The Rogue Rider (An Inheritance Fanfiction)

Chapter 18: New Doru Araeba

They weren't far into the mountains when Ragin spotted the first wild dragon. It was a ruby red colour, lazing on the stony outcrop of the mountain. It watched the dragon riders fly by without even batting an eye, and in Ragin's mind it almost scoffed, though it did seem to pay a fair amount of attention to Akaysha, likely recognising her as rather new to the area. The gender of the dragon was impossible to distinguish but from its size he guessed the dragon was around fifty years old.

That sighting wasn't the only one however, and before long Ragin found himself spotting dragons wherever he looked. They weren't exactly covering the area, but small groups of them were seen everywhere. A few of the more curious creatures flew up beside the riders, taking a closer look at the new dragon in their ranks. Akaysha watched them a little warily, as many of them were a fair bit larger than her.

One especially curious green dragon touched her mind, causing her to growl in surprise and quickly shield herself from the intrusion. The dragons snorted, before turning and away and winging back toward the mountain that he occupied. Ragin gently pattered her neck in an attempted comfort, but it didn't stop the slight unease she felt while surrounded by so many of her kind.

In front of them many of the wild dragons had flown up to greet Firnen with trills and rumbles that sounded almost speech like. Akaysha knew that most of their communication was mental as they welcomed one of the oldest dragons alive into their home. They spoke to the others as well, exchanging stories and memories like old friends.

Eventually Akaysha found herself growing curious and gently stretched her mind out to the surrounding dragons, wanting to know them through a little more than what the others had shown her. She was eagerly accepted, as many a conscious pulled her in with an openness she hadn't felt before. Images, feelings, smells all flashed by her so fast that she wasn't able to keep up with it all. Very few words, if any at all, were spoken between the dragons, and it didn't take her long to find herself confused and muddled by the overload of information, and she found herself pulling back into the solace of her own mind.

'Do not be afraid little one,' a voice brushed all the other minds away like a breeze, allowing her to breathe easily once again, 'They are merely excited and curious. Young dragons are a seldom sight, and not many are born with starlight scales like yours.'

'Thank you... ebrithil,' Akaysha replied, looking around to see if she could find who was speaking, her gaze meeting with an especially large white dragoness flying a ways ahead.

'What is your name?'

'Akaysha.'

'You may call me Fruessa,' there was a faint sound of amusement behind her words, 'We have long since heard about you and felt your presence. I will enjoy getting to know you more in the future. For now, farewell, daughter of the night.'

With that the white dragon retracted from her mind, leaving Akaysha feeling slightly empty, and glided down to the valley floor. After another hour of flying, the dragon riders landed at a small and well used camping spot, scraped clean by dragon scales and talons. They built another fire at the campsite, and were joined by nearly a dozen wild dragons, lazing around and talking to their compatriots.

"You look a little overwhelmed Ragin," Freya smirked slightly at the thief as he studied each of the wild dragons with scrutiny.

"I didn't realise there were this many dragons in these mountains," he responded truthfully.

The girl nodded her head, "There are around two thousand wild dragons that occupy these mountains, and three hundred and... fifty... I think... bonded dragons. The oldest dragons are Saphira, whom I'm sure you know, and a wild dragon named Sharrag, who hatched during the war between Galbatorix, in hiding of course."