The Grey Chronicles (Eragon fanfic) Book 1: Emergence

Chapter 19: Oromis and Glaedr

A.N: People, this is going to be the last chapter I will have for Book I. No worries, I will work something out over the summer to get a copy of Eldest and continue this fanfic series. Unfortunately, Jackson wants his book back (if only his brother could read a bit slower!) so I will be without any inspiration for a while. You hard-core fans know how I am with staying faithful to the book.

Nobody please get mad at me if I don't update in the summer beyond the second book's next preface. I repeat, nobody virtually lash me off my cookies (kitty begging face).

Last chapter of Book I, enjoy!

~

Here she was in her dreamscape again, floating gently in the center of her mind's inner currents. Many of her thoughts as she went to sleep decided to surround her like a school of minnows, and Jesse irritatedly brushed them off.

Tonight was different.

Someone else was here; the Deep was usually teeming with its own busy cycles of underlying thought and memory. Only another soul too close for comfort would have it on its own guard. It did not feel overtly threatening though. The sailor hesitantly drew close to the surface of her mind. Carefully, drifting tendrils of thought feeling the way ahead, she made sure to stay just under as she looked through.

Jesse caught a glimpse of golden scales-

And it was morning.

Confused, Jesse looked around her room, unsure about what just happened. Did someone try to scry her in her sleep? She certainly felt a bit more tired.

She looked at the pendant that Orik had given her, finding it cool and looking just as it was when she first received it. The sailor decided to ignore it for the moment, doing her morning routine and dressing herself for another day in the elven city.

Spotting an unopened letter addressed to her and Orik on the table with no sign of said dwarf, Jesse opened it. It read:

Greetings, Jesse O'Connor and Orik, Son of Hrothgar.

I, Lifaen of House Rilvenar, am assigned by our Queen to see to your every need during your stay here in Ellesméra, and I do humble myself in your service. It is my great hope that you find your every need attended to here, though all that you find wanting will be mended immediately.

Clothes have also been provided for you both. They are a special gift from myself to welcome you into our fair city.

May good fortune rule over you,

Peace live in your heart,

And the stars watch over you.

Lifaen

How kind of him to do something about her threadbare clothes! Jesse had been worried about what she was going to do when her good shirt and breeches were too dirty to come out in. As a groggy Orik met her outside, somewhat dazedly having put on his new garments, she donned a blue tunic trimmed with sea green, a pair of darker green leggings paired up with it as well as new leather (if it was leather) boots. There were two other similarly colored outfits, and the socks felt especially good to her feet.

Jesse was a quick dresser; five minutes later, she and Orik were off with Queen Islanzadi's retinue to meet Eragon. Uncharacteristically, the sailor hung back and remained quiet, merely wishing to observe this time.

Having reached the tree where Eragon and Saphira were housed, they were promptly collected by Arya's mother, who looked strangely tense. Having learned from time spent with Arya herself as well as the other elves, the sailor knew she should not have been revealing so much emotion. Like a courtier, Islanzadi should have been excessively adept at concealing her true feelings from anyone else.

She took the group to the edge of the city, where she stopped at the base of a wooded knoll. The houses were few here, Jesse observed, and the paths she could see did not look to have been used very often.

"Before we go any farther," the elf queen said, "the four of you must swear in the ancient language that you will never speak to outsiders of what you are about to see, not without permission from me, my daughter, or whoever may succeed us to the throne." The black-haired girl frowned, not sure what to make of the sudden demand.

"Why should I gag myself?" Orik questioned angrily.

Why indeed? Saphira continued. Do you not trust us?

"It is not a matter of trust, but of safety. We must protect this knowledge at all costs -it's our greatest advantage over Galbatorix -and if you are bound by the ancient language, you will never willingly reveal our secret. You came to supervise Eragon's training, Orik-vodhr. Unless you give me your word, you may as well return to Farthen Dur."

Orik reluctantly agreed to the request, asking for Islanzadi to tutor him in what to say. Eragon and Saphira seemed to be in some sort of mental conversation, and Jesse reluctantly came forward to the front of the group.

The oath's meanings in the ancient language were somewhat haltingly understood from lessons with Angela, but a phrase struck Jesse in Gaelic that she thought would deliver much the same intention. Once done with the dwarf, the queen looked first at Eragon, then Saphira, to relay their oaths. Relieved at their acceptance, she seemed to only turn to Jesse as a last precaution.

Suddenly, the urge to take out her sea-charm took over her, and Jesse obediently held it over her shirt as she translated the oath asked of her to Gaelic. The elves stiffened when she finished, but Islanzadi had to ignore it for the moment and move on.

At the top of the knoll the trees were replaced with red clover that ran all the way to the edge of a cliff. It extended far beyond her line of sight in both directions and a quick peek down showed a sea of green at the bottom, with the lowland extending far into the horizon. What made her heart beat a lot faster though, was the strange sound that reverberated through the space.

Thud

Thud

Thud

Thud

Thud

A wall of gold suddenly shot up from below the cliff, revealing itself in the sky to be a dragon and its Rider.

A.N: How's that for the ending of Book I? Please, comments are once more appreciated.