Dragon Riders: Legacy(Book 2) Completed

Chapter 25:Funeral:Toph:2 years later

It had been two years of torment and suffering that Toph had to endure from her parents, when she could have been living out in the wilderness with Terra and Sandstone.
   The only thing she enjoyed over the past two years, that have kept her sane, was being with Terra and training with Sandstone on her rock/earth manipulation ability.
   But over the last two years, Sandstone had gotten worse. She had more trouble moving around. She was often on the brink of starvation or thirst, and Terra had to bring her food or water in order for her to survive.
   Toph has often felt bad for wanting Sandstone to teach her and Terra a few times a week when Sandstone clearly didn't have the energy to spare.
   "Toph, you need to come to the cave now. It's about my mother." She heard Terra say faintly from the cove, fear in her voice.
   Toph got up from her bed, which she had been sitting on, brooding over the scores she got on her tests that made her parents mad; she only got two C's and a D, she thought that was pretty good, considering she didn't even attempt to study or listen to whatever her annoying teachers were babbling on about.
   She used her ability she learned from Sandstone to sense vibrations through the earth to tell if any of her guards or handmaidens were guarding, coming, or about to enter her room.
   None of them were.
   She then took a few of the many pillows on her bed and put them under her covers to make it look like she was taking an afternoon nap under her covers.
   Then walking over to her window, she snuck out, and made her way over to the slick marble wall, using the shadows; she hated sneaking around like a spy or thief. It made her feel like a coward for hiding. But she usually only did it when she had no other choice.
   Once at the wall, she used her ability to make a tunnel that went under the wall. She crawled through it and closed it back up once she was through.
   She then made her way as fast as she could to Sandstone's cave, fearing the worse.

   When she got to Sandstone's cave, she found Terra laying by her mother's sleeping side.
   Sandstone wasn't looking too good. Her face strained and her eye sockets and cheeks hollow as if she hadn't been sleeping or eating.
   "Is she ok?" She asked Terra, with concern for a mother like figure, even if Sandstone was a dragon, she was still loving like a mother, one she never really had.
   "She's not well. She doesn't have very much time left in this world. But she does, however, have enough time and strength to tell us how to contact the Riders." Terra said with despair and sorrow in her voice for her dying mother.
  "Tell her thanks for all the help she gave me," she asked Terra to do for her, grateful for all the things Sandstone had done for her, even when Sandstone didn't have to help her.
   "You are...welcome Toph. Thank you...for keeping Terra safe...and I hope...that you continue to do so...when I'm gone." Sandstone said in her mind tiredly, her voice reflecting her appearance.
   She didn't know Sandstone could mentally communicate with her like Terra.
   "Thank you Sandstone," She said gratefully to the dying dragon.
   "You are welcome. Now, to contact...the Dragon Riders...you must head to the Petral Mountains. The boarder between Eura and Zhong...as well as the former home of Briggan the Wolf and his Great Pack. There you will find...a tower hidden in the mountains...a former tower of the Riders before they disappeared. In the tower is a mirror...use the mirror to contact the Riders. Say to the mirror: Eka fricai un shur'tugal. Eka wunsch eom thorta eom du fuhrer abr du shur'tugal. Eka thorta du ilumeo. Vel einradhin iet ai shur'tugal. Which translates to: I am a Dragon Rider and friend. I wish to speak to the leader of the Dragon Riders. I speak the truth. Upon my words as a Rider. Say this...to the mirror and you should have contact with the leader of the Riders. Once you have contact, tell the...Riders where you are and do whatever they tell you to do." Sandstone finished, sounding even more tired and out of breath.
   "I will. Thank you." Toph vowed.
   "Good. Now, Terra come here."
Terra did as her mother commanded her to, and moved closer to her mother, and they started speaking in their growl language.
Toph stood away from them, giving Terra as much privacy with her mother as possible.
When they were done talking, Terra looked sad and heartbroken.
She saw Sandstone close her bright green eyes, and her breathing slowly became shallower and shallower till she stopped breathing and her body went limp.
Toph felt so much despair and anguish radiating from Terra's mind as she lost her last and only known family member.
"Terra, I'm so sorry. I don't know how you feel, but do know that I am always here for you."
"Thank you, Toph. Before we leave for the tower, my mother wanted us to bury her in the cave. Within the stone floor to prevent scavengers, humans, and animals from disturbing her final resting place." Terra said, expressing what her mother wanted when she died.
"Yes, we can do that," she replied to Terra. Sandstone deserved every right to be buried the way she wanted.
"Thank you in agreeing to help me fulfill my mother's last wishes," Terra said happily that she agreed to help.
"You're welcome. Now should we start or do you want some more time?" She asked Terra.
"Let's just do it before the animals start to smell her." Terra said, sounding depressed.
"Ok," she said, and took up a sturdy position like how Sandstone taught them to do. It brought back painful memories of Sandstone teaching them side by side.
Together she and Terra made a giant hole in the cavern floor, slowly lowering Sandstone into the hole. Then they covered the hole back up.
Once Sandstone was completely buried under the rock, they went outside the cave, and brought down heavy, unmovable boulders informs of the cave entrance.
"I promise you, Terra, we will come back some day and give her a proper grave marker and burial." She promised Terra.
"Thank you. Now, shouldn't we be leaving for the tower." Terra said, sounding like she wanted to move on with life.
"Probably. The Petral Mountains are probably about a week's ride away. If we leave tonight we should reach the mountains in a week. Then the only problem will be finding the tower if it blends in with the mountain range."
"We'll find it. We just have to look carefully." Terra said.
"We'll need provisions, a map, a compass, supplies, and I'll need a horse. I can get one from the stables."
"Be ready to go by tonight. Have all your supplies ready and a horse."
"I can do that, since my parents are at Xin Kao Dai meeting with the emperor about something. So I can wander freely around the mansion." She would everything tonight when everyone was asleep.
"Ok. As long as you can get everything you need." Terra said, and then they both went their separate ways; Toph gong back to the mansion, and Terra going hunting for the long trip.

