The First Dragon Riders

Chapter 2

It had been three days since Styx had hatched and now she was almost as tall as Jacques was, it was the same with Orelel’s dragon, Zalgo. Right now they were witnessing the silver egg hatch for Toron, the baby made a squeaking noise as it slipped on the tabletop, when it recovered it gazed at them with sparkling yellow eyes before starting to stumble around the table. Toron laughed and the dragon snapped its head around towards the sound of his voice before rushing back over to him. It gazed up at him and nuzzled against his palm, Toron froze for a few moments before letting out a shuddering breath of air.

            He looked at his new partner, Spectre and picked him up, his dragon nuzzled against his shoulder and nipped at the fabric playfully. Spectre flapped his wings slightly to steady himself as he climbed onto Toron’s head.

            “Looks like Spectre is the exact opposite of your dragon brother.” Toron joked.

            “Ha, ha, very funny. Styx is playful around people she trusts.” Jacques retorted.

            “Sons we have only two eggs left to hatch, and we are running out of our people to try them on.” Ardaer said, silencing them. “If they do not hatch within the next month then I’m afraid we’ll have to move on without them and just start out with three Dragon Riders.”

            “What about the elves of Síltherim? Have they arrived yet?” Toron asked.

            “They arrived yesterday with the elves of Ília Fëon.” Jacques answered, “they’re supposed to see if they can make an egg hatch today.”

            “Can we watch?” Toron asked and looked at their father hopefully.

            “I suppose, as long as you keep your dragons under control.” Ardaer answered before going to his chambers.

            An elf with dark brown hair and gray eyes walked in and made his way over to the table, he paused at the sight of Jacques and Toron then bowed awkwardly. The princes gave each other humorous looks before grinning back at the new comer.

            “You can stand, we are all equals in this room.” Toron told the new elf kindly, “What is your name?”

            “I’m Anu.”

            “Well then Anu, welcome to Ellesméra.” Jacques replied.

            Anu smiled back at them polity then made his way over to the table that held the eggs. Styx and Spectre watched him like hawks as he examined the eggs, a guard handed him one and he sat down in a chair to wait for something to happen.

            It’s going to hatch. Spectre told Toron.

            “How can you tell?”

            I can sense it.

            Jacques gave his brother a curious look as he saw a smirk appear on his face, he decided not to question it though, after all they could speak telepathically with their dragons and vice versa. Despite that though Jacques liked to speak out loud when he responded to Styx, well he did until the guards and other elves had given him weird looks.

            Anu let out a gasp of shock as the green dragon egg started to hatch and revealed an emerald green dragon with pale green eyes. The dragon opened its mouth to reveal needle like baby teeth, it ripped its way out of the shell and scrambled towards Anu. They watched as it touched his palm and a flash of light sealed their bond to each other before going over to him.

            “So did it tell you what its name is?” Toron asked.

            “Yeah, her names Sakura.”

            “Follow us we can take you to your new room.”

            Anu bade them goodbye as they left to inform their father of what happened. Ardaer listened to them then send a messenger to ride over to the Hadarac Desert and arrange a meeting with the elder dragons to find a location for the Dragon Rider’s home base.

            By the time the messenger returned two days later the other egg had hatched to a female elf by the name of Emeril, the red dragon’s name was Pyra. Ardaer called for the five new riders to meet him and the messenger in the courtroom immediately and they gave each other confused looks before walking down followed by their dragons. When they got there they saw an elf with a pure white dragon with white eyes to match except for the faint line of pink around the edge of the iris.

            “This is Eragon, he was with the dragons when the messenger was there.” Ardaer explained.

            “How did he get a dragon?” Anu asked.

            “I bonded with Bid’Doum a few months ago before the peace treaty was settled.” Eragon told them.

            “He has agreed to help us when we make the Dragon Riders capital.”

            “I’ll also be helping you train in magic, aerial and ground combat, and taking care of your dragon as well as riding it.” Eragon added.

            He got on his dragon and took off, circling above the trees until the newer riders and Ardaer mounted their horses and started to ride to the Hadarac Desert to meet the dragons. When they got there the golden dragon got up from where he’d been sitting in the sand and walked over to them.

            I believe it’s time for us to find a place for dragons and elves to live in peace.

            “Your right, do you know of any place?” Ardaer agreed.

            I do not but I believe Eragon has been searching.

            “I found an island we can use, only riders will be able to fly there.” Eragon informed them. “We might need to wait until their dragons are old enough to carry them first though.”

            “Can you show us where the island is located?” Toron asked.

            “Yes, I can try to carry some of you there on Bid’Doum.”

            Once it was settled Ardaer told the other elves about what was to happen then granted the Dragon Riders to leave. They had one last party to celebrate the truce before packing their things and following Eragon on horseback. He let Bid’Doum fly above them and stayed with the others to keep them safe if any urgals or kull wandering around decided to attack them. The younger dragons flew with his dragon on and off, landing on his back or on the ground to walk every time their wings got tired. It took them four days to cross the desert and they still had leagues more to travel before they got to the sea. Eragon taught them the basics on how to defend themselves and told them about the Dwarves that he’d spent some time with before coming here, when they sat around the fire he would also entertain them with tails about fighting Urgals and Kull that had attacked him as he journeyed around Alagaësia.