Disclaimer:

Mr. Paolini, it is hard to finish your story. But… I try to finish all my stories, even when it takes a while. Don't come complaining when it is a bit subpar. I do this for free after all.

Previous:

Fleur traveled with Tharos and Galiana to Fenmark, news that Halstead is the new king, got the whole city to celebrate. They got in a frenzy when they found out that their little princess is going to marry their liberator, Tharos, as the new count, announced a two days holiday.

With the tasks divided, I ported to Narda with the wives. We changed into our dragon form and took to the sky, Miramar was riding me and guided us to the oldest village.

When we arrived at the village, we began circling it high in the sky. I amplified my voice with a sonorous and said in their language: "We came to talk!"

13 Talking to the Herd.

Slowly we circled down to the town square, the natives were armed but showed no signs of hostility. When we landed, Miramar dismounted me, removed the saddle so I could change into my human form. Luna changed too, only Ginny and Belladonna remained in their dragon form, to discourage the locals.

Watching two dragons change into humans shocked the Urgals deeply, the guards moved more closely to their matrons, expecting foul play. The matrons were caught unprepared by this, they thought dragons were killed off by the mad king and never heard of humans turning into dragons at all.

Luna took the lead: (Greetings Matrons, My name is Luna, this is my husband Harry, and my sister wives Miramar, the red dragon Ginny, the silver is Belladonna. I apologize for not following your customs, they are the opposite of ours, so they can be misunderstood. We bring you the news of big changes in Alegeasia. The main news is that the Mad king and his dragon are killed, and a new ruler is chosen.)

An old half-blind Matriarch commented: (What business is it for us Human? Or is it Dragon?)

Luna smiled: (It is human, Matriarch, we can change into a dragon, but our primary form is Human. What it means for your people is that it opens opportunities for your kind. We know you were negotiating with a shade that worked for the previous king. Did you feel the magic leave your tribes when we killed that shade?)

Another Matriarch nodded: (We did Human child, it caused a lot of anger between our tribes, and resentment toward the humans.)

Luna commented: (That shade wanted to use you to attack the dwarves, by doing so weakening both nations, with your best fighters dead or wounded, both nations would be easy pickings for the mad king's army. All of that was for a promise of new lands to settle. We know that this region can not house more Urgals, and a conflict is inevitable.)

The first Matriarch asked: (If you know all that, why are you here to talk? To present us more hollow promises? Or do you expect us to surrender?)

Luna shook her head: (No, we came to investigate your wants and needs, to see if we can come up with a compromise that is satisfying for both sides. For example, there are empty lands in the east, past the Haradac desert. Our husband has claimed those lands for ourselves, with the Elves, Humans, and even the Dwarves' approval. Those lands are even bigger than Alegeasia, big enough to offer you a place alongside us. There are conditions though.)

A big Kull butted in: (What conditions might that be little human? That we going to be slaves like that Shade tried to trick us in?)

Luna looked up to the Kull, he towered more than four feet above her head: (No warrior, just some minor adjustments to your customs, that is all. Nothing serious though.)

The first Matriarch chided the Kull: (Nar Garsvock! Let us do the talking, although it was a valid question little human. What do you want from us?)

Luna's face turned serious: (To change the habit of your young warriors to make a name for themselves by killing Humans, Elves, Dragons, or Dwarves. The last time some of them killed Dragons, they killed the mad king's Dragon, resulting in the downfall of the Dragon Riders and the raise of that mad king. The army that marched in the Spine did a lot of killing before you could defeat them, isn't it? Was it a prize worth paying? Just to kill some sleeping dragons some of your young warriors caused a lot of deaths and suffering.)

Another Matriarch commented: (It is our way to select our mates for as long as we can remember human girl. Do you expect us to change our ways just for you? My father brought the head of a dragon home and became the next Nar in this village!)

Luna shrugged: (How many died because your father brought that head? There are other ways to prove your courage and strength. The dragon Riders and wild dragons will return, three of them are already born, we have to find a way to live together, or the conflicts will only end when one or both enemies are too weak to survive.)

Luna held her hands up and continued: (Organize trials, wrestling matches, endurance tests, all before a public so they can see firsthand the skills you poses, do them on neutral territory so you can compete with rival tribes under a truce. You may even invite Humans, Elves, Dragons, and Dwarves to participate in these contests.)