When she got back to her room, she grabbed a pack, extra cloths, a cloak, and a couple blankets. Now all she needed was provisions, water, and a horse.

Later that night, she got dressed in boots, leggings, a skirt, and a long sleeve shirt underneath a long sleeved tunic, and she fastened her cloak around her neck.
She swung her pack over her shoulder, and made her way down to the kitchens.
When she got to the kitchens, she packed fruits, a loaf of breath, and half a dozen rice cakes in her pack along with two canteens full of water.
Sneaking out to the estate's stables, she grabbed the tack she needed, and was actually able to saddle a strong, fast, durable horse meant for long, intense journeys.
She placed her two bags in her saddle bags, and she climbed onto her horse, not use to ridding a horse at all. She did her best to tell where she was by the vibrations she sensed from the trotting horse.
As she neared the gate, she pulled on the reins and the well trained horse stopped for her, and she climbed off, and went to the gate.
She opened the gate, and led her horse out, and then told it to stay while she went back and locked the gate back up, and then went under the wall and closed up her tunnel she used.
She got back up on the horse, and started galloping off towards Euran and Zhongese border.
She could feel Terra was following her from the trees; Terra not wanting to scare her horse.
As she rode off, she thought of the note she regrettably left in her parents' room, telling them she would be gone for awhile, not telling them if she would return or not. She didn't hate her parents, but it just felt kind of right to leave them a note, so they wouldn't freak out when they found her gone. She hoped they understood that she left because she was doing it for the better good of Erdas; she didn't want to tell them she was a Rider. She just told them that her leaving would benefit all of Erdas and help make it a better place.
Her mind returned back to the traveled path as she made her way to Eura.

P.S. The Ancient Language I used might be in the incorrect form. You know if you have ever taken Spanish before how the placing of word order is weird. Well I didn't do that for my sentences in the Ancient Language.
   Also the words wunsch and fuhrer are German words for wish and leader. Sorry, I didn't know the Ancient Language words for them. And the language Christopher Paolini used I didn't really know what it was, so I just used  German after looking at Norse and Celtic, which had no words I could find for wish and leader.
   Anyways, I hope you all are enjoying the story so far.