a frozen soul

chapter 13: hypothesis

"we received a message telling us ajihad is bring out his forces, he said your ringwraiths are asking for orders" oromis said

"tell them i am placing my army under ajihad's command until my return" i said he nodded

"and us" eragon asked

"there in lies the problem you and brom are heading back to them arya and oromis are going with the elves i am trying to decide who would need my help more, the elves or the varden, what city are the elves taking first" i asked oromis

"ceunon" he replied

"whelp that has made my decision i shall remain with the elves" i said

"why" eragon asked

"because i am the son of the current lord of the city and the entire city is more loyal to me then my cowardly father, the moment the see, any of my three dragons they will know of my return i went to and from the city during my apprenticeship with the king, they may not recognize ryoko anymore, and now there are two red dragons, however jaaku is the only purple dragon and they shall recognize him" i said

"very well, you shall join us then, however if i could make a suggestion to send your other two dragons with eragon and brom" oromis said

"before that, a revelation has been made, between my rider and rhunon" ryoko said i glared at her

"you agreed we'd keep this to ourselves" i muttered furiously forgetting our mental connection as the other riders got curious i sighed

"when we asked for your blades to be reforged, and we asked for your dragons to be pulled aside there was a reason for doing so" i said

"what reason is this" arya asked

"we required dragon scales, as when i forged my own blade svell kvïstr, i had used dragon scales to forge it, as a symbolic gesture, you are aware of the final product" i said

"that is remarkable" oromis said

"but there is more" eragon said i sighed further

"rhunon hypothesized that dragon blood may have an even greater effect, i made my own silent hypothesis as well that went beyond that however i tossed the matter aside, i believed such a bond was unneeded" i said

"what was your hypothesis if you don't mind sharing" oromis asked

"i do in fact, but i have a feeling i don't have a choice" i said

"when he said silent hypothesis, it was at my constant insistence on the matter, as i personally wished to get closer to my rider, the hypothesis is to use three items, that will connect a riders life to their partners, and grant the rider incredible power" ryoko said

"what are the items, i can assume the first two, dragon scales, and dragon blood, what's the third" brom asked

"a dragons eldunari" i said to receive the expected shock

"you understand why i have not brought this up, the idea was given to me because of ddraig who, lost his body long ago do to a very particular spell, transforming him into a gauntlet, that gives it's user power, ddraig himself is now immortal because of it and he goes from host to host upon their respective deaths" i said

"the idea has merit" oromis said he only considered it because of the war otherwise he would have classified the matter to never be brought up again

"if it works, if it doesn't you have killed your dragon" i said

"why have you told us this lady ryoko" arya asked she can also see the very obvious ramifications

"because she does not care of the risks, she believes that it should be done for dragon and rider to truly be one, with one another, to truly be linked, and has been trying to convince me to go through with it, i'm sure you can tell why i have been so reluctant" i said

"if anyone should experiment with this it should be you, you are more adept at magic and at forging then any of us" oromis said

"i-i fear the ramifications of it, if it does work" i said they looked confused

"why if it proves possible then all dragons and riders, would be even closer then they are now" eragon said confused they had similar looks of confusion

"something ryoko neglected to point out" i said glaring at the dragon

"don't you dare" she said

"what is it" eragon asked

"if it does work, then the bond will be as deep as the one a dragonlord has" i said and it clicked in all of them

"meaning the dragons would be compelled to follow their riders orders they would lose all semblence of freedom and choice" brom said in realization i nodded

"and that is the crux of the matter the second reason why i did not wish to try it, if it doesn't work i kill my dragon if it does, she becomes my slave" i said

"why do you care aren't you the lord of darkness" eragon accused in an instant the boy had a blade at his throat

"never, and i mean never, assume how i feel, is that clear" i asked darkly he nodded slowly i retracted my blade and stormed off

"you bastard" ryoko said as she spread her wings and took flight to catch up with her rider which was a bit overkill

this revelation put brom, and the elves in a state of contemplation

"just because they are compelled does not mean they become mindless" oromis said

"they'd do anything for us anyway, and us them" arya agreed

"and our bond would be all the deeper" brom finished

"i believe that we should try it, and if it works we should in fact, grant the riders a chance to further their bonds after we have tested them and made sure of their morals" oromis said getting the agreement from the rest

"now the next problem would be getting, lord hadrian to agree, to aid us" brom grunted that would be no easy task

"first we should tell our mother of this hypothesis" arya said they nodded

"but before that eragon, let us speak" oromis said

"yes i agree, why is it you do not trust lord hadrian" brom asked

"because of those ringwraiths, and his title" eragon said

"they remind you of the shades" oromis asked eragon nodded

"i must agree however, you must remember those ringwraiths are old older then i am, and that he has only inherited his title, also you should remember light cannot exist without darkness, having a benevolent dark lord who knows how to keep that balance like lord hadrian does is imperative" oromis said

"otherwise in the future if we are able to defeat galbatorix, another will rise to take his place and he will be stronger" brom agreed

"light and darkness are like a set of scales and are very precarious" arya said

"alright, alright, i get it, i'll apologize to him" eragon said the three nodded

"good" oromis said