Miramar added: (The way your young warriors try to make a name is hurting your people. If they stick to hunting animals would be fine, but starting conflicts with other nations will be damaging your tribes in the long run. Power and strength mean nothing without wisdom. We offer you a place next to us, but will refrain from it if it means that you will go hunt for us to make a name.)

Luna confirmed it: (That is so, those lands are big enough for both, but we are not offering it to you so you can hunt us. Change your ways and we offer you a home. We can even arrange for your race to be included in the Dragon riders.)

I straightened up and said: (Talk it over among yourselves, we have to visit other tribes today. Goodbye for now, we will return next week.)

When we turned around to walk back to Ginny and Belladonna, a young warrior challenged me: (You! The cowardly male that hides behind women! Do you dare to compete with me?)

I answered: (That depends, what are your skills?)

The young warrior exclaimed: (I am Skarsvogh! And challenge you to a wrestling match!)

I shrugged: (So you are looking at me and see a weak boy, and you want to show your power. Can I change into my dragon form and wrestle with you?)

Skarsvogh frowned and said: (No, that would not be fair, your Dragon form is too big.)

(So it is fair as long as you are bigger and stronger than me, but not when I am bigger and stronger? What if I use Magic?)

Skarsvogh paled: (That is not allowed in a wrestling match.)

(To prove to you I am not a coward I have to wrestle you, but I can't prove it with Magic or as a Dragon? I am not good at wrestling, Magic however, I am very good at that. Do you prove to your women that you are brave by winning a wrestling match with a weaker opponent? Why not challenge a dragon to a wrestling match?)

I looked at the elders of the tribe: (Is this how your warriors prove themselves? By targeting weak opponents? Or attacking from ambushes? Organize contests and let them face opponents from the same strength, that would mean more than this farce.)

I looked the young warrior in the eyes and said: (But, to humor you, I accept your challenge Skarsvogh, do you have an area where you can have matches?)

/ \

The arena was filled with spectators, all of them curious about my fighting skills. I must admit, I am a bit rusty, it has been a long time since I had a decent fight with Martial Arts, using Magic makes you lazy after all. One advantage is that thanks to my dragon animagus form, my body is in good shape.

This is going to be a wrestling match, so boxing, normal or Thai, as well as karate, and Sambo are out. I have to rely on Judo, Aiki-do, and some others from that category.

Now… don't sass Judo! The competition form is completely different from the training or fighting one. In competition, you have two opponents that are matched in skill and body weight, which results in a lot of pulling and pushing. The training mode is meant for just that, training, the throws, and sweeps are controlled to avoid hurting your training partner.

Fighting Judo, however, is focused to hurt the opponent. When you throw someone, you have to make sure he comes down in the most painful way, meaning preferably head first, or using his body weight to break some bones. Fighting Judo is for ending the fight as fast as possible, even when it means killing or breaking your opponents.

Now, I am not an expert in Judo, my thing was karate, but an old master set me straight when I made fun of it... in a most painful way. I studied Judo for a couple of years before I got too old.

Where was I? Ah, Skarsvogh, I am glad he is not a Kull, but he is still taller and much heavier than me, a nice set of horns too, now that I look at them… they are not Cow horns at all, more like those from mountain sheep, big, curled, with a neck to absorb the shocks when they but heads. Yeah, let's avoid the headbutts.

We entered the arena from opposite sides and prepared, showing my torso would have those Urgals just chuckle at the puny human, so I am just in a T-shirt and pants, I waited for his first move.

Skarsvogh showed his intelligence by rushing at me with his head in a ramming position, and his arms forwards to grapple me. A typical attack humans do when they are under ten years old…

I did not mind it, that gave me the opportunity to do one of the most spectacular throws from Judo. While grabbing his horns, I let myself roll backward, stomped my foot in his stomach, and used his speed and momentum to launch him into the air. In training it, you guide the fall to prevent injuring your partner, here, I let the boy experience flight when he flew almost twenty feet before crashing, head down.

His strong neck saved him though, dazed he stood up, before he knew what was happening, I mopped the floor with Skarsvogh. I practiced my throws, sweeps, and choke holds one by one. It is great when you have a sturdy opponent that can't complain when you break something.

In the end, I felt sorry for the boy, no doubt one of the matriarchs have goaded him to challenge me, and started to give him pointers on how to attack and defend, instead of crashing down, he landed gently.

Twenty minutes later we ended the fight, Skarsvogh raised his head and showed his throat at me, he said: (I admit defeat Green Dragon, your fighting skills are better than mine. Thank you for guiding me.)

