Chapter 1: Visions
"I'm going to miss you, Blue." Kael'thas held her in his arms and she sqeezed his neck. "You'll try to contact me if you need help, right?" he asked. Bluestone pulled away from him and nodded, not trusting her voice to be steady. The prince set his little cousin, who had been much like a sister, on the sandy floor of the cavern. Nozdormu held out one hand and she grasped it, the dragon's larg hand enveloping her's. They began to walk towards the portal that would take the Sunstrider child to a new world with new possibilities, dangers, and hope. A world that held the key to the continuation of the Blood Elf race. The two where almost to the portal when Kael'thas yelled, "Wait!" and ran towards them.
"I almolst forgott to give you this." he said, holding out a small, silver egg and winking. "A little reminder of home." Bluestone recognized it as a dragonhawk egg. She took it and held it tight against her breast. Tears began to stream down her pale cheeks. "T-thank you." she croaked.
"Now, Bluestone Sunstrider, are you ready?" Nozdormu asked when they reached the portal's opening. "Yes. I do beleive I am." she answered him and, taking a deep breath, walked through the portal alone.
Bluestone could smell smoke and Death. "Mama? Papa? Sissy?" she asked, trying to move through the thick smoke and flames. A gutteral growl emmitted from the shadows behind her. "Mama?" she asked and turned around. It was her parents, but, at the same time, not her parents. bits of flesh hung from exposed bone and muscle and they passed through the fire unfazzed, hunger deep within thier lifeless eyes.
"Oh mama, oh papa." she wept as the creatures that had once been her beloved parents started to crawl towards her. When the pair where almost upon her, they lept into the air, Bluestone released a spell that she did not know she knew. They froze in midair, then fell heavily to the broken ground.
But instead of seeing her parent's corpses shatter, Bluestone saw a boy not much younger than she with dark eyes and eyebrows picking up a large, saphire stone. The area around them was blackened and charred. "Eragon?" she asked. But instead of hearing an answer, she heard the whistling of a kettle and sat bolt upright in bed.
Bluestone stood up groaning. Her neck was stiff. A lovely aroma waffed in from the main room and she followed it, tieing up her long hair. "Brom?"
The old, eagle-nosed man walked into the room carrying two bowls of stew and set them on the table. "I was wondering when you'd wake up." he smiled and filled two cups with hot water. "You have been tossing and turning in that bed all night!" Brom paused for effect. "And I think a few iscicles have formed on the cailing." Bluestone looked up and, sure enough, shards of ice clung to the beams. She grimmaced. "My appologies." He laughed and said, "Eight years and you still haven't worked out all the magical kinks, eh?" Bluestone's face grew red. "Hey! Magic works differently here!" But the old man only laughed harder.
Yes. it had been eight long years since Bluestone's arrival in Alagaesia. Eight years since she left all that she had ever known. She was seventeen now, a woman by their standards, but still a child by hers.
They sat down to eat. Suddenly, there was a flash of silver and Bluestone's right shin errupted with pain, then that same flash settled down onto her shoulder. "Hello Snappers." she said, patting the little dragonhawk's head. Brom laughed then became serious. "What dreams have plagued your mind so harshly?" he asked as he sipped his tea. Sighing, Bluestone set down her spoon. "A vision within a nightmare within a memory." His gaze bore into her. "Elaborate." he said flatly. She did.
When she finished, Brom let out a long sigh and rubbed his wrinkled brow. "And you are sure that it was Eragon you saw with the stone?" he asked. "Positive." Bluestone answered. Silence wrapped it's dark cloak around the room.
Brom was the first to speak again. "Have you practiced for our little performance?" Bluestone nodded. "I have perfected it." she said dully. He smiled. "Good! Now you can practice on your magic." Again, she nodded, then looked up at him. "Would you like to come and watch?" Brom occasionaly accompanied Bluestone to inspect how her magic manifested. Many of her spells where extremely powerful, but some spells oly created a small ammount of purple dust which the old man collected. "Just in case this powder comes in handy." he would say sheepishly. But he only shook his head this time.
Bluestone looked at Brom. The old man had taken her in after she had been prodded by the elfs of Alagaesia. He had saved her and became a father to her over theyears. Brom had been the only one not afraid of her strange appearance and had taught her all she knew about this world ad it's ways: both common and magical.
"You still haven't said a word about my decision to leave." she said, taking the empty bowls to the washing sink. When she returned, Brom had light his pipe and was puffing on it glumly.
Bluestone's long strides took her to him in only momments. She fell yo her knees infront of him, taking his rough, nobbed hands within her long, smooth ones. "Please Brom." she pleaded with him. "I would like to know that I have your blessing when I leave Carvahall." There whas a pause. "Why would you want the blessing of a foolish old man?" he asked in a whisper.
Bluestone's eyes filled with tears and she placed her forehead upon their joined hands. "Why would anyone want the blessing of the man who took them in, cared for them, and became a faather to them when all shunned them?" she countered.
Anouther long and strenuous pause stretched it's fingers. "You-you think of me as your father?" Brom asked in a bewildered yet joyous voice. She looked up at him and gazed into his eyes. "Of course, how could I not?" she whispered. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Then I give to you mine blessing, Bluestone." he hesitated, then said, "my daughter." A wave of releif and happiness coupled with sorrow filled into Bluestone's heart and she hugged Brom tightly. They sat like that for a few precious momments, then Brom broke their embrace. "Now go! The day is new and you have much to do!" She nodded, smiling, and got up.
"C'mon Snappers!" she said, pulling on a long green cloak over her simple grey boddice, white shirt, and midnight skirts. A ripple of air and power danced around Bluestone and Snappers. A sigh, soft and lovely, could be heard. When the sigh stopped, the sight did as well ad Buestone's long, emerald and diamond studded pointed ears shortened and became round. Her eyebrows, easilly as long as her ears, had shortened to look like a human's and her hair had lost some its radiance and glory. The bones of her cheeks and jaw had become thicker and less defined. Her skin had darkened and her glowing green eyes where now dull and evergreen coloured. Bluestone Sunstrider now appeared to be no more magical than the next human, but she still held some of her elvish beauty.
Snappers, on the other hand, had become a small, silver and black tabby. His own glowing yellow eyes now only glowed in darkness. He stretched, yawned, then meowed, and, finall, rubbed up against Bluestone's legs lovingly. She smiled and raised a hand to Brom in goodbye, then was off into the morning glow.
