Destiny (Volume I: Shur'tugalar)

Chapter Six Part L (ED)

"So what happened next?" Arya asked a bit quickly. Eragon thought that she might be interrupting this moment to avoid having the others realize that though she was also their aunt, she hadn't granted them the right to ignore formalities with her.

Growing serious, Nia picked the mirror back up and responded, "After that, the years passed. I trained with my bondmates, learning the path of the gods and my own unique power - the one that bound me to dragons. With Vanilor, I discovered that being a dragonseer gave me the ability to connect with dragons; I could automatically identify their type, siblings, and parents. This bond only partially extended to the Riders, in that I knew what they looked like and a bit about their personalities and powers."

"But the coolest thing has to be the visions," Nate cheerfully butted in.

"I didn't really gain control over those until I got the tattoos," she refuted.

"Visions? Tattoos?" Nasuada shook her head in confusion. "What are you two talking about?"

Niaomi turned the mirror face down and stretched out her bare right arm, whispering a simple command in the ancient language. The skin on it began to waver like a mirage as black Liduen Kvaedhí glyphs intertwined with the shapes of dragons appeared. Each dragon was about a quarter length of the limb they were on, and small representations of their Riders sat on them. Eragon saw himself and Saphira on her upper arm, along with several other pairs: Oromis and Glaedr, Thorn and Murtagh, Shruikan and a shrouded figure that must be Galbatorix, and an unknown purple dragon with a Rider that had fiery orange hair. On the forearm Nia and her brethren were drawn.

Leaning closer, Eragon could also make out a small, shimmering brown oval in between Shruikan and Thorn. He pointed this out to Saphira, and she commented, That must be the remaining dragon egg.

"I have these tattoos that represent the 'Riders of the Age.' As you can see, we are all featured, and the last dragon egg as well," Niaomi said, unknowingly confirming Saphira's statement.

"Who is the purple dragon and Rider?" asked Eragon, peering closer. He could make out a few elvish features, like tapered ears and slanted hazel eyes. But they were not as elven as the triplets', so Eragon inferred that the Rider (whose age appeared to be that of Marian's before she died) was a human.

"The Rider is Ruby Huginelditaka," Nick explained. "She is our teacher, and a very proficient one at that. And her dragon is - "

Vervada Nuanenskular, Emere finished, the two smoothly transitioning, a mark of how strong their bond was. The green dragon turned slightly to look past his brother at Saphira. She is a wind dragon who hatched for Ruby nearly eight-hundred years ago. During the Battle at Doru Araeba, the pair was traversing the Spine to the secret library hidden in the farthest reaches of the north. They had been part of a group of Elders that had prepared for the worst outcome of the war. Ruby and Vervada were the ones chosen to guard the library until the arrival of the next Riders, for the knowledge it contains is even greater than Du Breoal Abr Kvaedheya and can be used to defeat the oath-breaker.

Vervada…so my dam is still alive? Saphira said, her voice uncharacteristically surprised for the second time that day.

Her sister nodded, icy-diamond eyes twinkling. She is, and both our dam and her Rider are currently on their way to the elves who march in the north. Queen Islanzadí is in for a pleasant surprise. With two Riders and dragons to assist her, she and her subjects should arrive to join with us sooner than you may have expected.

"That would be very beneficial for our campaign," Nasuada said with a grin. "With the dwarves marching from the east and the elves from the south, our army will increase in size."

"Wait…" Eragon said, frowning. "You said two Riders? Then who is the other one?"

Nia frowned, confused. "Oromis, of course. Did you not know that he and Glaedr were going into battle?"

They did tell us, Saphira began.

"But then they disappeared from the battle. And we - "

Aren't sure what happened to them.

Grinning at Saphira's and Eragon's combined speech, the Rider explained, "It was us who took them away from harm. We were traveling with Queen Islanzadí to assist her in the battle."

And by "we" she means the Riders and not their dragons, Luminous grumbled.

Her lips twitching but she didn't comment and continued, "When we arrived at Ceunon, the dragons hid and the rest of us fought as magicians. I had experienced a vision of Oromis's confrontation of Galbatorix, he wrought in Murtagh's body, so I knew that the oath-breaker would strike. I watched for the moment, and when it occurred, I and my brethren used our combined powers to transport the two away."

And why could we not feel any of this? Saphira asked, shifting her head off her legs to look at Niaomi.

She looked away from the dragon's gaze guiltily. "I had to hide the two from Galbatorix, which in the process also hid them from you as well. I'm sorry if I caused you undo worrying. Your teachers are fine."

Saphira nodded once before settled back down again. Eragon heaved a sigh of relief and smiled over at her, and she grinned back, eyes locked onto his. But their moment was cut short with Nasuada's question. "How did you five come to Alagaësia? We still haven't seen the whole story."

Wrenching her gaze from Eragon's reluctantly, her niece replied, "It began with our last day on Alalëa." A sad smile split her face. "This is not a happy memory, so I already have it channeled into the mirror so that I don't have to directly play it for you."

Shrinking the mirror and setting it on her lap, Nia stretched out her arms, the tattoos still distinctly visible. Closing her eyes in concentration, she began to channel her power. Eragon felt the room's temperature drop slightly as ice began to form in a small patch underneath her palms. It rose in a thick column, growing to about four feet in height before rounding at the top. Her hands moved with the ice creation, and she formed a dent in the front of the oval top she'd made to form a perfect resting spot for the mirror.

Her magic finished, Niaomi took the mirror, enlarging it once again as she placed it in the ice column. Scooting her chair closer to Ren, she made the ice tower slide to where she'd sat, so that now all could see the mirror and its cloudy surface.

"It happened the day of our sixteenth birthday," the woman began. "The twins celebrate theirs on the same day in respect for the anniversary of their mother's death. This birthday was supposed to be more special than the previous ones because we would finally become adults. Instead, it was special for a far greater - and darker - reason."

She stopped her narration, and the surface cleared as the reminiscence began to play…

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