.
"I want the experience. Don't kill them." Florina nodded slightly as two of the five flew at them. Kuldra dove and then turned upward sharply, forcing the creatures to separate. She hit both of them with her tail. One flew away. The other dived toward them. Kuldra released a small jet of flame and the other retreated as well. Florina noticed the other three flying away as well. The dragons angled back towards the river. Florina loosed the straps and jumped back onto the raft, rolling to her feet.
"Are you hurt?" Orik called to Eragon from beside her. Florina groaned audibly and rubbed her temples. Saphira swam alongside the raft and Orik helped Eragon back on. She didn't pay attention to what was said as she was busy trying to rid herself of the headache that was slowly increasing. She stayed in the shade until they moored for the night. Once she had eaten, she entered her tent and then slipped into the woods behind with a bowl. She silently made her way to the river and filled the bowl.
"Draumr kópa," she whispered while concentrating on her mother. The water went black before showing her mother on a white background. She had figured as much as the only dungeons she had seen were the ones in Dras-Leona. Tears formed and spilled into the bowl. Her mother's beautiful brown hair was cut at odd lengths and looked like it had been burnt. Her eyes were sunken and didn't shine like they did when she was a child. Words formed on her mother's lips. Florina knew that she was talking to the king, refusing him. Her shackled arms shook as she writhed in torment. She stood and tossed the bowl away with a cry, ending the spell. Before she could hide in the shadows, Arya was there, holding her in a friendly embrace. Kuldra pulled her Rider from the elf's arms and held her close. She had seen what Florina had. But what was there to say. There was little chance that Emily would live much longer if she kept denying the king. But she hoped, for Florina's sake, that Emily would rather die than serve the king.
"Florina, are you alright?" Eragon asked her as she watched the mountains pass by.
"I am as fine as I can be under the circumstances, Eragon." Aside from Kuldra, no one knew what she had seen being done to her mother. No one knew the fear that threatened to control her whenever she thought of Angela's prophecy and the situation her mother was in. She knew that Arya guessed what she had done, but she had yet to say anything on the matter. She jumped and dove gracefully into the water, leaving her sword behind, before Eragon could question her further. She climbed onto Kuldra's back and the dragons took to the sky as the noon sun shone on the river. Together, Florina and Kuldra looked out onto the plains and looked at the emptiness of them. "We are alone here."
"That we are, Brave One." Florina looked toward the west and imagined she could see a dark blot on the horizon that was Urû'bean.
"Don't worry, Mama. I am coming for you." Kuldra glided above the river while Florina relaxed in the space between her neck and shoulders. No one bothered them and, slowly, Florina forgot about her worries and the situation her mother was in. All that mattered was her place on Kuldra's back and the bond they shared. Both of them knowing that they would never betray each other.
Very slowly, he looped Zar'roc over his head and brought it back down with both hands. He held for a second and then pivoted as if to parry a blow. He was surprised when he heard the sound of Zar'roc striking another sword. He looked and saw Florina, arm locked, blocking his blade from completing its motion. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. Neither of them could be out of practice when they reached Ellesméra. But more than that, he saw her need to do something. He knew the feeling. He could see that if she didn't do something, she would dwell on the fate of her mother.
He nodded slightly and swept his sword around hers and aimed a strike at her leg. She blocked it with ease and attacked him. He barely parried a blow intended for his neck and slashed at her stomach. She jumped back and attacked again. He reached out to her mind and found it blocked. He hadn't blocked Zar'roc's edge and he could tell that Florina hadn't blocked hers either. This was a real battle. He was thankful that Arya was with them, just in case. He attacked again, his speed increasing. He switched hands, hoping to throw her off. She continued to flow smoothly around him, blocking and attacking, occasionally switching hands to block a blow she would have to dodge otherwise. He stabbed at her. She parried and ran her blade along Zar'roc's and attempted to knock it out of his hand. She knew something was wrong when the sword dropped from Eragon's hands too easily. She stabbed her sword into the ground and called for Arya.
She looked up as he moved. She reached for the water as he quietly asked, "How can I train? How can I fight or use magic? I am a broken vessel."
"You can sit and watch. You can listen. You can read. And you can learn." Florina sat next to him, a silent spectator.
"How did the Shade do this to me?"
"I have no answers Eragon. I am neither the wisest nor the strongest elf. We all do our best and you cannot be blamed for it. Perhaps time will heal your wound." Florina looked away as Arya touched Eragon's brow and then left. She helped him sit up and handed him the water. He drank it gratefully. After a long silence, she finally spoke.
"I haven't been honest with you, Eragon. I speak for the both of us when speaking with the leaders of the different races and yet I have not told you everything about me." Eragon didn't answer and so she went on. "Emily is not my true mother. She is barren. She allowed my father to sleep with another woman by the name of Selena," Eragon stirred slightly, "with the condition that she could raise the child as her own. And so she has been my mother. Even though she has no relation to me through blood, she is my mother and I love her. I was lost when Papa sent me to find Brom." Eragon noticed her face light up a moment before darkening. "After the battle, while I was unconscious, I was filled with memories of my past. As they caught up to my future, I saw a shadow among them that had been there, watching me. I told it to get out. It wouldn't leave. It only laughed at me. Then another presence, our teacher, banished it for a time. But it has plagued me since."
"The last night in the tunnel." He whispered. She nodded.
"My mother, Emily, was being tortured by the shadow. It was laughing. One minute, I am only watching. The next, I am my mother. I am the one being tortured. I try to see the face of my torturer and only see the blackest eyes I have ever seen, darker than even mine." She was shaking. Eragon placed a hand on her shoulder. "I wanted you to know. I do not know if this shadow is a curse I was born with because of what Emily and my father did to get a child or if it is a result of the concussion I suffered after the battle. I trust you, Eragon." She looked him in the eye. "You are the only friend I have had in all my eighteen years of life. What do you want to know of me? I will be as honest as I can."
"I understand." He said slowly. She looked at him. "I understand that there are things you wish to keep hidden. I know that you did not want to tell me about this shadow, but you did. I can see that you are scared for your mother more than yourself. I will not pry, Florina. Just know that I will follow your lead, as Leader of the Riders." She smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"We will find a way to heal you, Eragon. I promise." She stood and exited the tent, leaving Eragon and Saphira alone.
And it is official, Florina is the leader of the Riders. Thanks for reading and please review.