AN: It's my birthday today so I decided to take it off work so that I could spend the day with my boyfriend. Unfortunately, my boyfriend's a soldier, and was called in to work at the last minute (stupid British Army, doesn't even care about my birthday (selfish)), so I'm sad and alone and I've decided to write to expel the rage. So if this chapter's particularly angsty then it's not intentional, I just feel sorry for myself. It's pathetic. (Is angsty a word? Computer says no. But it's my birthday, I can make words up if I like. Those are the rules.)
Also, I've switched back to first person. I just think this chapter's better seen from Katharean's perspective or something or nothing.
We flew low and fast over the treetops that seemed to stretch on forever. I was just about to ask Eragon for the hundredth time if we were almost there when Saphira slowed and banked to the left. I followed the line of her descent and noticed for the first time a large clearing in the seemingly endless forest, and with an almost audible sigh of relief, I urged Obsidian towards it.
Thank the Gods. Obsidian muttered, as he prepared to land. My wings barely feel like my own any more.
I know. I sympathised, wincing at the pain in my shoulder blades that I knew from experience was a mere shadow of Obsidian's agony. I can ease your pain when we land.
No. He protested quickly. I frowned in confusion. Not in front of Saphira. He explained, sheepishly. I rolled my eyes, but understood.
I clutched the front of the saddle as we landed, a little less elegantly than usual, on the soft, lush grass. Obsidian stumbled slightly before stopping completely, and I leapt from his back, welcoming the sharp stabs of pain that shot through my legs as I landed and the blood flow rushed back to them after hours of clutching Obsidian's sides with my knees. I stretched my limbs out, experimentally, ignoring the protests of my weary muscles, and turned as Eragon approached me, grinning and looking as fresh as if he had just awoken from a long sleep.
"So?" I asked. "What's the big surprise, then? There's nothing here but us."
"Don't worry, Kate. They'll be here soon. They know we're here." He replied, vaguely. I scowled.
"Stop being so cryptic, you know it's irritating." I snapped. My tone of voice did nothing to alter the smug smile plastered across his elven features, and I shifted my glare to Saphira, who averted her eyes, clearly unwilling to involve herself in such petty squabbles. "Fine!" I conceded as he continued grinning infuriatingly at me. "I can be patient..."
Even as I'm saying it I know it's not true. I muttered to Obsidian, who snorted in agreement, the tip of his tail flicking agitatedly from side to side like that of an angry cat's. I reached out a hand and absent-mindedly stroked the soft leathery skin on this chin, soothingly. After a few minutes, his great head shot up, out of my reach and almost knocked me off-balance.
"What the-?" I started, but the near-deafening sound of colossal wings stopped my question dead. I followed Obsidian's gaze, but the sky was clear. Boom. Boom. Boom.
In the absence of my acute sense of hearing, I might have mistaken the sound for thunder...or I might have thought the earth was being rent apart. Had I not been able to hear the pulsing and contracting of mighty wing muscles, I might have cried out in fear that the world was coming to a violent end at the hands of angry Gods.
The truth was far more incredible.
All at once, the clear blue sky exploded in a brilliant kaleidoscope of golden light, and for a moment I could not make sense of what I was seeing. I held a hand above my head to block out the blinding sun...and yet I could never remember the sun looking quite so large or quite so beautiful. Only when the air was shattered with a deafening, awesome roar, did I realise what I was looking at.
A large...no, a gigantic golden dragon landed at the other side of the clearing. Obsidian, who was already inconceivably huge, suddenly seemed small in comparison, and Saphira...well, she was positively tiny. A hundred questions raced through my mind all at once, and I glanced at Eragon, who seemed completely relaxed and at ease with the fact that a colossal beast, the likes of which no man had seen in an age, had appeared no more than one hundred yards from where he was standing. He seemed to sense that I was looking at him and he shifted his gaze away from the impossible creature and met my eyes, grinning easily.
"I told you I had a surprise for you." He said, in way of explanation. "And I was right...the look on your face is absolutely priceless."
