Inheritance Fanfic - The Precursor Elf

9

Iro and Beo flew towards the edge of Du Weldenvarden with Arya and Firnen.

"I must report this development to Nasuada, Queen of the Empire. The dwarves must be informed as well. The races must be ready should these Wraiths decide to attack. Iro and Beo decided to tell her it was inevitable.

It is not a question of 'if'. Only a matter of 'when'. Beo told her.

"All the more reason," Arya replied.

They flew south-west towards the human city of Urû'baen, where Queen Nasuada ruled the Empire. Along the way, they exchanged stories of their adventures. Arya explained how she fought alongside the Varden to end the reign of Galbatorix and met Eragon.

Iro talked about how he used to go hunting with Fa-Lin or help out in Aegis's tavern.

"You mean...you eat meat?" Arya asked incredulously.

"Yeah," Iro replied. "I noticed how you lot didn't eat meat. But we quite enjoyed it. Fruit, meat, fish, and vegetables were all part of our diet."

Don't forget those crystals, Beo added.

"Crystals?" Arya asked.

"In the cavern where E'egroth was built," Iro told her, "There were these coloured crystal shards. Some were sweet while others were bitter. Some were just rocks that emitted a nice aroma while the rest were edible. You could tell which was which by their colour."

"It's hard to think of elves who eat meat and rocks," Arya said with a smile.

*******

Once night fell, they stopped and made camp on a small hill. Firnen and Beo curled around the base of the hill, guarding against danger.

Arya watched as Iro started a fire with a strange gesture. "How do you use magic without the ancient language?" Arya asked at last.

"The what?" came the reply. So Arya explained how the words in the ancient language were the true names of everything around them. And the danger for using to much strength.

"I don't know anything about that," Iro admitted. "Magic for my people works a bit different. We can create a major impact on the world around us only once a day. Other than that, we can only alter things slightly."

He pointed to the campfire. "This was only a small thing. If I wanted to create a bonfire or a wildfire, it would leave me severely weakened. And I'd be unable to do it again until the next day. Noon and midnight, however, is like a magical boost for us."

"And how much energy do small magics cost?" Arya asked, intrigued by this new form of magic.

Iro shrugged. "Not much. But if we spent all day doing things by magic, we'd be even worse than attempting to do a second big magic."

They ate their dinner before settling in for the night, trusting their dragons to warn them of danger.