The Name of Names

~Prologue~

Roran knelt down by Ismira and placed a smooth flat stone on her upturned palm.

"This is just a test to see if you can use magic." he explained, smiling reassuringly. "There is a chance you can," he added, noting Ismira's questioning look. "Concentrate on the rock and then say 'Stenr Risa.'"

Ismira frowned slightly in concentration as she looked at the stone, memorizing everything about it. Everything in her begged to have the ability of magic, and she searched for the power. Her eyelids closed partially as she explored her own mind, looking for it. Then, she found a small bump in the back of her mind that she knew was different than the rest.

Circling it for a second, she pushed into it, and suddenly was immersed in pure energy. She remembered her father's instructions and gasped, "Stenr Risa."

The pebble wobbled, before slowly, unsteadily, rising into the air. Ismira's lips turned up in a relieved smile as she watched it hover there, before she had to let it drop back onto her palm. Her energy drop was noticeable and she reached out, grabbing her father's shoulder for support.

Roran smiled, taking the hand that held the pebble in his own calloused one. "Well done." Closing her hand over the pebble, he met her hazel eyes, and reflected on how much she resembled Katrina. "Keep practicing, and you'll get better."

Ismira nodded. I will get better, She thought firmly, tucking the stone into one of her pockets. And she did get better. Ismira dedicated herself to practicing magic from that point on. Being a quick learner, her progress was rapid. Spell books were uncommon in Carvahall, so as she got older, she went to other, larger cities—where they were more common. She spent whole days in these cities, devoted to learning the art of magic.

She learned the limits of magic, including the general rule for it; that any task you wished to do with magic, took as much energy as it would take to do it manually. Even though she knew this, it was hard to estimate, and several times the energy drain from the spell she was trying came dangerously low. When this happened, she had to spend the next few days recovering before she continued on.

This was one skill she wanted to learn more than anything else, and she dedicated everything to it. Roran and Katrina grew concerned as Ismira spent less and less time in Carvahall, instead traveling around. Realizing this could be dangerous for their daughter, they asked a magician to scry Eragon so that they could speak with him.

After greeting him, they stated the facts, as well as their concerns. As Eragon listened, his slanted brows met in concentration, and finally, he answered with a question, "Have you spoken to her about it?"

Roran shook his head, another part of him considering the fact that he was asking help from his younger cousin. There would have been a time when this situation would have been reversed, but many things had changed since then, and neither of them were the kids that they had been before Galbatorix and the Varden had interfered with their lives.

"I would suggest you to do so." Eragon advised, "Ask her why she is spending this much time on it. Other than that," he spread his hands out in a sign of helplessness, "I'm not a parent, and this is an unfamiliar area to me."

Katrina rested a small hand on Roran's shoulder, speaking to Eragon still, "Thank you for your advice." A moment passed before she added, "We have missed you."

Eragon looked solemn, "And I you."

The subject drifted on to Eragon's progress with the new Riders, until the magician had to end the spell. The cousins said their farewells, and then the spell was ended, leaving Roran and Katrina alone.

Days turned into weeks, and the one time Roran did bring the subject up to her, Ismira smiled, saying simply, "It's something I wish to learn." After that point, the matter was dropped, as they saw that she was happy and content. Nothing else seemed to change, so they didn't mind it, growing used to having a magician in the home.

Ismira wasn't content, however with the basics of magic, and eventually started to ask others who were capable of doing so to have mind battles. A few accepted, and Ismira trained in this area through them, excelling in this as well. Her opponents did comment that her skill in this, if trained properly, could be unmatched among humans. Something in her knew how to break into minds well, and she filed the information away in case it should be useful.

She began to want to learn more about war of Galbatorix, and after speaking with many people, learned the King's reasoning that drove his rule. She learned that he had wished to control magic, so that fewer people could use it for their own benefit. Becoming thoughtful and thinking it through, she made her own decisions on the matter, although she kept them to herself.

Several years passed this way, and in that time she became a strong magician. None of her learning satisfied her, and she kept looking for ways to progress. She searched out for more spells, and more about magic, until she grew into the girl she was at the age of twenty.

That is where this story begins.

OH GOODNESS AM I EXCITED TO START FINALLY POSTING THIS STORY! I am so sorry to all of you for taking so long to do so!

This prologue I wrote because it was necessary to give some background on Ismira, because she becomes a rather important character later on. ;) The next chapter I post will be about the MAIN character, Vanya, and eek am I exciteddd!

Hope you guys enjoyed this, and I am sorry if this prologue was rather choppy, because I needed to fast forward time a lot. Anyway, I am always open to suggestions, and fyi the Dragon Rider thing is closed now. Cynarr the rider you submitted is included in the book, and I want to thank you for sticking with this book :)

<>Evara<>