I shook my head, trying to clear it, but my mind was buzzing. There was no order to my thoughts any more and everything I had previously believed about the world I lived in was thrown into shadowy doubt. Another dragon? But it wasn't possible! How could something so huge be kept a secret? And why? I opened my mouth to ask Eragon but all that escaped my lips was a faint whimper.
Pull yourself together, Katharean…you are embarrassing me! Obsidian hissed. I gawped at him.
But I…can't you…why are you so calm? I spluttered, internally. He shook his head infinitesimally.
I am not calm, but I can compose myself. He replied. I would like to make a good impression, and I would hate to give Eragon and Saphira a reason to mock us further.
Somewhere past the shock, his words seemed to make sense so, with no small amount of effort, I snapped my mouth shut, cleared my throat and assumed what I could only hope was a casual stance.
"So, Kate…are you ready to meet with Legends of Old?" Eragon whispered, sounding terribly pleased with himself. I nodded, curtly, and he walked to my side and took my hand in his. I looked at him, strangely, still in too much shock to even attempt to analyse this gesture, and he grinned happily as he lead me across the grassy field towards the impossible duo. I allowed myself to be pulled forwards, almost expecting my knees to give out at any moment and send me sprawling to the floor.
Thankfully, my body seemed to have recovered from the shock of this incredible revelation faster than my mind, and in seconds I was standing in the shadow of the enormous golden dragon. I gazed up at the mighty beast, realising as I did so that he was not as perfect as he had seemed from a distance. Obsidian gasped internally and I thought I felt my heart break a little when we noticed that the great dragon was missing half of his left foreleg. I quickly looked away from the white stump, feeling ashamed somehow, and as I did, I noticed for the first time that the dragon was not alone. Standing beside him was an ancient-looking elf who, I realised with a start, must be his Rider. The elf walked towards us slowly with a smile playing on his wizened face and Eragon stepped forward and dropped to one knee.
"Oromis Elda, Astra esterni ono thelduin." He greeted, fluently.
"Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr." The Old Elf replied, smiling.
"Un du evarinya ono varda." The words tripped easily from Eragon's tongue and the ancient Elf placed a hand on his shoulder and uttered a reply that I could not interpret. I looked to Obsidian for aid but he paid me no heed, and was clearly still reeling from shock. I looked nervously at Eragon as he rose to his feet and doubled back to stand beside me. He placed a hand on the small of my back, ushering me forward as if presenting me to the other Rider.
"Master Oromis, this is Katharean Athem. She is the one I have been telling you about." Eragon grinned. The Ancient Rider took a step towards me and I bowed and muttered the elven greeting as Eragon had taught me, stuttering and stumbling over the pronunciation. I straightened up and shook my head, inhaling a deep, shaky breath.
"I'm sorry," I apologised to both of them. "I know that the proper thing to do right now is to stand on ceremony and exchange pleasantries, but I just...I cannot...could somebody please explain to me what is going on?"
The Ancient Elf frowned, and I prepared for him to chastise my lack of respect in his presence, but instead he turned to look at Eragon.
"Eragon? Did I not release you from your oath of secrecy in order for you to inform your fellow Rider of our existence?" He asked in a voice that reminded me of a tutor who had taught me when I was young. Eragon scratched the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.
"Yes, Oromis Elda." Eragon conceded, blushing slightly. "I was unsure as to how to approach the subject. The last few days have been fraught with incidents. Kate's been having visions of-"
"It matters not." I cut in, unsure whether or not I wanted to share details of my visions with this mysterious Rider. "It is an untold pleasure to make your acquaintance, Master Oromis. Your existence is more than I dared to dream of."
"As is yours, Lady Katharean." The Elf smiled. "As is yours."
AN: This chapter was originally going to be longer, but I wrote this part of it back in April and since then I've been having some major technical difficulties so I haven't been able to go back to it and now I've lost my train of thought. I know the general direction I'm going in, but I want a fresh page, cause this is hurting my eyes.
Review and all that jazz!