Destiny (Volume I: Shur'tugalar)

Chapter Five Part XXXV (ED)

Beginning chapter five, and giving a shoutout to 358Midnight_D, whom I dedicated this chapter to! I'm glad my "amazing imagination" can keep you entertained. (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) Now onward with our story...

Chapter 5

The reminiscence faded as Nia started narrating once more. "We hurried to the mountains, which had no active volcanoes except for one: Mt. Istalri. It didn't do much except blowout ash now and then, but lava still lay inside."

The fog on the mirror's surface dissipated to show the children walking beside a stream. The woods had thinned to reveal sparse, dry lands that were very rocky, and the slope rose steeply to form the volcano. Smoke rose from the top as the kids came to a halt at the base.

"So, we have to encircle this whole volcano until we find a fault line?" Nathan said incredulously. "That'll take hours, especially if we head in the wrong direction!"

"Well, what do you propose we do?" Nicholas shot back crossly. "I don't see any other option!"

"Yeah, well, this one's bad!"

"How else can we proceed?"

"By not proceeding with this!"

"Boys!" exclaimed their sister as she glared at the two. "Stop. Arguing."

Grumbling, the brothers huffed at each other before turning to Niaomi. "Well?" they both said at the same time. "What do we do, Nia?"

Rubbing her forehead, she blew out a long breath. It had been a hard trek, and the tiredness was showing as their tempers frayed. "Well, let's all take a drink and relax before continuing, okay?"

Everyone muttered their agreement as they faced the stream. Nia took a step towards the bank so she stood in front as she proclaimed, "Honored naiad, would you permit some weary children to drink from your precious stream?"

The water swirled as a familiar figure formed. "You have as much charisma as your father."

"You must be Wayłoêr!" gasped Nick.

The naiad looked pleased. "I take it Niom has told you of me?"

"Of course!" Niaomi said with a childish grin of delight. "You're even prettier than he described."

Flipping back her dark hair, Wayłoêr's smile was just as beautiful as it had been eleven years ago. "Well, aren't you adorable? Drink your fill."

Professing their thanks, all five kids took a long drink from the stream. Sitting back, Nia stared at the naiad, who'd remained in her form. "Wayłoêr, would you happen to know where a fault line is?"

"Hmmm," Wayłoêr said as she tapped her hand on her chin. "I may recall the place..."

"Can you tell us where it is?" Nate asked excitedly.

"Perhaps..." the naiad mused with sparkling blue eyes, "for the right price..."

"Price?" Nathan echoed in confusion. "But...we don't have anything."

"Oh, well." Wayłoêr sighed and began to flow back into the stream.

"Wait!" Niaomi cried out. Removing her boot, she pulled off an anklet made of pearls. "Dad made this for me for my birthday last year. You can have it."

"Niom made it?" She nodded as held out the bracelet, and the naiad gently took it from her grasp to raise the anklet to eye level. "You must be very keen on finding this fault line to give up a gift so precious...so it must be important."

Wayłoêr handed it back to the girl, cutting off her question as she told her, "Keep it, child. I'll tell you what you wish to know. The fault line is to the right. It shall no doubt take some time, though not much, to reach its edge - and be careful not to fall in."

"Thank you, Wayłoêr," Nia said sincerely as she put the anklet back on. "I'll bring you a present I made myself someday soon."

The water nymph smiled slightly and replied, "I would like that," before melting back into her stream.

"Okay." Niaomi shoved her boot back on before ordering, "Let's go."

The screen swirled to reveal the kids beside a deep crack. Its length expanded long into the distance, the other side eventually disappearing as Mt. Istalri formed. Steam poured forth as the ground seemed to vibrate with a hum of magical energy.

"Wow," Renata whispered in awe as she stared.

"Ditto," her twin replied, blue eyes huge. "So what happens now?"

"We wait until a pegasus forms," Nicholas explained. "It'll take a jolt of magic for it to occur."

"Which could take forever," Nate pointed out, looking towards the fairy. "How much time do we have left?"

"Ten hours, twenty-one minutes, and thirty seconds counting," Gedwëy answered.

"It'll take too long," the boy declared. "Why don't we just boost it?"

"What?" asked his sister.

"Get the current starting with an influx of magic," Nick stated to add further detail to his brother's solution. "It might work."

She shook her head at both of her brothers and their preposterous suggestion. "Tampering with the flow could cause something bad to happen. We should just wait."

"We could do it, as long as we don't send too much magic into the fault all at once," Ren interjected, always eager to stick up for the boy who would one day become her beau, "and if we all supplied the energy."

"All right," Nia agreed reluctantly. "But we add very, very slowly."

Putting their hands to the ground, they all closed their eyes as they concentrated. The earth trembled a bit more, the steam starting to clump together as the children poured their energy into the earth.

"A few pegasi are starting to form," Gedwëy told them quietly. "But keep going so we can achieve five." They kept their hands against the ground, and Eragon could see five individual lumps of clouds beginning to condense.

"Okay, the process has begun." The kids looked up at the fairy's words and gasped at the extraordinary sight that lay before them. The mounds of clouds were shifting as the steam began t form the shapes of horses. The steam hardened, defining the broad back and long legs, outlining the eyes and nose upon the face, before the huge wings sprung into being, their feathers popping out as the vapor turned to flesh and blood.

The pegasi floated gently down onto the earth, taking their first breaths. They were about the size of an elven horse, and their longs legs and skittishness indicated their youth. The colts pranced about, testing their legs and wings as they took small leaps into the air.

"Wow," Renata said once more, the awe in her voice far surpassing that of when she saw the fault line. Ruyi hissed, causing the five pegasi ears to flicker towards the children before they turned to face them, their crystal eyes absorbing the new sight.

Nicholas was the first to rise back to his feet, and the rest quickly followed suit. The pegasi lined up in front of them, each one staring at one of the kids. Slowly, the colts came forward, curious but unafraid. As one, the children raised an arm to touch the creatures, and as soon as their hands landed on the winged steeds, the pegasi crumpled to the ground.

Horrorified, they all bent down to try and find out what had happened to their respective pegasus. Niaomi lifted the pholÿn's head onto her lap as she stroked back its forelock as it snorted and blinked, and she inhaled sharply upon seeing its now brilliant purple eyes.