I smiled at him: (It was my pleasure, Skarsvogh, it has been a while since I had such a good fight, I enjoyed it very much.)

I really did enjoy that fight, my occlumency helped a lot to remember the small details that make the techniques more effective, it was like I had my last practice yesterday instead of twenty years ago.

I turned to the audience: (In matches like these your warriors can show their capabilities even better than coming home with some trophy from a fight you did not witness.)

After a few wandless cleaning spells, I put my clothes back on. Luna whispered: "Oh, Hubby, you are so going to have it tonight. We return to Illirea tonight and show this memory to the sisters."

Ginny, still in her Dragon form: §Oh yes he is going to have it tonight, or when we can find an empty place… we can portkey to our hideout in Carvahall!§

Miramar sighed: §No Ginny, as tempting as it is, we have a task to perform, we better wait for tonight, when almost everyone is present. Too bad the Ellesmera team can't port directly to us.§

Belladonna commented: §That fight convinced more Urgals than all the talking Luna did... Harry, you have to do that in the next village too! No, don't look at me like that! You enjoyed that fight, admit it Harry!§

I looked at them: "You realize that I surprised him, don't you? If he was more cautious, the fight would have been much harder, he expected to face a weak human kid that he could trample on. Anyway, I look forwards to tonight."

/ \

We said our goodbyes and moved to the next village, to do the same show and tell. I ended up trashing another one in a fight though.

At night, we returned to Illirea after visiting three villages, in our Manor, Ginny showed her memories from the three fights.

Daphne commented: "I did not know that old guy could fight that good."

I shrugged: "He couldn't. He trained a lot, but he was never exceptionally good at it. He did it more to stay in shape than to be a warrior or athlete. He had a family to provide for, and had his knee damaged early on, preventing him to go all out. My dragon animagus and occlumency helped a lot, a good body and memory made the fights easier."

Milli said: "We don't care, Harry, it made us hot for you, so pull us in your mindscape and start fucking us before we come after you."

That comment got the approval from everyone, Pansy grinned: "Well said Milli, too bad the color of our dragon will remind those Urgals too much of Shruikan or we would come along tomorrow."

Ophelia said: "We still have to get used to these new bodies, but watching those fights made it tingle all over. Harry? Pull us into your mindscape please."

What can I say? It is good to be me… no, it is great to be me! Too bad we were alone on the Manor, keeping the neighbors awake and jealous was becoming a habit. The blushes Eragon and Murtagh provided were fun to watch.

/ \

It took most of the month to visit them all, sometimes we could do only one tribe, most of the time two. Night time was tuned down when Galiana joined our bed, the culture shock was big, from a sword and horse society to a… Wand and broomstick culture? Wandless and Dragon culture? Do we have culture?

I came from the computer era, lived through several decades of modern culture, the seventies with skintight jeans that cut the bloodstream to your nuts, the New Wave from the eighties where the hairdos were in scary mode, the nineties that promoted underwear, let us not mention what happens after that bloody millennium.

Galiana shook like a leaf when she entered our bed, I don't know what was racing through her head, the girl was imagining the strangest situations until Fleur calmed her down.

Fleur put an arm around Galiana and said: "Relax Galiana, take your time to get to know us, we don't demand or expect that you take our habits, we teach you our Magic first, and show you our lovemaking. Most of all, we are having fun with our husband."

I heard the last bit and said: "And I have a lot of fun with my wives, but first Galiana, let me test your Magic power, give me your hands, now, think about doing Magic… Luna is right, it is not a lot, but it can grow. Fleur, Milly, and Pansy, show her our kind of Magic, we can get her into my mindscape in an hour.

In the meantime I pulled the rest inside, we discussed the actions of the different Nobles and City Lords and our progress with the Urgals. I felt the pull from Fleur to guide them in. It took a while to get Galiana to accept the strange feeling that pulled at her mind and followed it.

To ease the shock, I conjured a big room with a lot of couches, with one side open to a sunny meadow. Curious Galiana looked around, Fleur commented: "Harry can make it look like whatever he wants to. Prepare for our biggest secret Galiana, Harry? Teach her some Magic please."

"Alright Galiana, we will take it slow at first, to see how fast you can process the information. No, I am not going to kiss you yet, just our foreheads need to touch to exchange information… hey! I can do this with a kiss too! Just joking Galiana, we will make your first kiss more special than this. Now relax, I begin with occlumency and Magic theory to create a foundation… Done, sit on a couch and meditate on it Galiana, this is the foundation for our Magic Occlumency to create storage for all the information, and Magic theory to explain how our Magic works."

