Pugna: An Eragon Fanfic

5

Grabbing my arm, Arya runs off at top speed. As with Alydia, I let go and run at my top speed. Arya looks at me strangely, but continues on. I don't even remember going inside, but soon we're in a large study. There's a small desk in one corner, and a painting on the wall, a self-portrait. On the windowsill, there are three oddly shaped plants. Tables upon tables are covered in neatly aligned papers, while squashy chairs are scattered around the room. Arya sits in one of these and beckons for me to do the same.

"So... What's so important about my dagger?" I ask slowly.

She sighs. "I will be blunt. Your dagger names you as one of two living descendants of Eragon, the first rider. It prophesies that you will return to your homeland, one day, to retrieve the other descendant and together, you will stand together against the forces of evil that will ravage this land. If you do not, you will never be able to return home. Lastly, The dagger speaks of a great death that will change your life- either in this world or yours- I do not know.

"Child, where in the world did you get this dagger? How could it have possibly reached your world?"

I finally resign myself to tell the story of my family back home. "When I was about ten months old, I was abandoned in a forest back on Earth. I was wrapped in a thin blanket in the crevice of a tree. Then, a man came along through the forest. He picked me up and brought me to his home. They couldn't find my real parents, so they adopted me."

Arya blinks away tears. "And the dagger?" She asks curiously.

"I was getting to that. The dagger, or so my father told me, was wrapped in my blankets. He gave it to me the day before he died in a car crash..."

"Car crash?" Interrupts Arya, confused.

"They're a sort of metal machine thing that moves really fast to take you places. Sorry, I don't know a lot about cars" I explain.

"So they're like metal horses?"

"Sort of," I say, laughing.

Arya looks out a window. "I really should be getting back to the celebration... Would you like to join us? I could place spells around you that would protect you from our magic." She offers.

I'm really not in the mood to celebrate, but I feel it would be rude to refuse. "Sure, but you don't need to do the whole spell thing. Your celebration didn't affect me when I walked in."

"Hmmm. First I will show you where you can sleep and put down your bag."

She hands me my dagger back and I slide it into the sheath. "Come," she says, "I will have your pack delivered to your room."

I follow the queen out of the study and into a long hallway covered in vines. The walls were made out of curved trees. Near the end, we turn right into a small but comfortable room. "Will these quarters be sufficient?" She asks.

"Yeah, they're good." I say awkwardly. They're very formal here, aren't they, I think to myself.

"Then follow me, and we can return to see the end of the Agaetí Blödhren.

We returned to the crowd around the giant tree. Arya motions for me to stay where I am as she mounts a giant root.

"My people! The werelight is almost out! We must hasten on with the celebration of our bondage with the dragons."

The elves around the tree all cheer and they begin to sing and dance again. I feel myself whirled into their dances as afternoon slips into night.

When the 'werelight' in the tree is almost completely out, the elves retreat, forming a wide circle around the tree. Someone drags me with them to the edge of the circle, so I can fully see the proceedings.

Musicians in the tree sit, poised and ready, for two women to walk to the center of the circle. Facing the tree, they remove their cloaks. I gasp. A brightly inked dragon tattoo shimmers against the elf women's skin in the meager light. The women stamp their feet and begin to dance, going faster and faster as they sing along to the music in a strange language. The elves around me begin to sing as well. Strangely, part of my subconscious must know these words, because I add my voice to the music.

The two elf women move at an inhuman speed. Well duh, they're not human, I think to myself.  Then, as the music reaches its highest point, the rainbow dragon shimmers and lifts off the skin of the elves. Amazed, I stare at it with my mouth hanging open. It's like magic, I think, then I facepalm because it is magic. 

The dragon looks at the crowd and snorts, blowing out a puff of smoke. It turns towards my section of the crowd. No, no don't look at me, please, I beg in my mind.

Too late, says a strange voice in my mind.

Are you... Is that...? I ask, terrified.

No need to be afraid, little one, I am your friend. Just look into my eyes, and see what will be, yet what will never be, The spectral dragon says.

I look at its eyes and the dragon moves right in front of my face. The eyes go black and turn into tiny video screens. In one eye, I see a great, teal colored dragon. There's something black on its back. The two are flying against a grayish-blue sky. In the other eye, I see a sterile, white room. There's another figure in black, but this one is holding a teal stone in one hand and a black one in the other. You can't see the figure's face.

After I fully see both images, the dragon backs away, still staring at me.

Good luck on your quest, Sabrina, it says before returning to the two elven women's bodies.