One by one the girls changed into a dragon and took flight, Luna and I stayed with Galiana to keep her company. We noticed she had a hard time focusing on meditating with the noise the girls made outside.

Feeling pity, Luna looked at me: "Clones Husband, Galiana needs her first flight, there are a lot of nights for study. See Galiana, this is our husband, do you see the deep green scales? Don't be afraid of the dragon dear, he still has the same human mind as before. A saddle Hubby, thank you. Galiana, get in the saddle and strap yourself in, these buckles go here, we use sticking charms mostly, but these straps were being used by the Dragon Riders… Comfy? Go harry."

Luna changed into her Goldy and followed Harry, who took it slow and joined the flock. Shielded from the wind, Galiana had the experience of a lifetime, surrounded by magnificent dragons, riding one was something she could only dream of.

Ophelia, Miramar, and Lenora were enjoying being a dragon in my mindscape and played tag with the others while explaining the smaller details of being a dragon and how to maximize the wind and landscape to perform better.

/ \

The next morning, Fleur took Galiana for a real flight over the city, accompanied by Daphne, Pansy, and Milly, they carried Ophelia, Lenora, and Fiona. It was a sight to behold, four dragons and Riders flying in formation over the city, Shruikan almost never left the castle, and when he did it was late at night so the people only saw a big dark shadow. With the new king, the tension of viewing a dragon flying over was gone, so people appreciated the beauty of the shiny scales in the sun.

While Galiana was having fun, we were traveling through Urgal country talking to the herd trying to convince them to change. It was hard to do, sometimes I thought it was better to let the war happen, so they could fight together and have the same goals.

I am even having second thoughts to invite them to be my neighbors. Those cows are battle crazy, it is asking for trouble, but what are my other options? Kill them all? Of the ten major tribes, five are interested, two are neutral, and three are right down hostile. Not to mention the small nomadic tribes that regularly raid the human villages.

We started getting progress when we introduced better ways to grow crops, it lifted some of the pressure, but still… there was an overpopulation in this region that was unhealthy, and it was bound to cause trouble.

/ \

Tracey gave the same offer to the Varden, to move to the land in the east and colonize a part of it. Ajihad refused, he fought for the liberation of Alegeasia and wanted to live in it, Jormundur however accepted the offer, along with fifteen thousand of the Varden.

His tales of humans that can change into dragons, and the demonstration of Tracey of her Dragon animagus and her Magic won a lot of support to move there, the Dwarves even offered them to move there, as it would increase trade and create a connection to the new arrivals.

In a way it was good news, it lessened the burden of relocating the Varden, Surda was not that inviting anymore after Ajihad's and Brom's failed ploy. Although a lot of retired Vardens and their families are living there, making it a diplomatic nightmare.

Milli and Pansy volunteered to explore the lands in the east for suitable spots to settle the Varden and Urgals with their Spitfires, both became quite fond of their airplanes and took them out occasionally, this was a good reason to fly long distances. A portkey close to Hedarth got them at the starting point of their search, it was the starting point of Eragon's final journey, his boat trip on the river to the east.

It became clear that the lands beside the river were ideal for settling, the only thing missing was minerals and tools. There was plenty of wood and game to start building, clay to make bricks, and roof tiles, they just have to get the knowledge to start.

Urgals don't like flat lands, they prefer mountain areas, firing my suspicion of them being mountain sheep. The mountain range in the far east was ideal for them.

/ \

It started a big logistical nightmare, moving complete tribes and their luggage to the mountains was postponed to the early fall, part of them moved there to raise shelters and new houses, when the crops are harvested, every one of the tribes moved to the new location to prepare the fields for next year, Our Manor trunk will handle the move if we can't find the portal home or a Manor trunk from home could be used for it.

The Varden moved directly, we provided building materials and raised big shelters to temporally house them. We diverted a part of the river to feed a sawmill, the top technology in this world, and a brick factory, we even showed them how to make mortar to build their houses. That should get things started.

It took several trips from Tracey to move the Varden to their new location. Thousand people in our Manor trunk at the time is taxing on the Magic, but it took fifteen portkeys to get the job done.

/ \

The new king started to get things organized, when Galiana puppy-eyed us, we provided two-way journals to the Nobles, so the king had direct contact with the regions, eliminating the middlemen, namely the local magicians.

This way some months passed, and we became restless, we need to find that bloody portal to get back home!