Riders Before The Pact
Prologue: Birth of A Chance
Night permeated the forest with its ethereal tendrils. The lights of Ellesmera shielded the city from darkness. The air was peaceful, belying the drama unfolding inside the city. Argana was curled up in her hollow, but she was tense. Something pained her, but what the pain was was an enigma. She was a dragon of massive proportions, with silver scales that seemed to mirror her surroundings. Beside her was a large tree with a door at the base of the trunk.
Vylon entered the hollow through the door. He looked joyous, as though his dearest wish had come true. He was an elf, with deep blue eyes and dark brown hair that fell down to the bottom of his pointed ears. He was tall, thin, and moved with grace that ran strong in his blood. When he spoke, his voice sounded musical, as though he could have broken into song at any second.
"How much longer?" he asked Argana, his voice perfectly controlled to show no emotion.
"Not much longer. I hope that the new Riders will be strong enough to defeat the king if Eragon fails." Her mouth had not opened at all, and only Vylon could hear her in his mind.
"They will have to be. Should we inform Queen Islanzadi and Ajihad of this?
"It is necessary. However, you should plan on what to do with them before they are informed. It would be unwise to have these put in a position where they are able to be stolen."
"Agreed. I doubt that the Riders of these dragons are either of the Varden or the elves."
Argana pondered this statement. It seemed very unlikely that she would ever understand Vylon's logic. Suddenly, she tensed. Spasms rocked her body, and Vylon decided to leave her alone for a while. As he left, he said to her, "I shall be at the library. There is something I need to check."
"It is over. The eggs are laid," said Argana to Vylon.
Vylon had been checking up on ancient spells and sources of magic. His idea was confirmed. It was possible. Now all he had to do was find a way.
"I'll be there in a minute. I just need to check one more thing." He hurried to put the scrolls back up on the shelves. He was in one of the older sections of the library. Then he walked to a shelf near the door. He was looking for one scroll in particular. It was on a simple spell, but Vylon knew that it held the answer to his most pondered question. How could he find the Riders destined for these eggs?
As he checked the scroll on scrying, he noticed that there was a special section for scrying objects in the past. It had mentioned that there was only one requirement for scrying the past; an item that was linked to the target at one point. This was it, though Vylon. This is what I need!
As he rushed to Argana, he stopped at Rh¸non's forge. He would need tools for forging swords, and Rh¸non had exactly what he needed.
Argana was still in her hollow when Vylon returned, carrying a bundle that seemed rather heavy for its size.
"What do you need that for?" asked Argana.
"We need to leave for Beirland as soon as possible." Vylon seemed overjoyed by something.
"What about the eggs? They need to be enchanted before they become immune."
"I'll get right on that. I will tell you why after I am done."
Thus began the long process of enchanting the eggs. When Vylon was done, he was worn out. He knew he would need to rest before they could depart for Beirland. Before he left, however, he would inform Argana of his discovery.
"Firstly, I have found a way of finding the Riders through the annals of time. In the scroll on scrying, it states clearly that the only requirement is an item linked with the target. The eggs are linked to their destined Riders, so now we just have to reach the Riders-to-be. Which I think I have figured out how to do as well. I noticed in the older section of the library that there exists a spell for moving through time, but the only way that it was possible is to find a huge source of magic. The problem is that there are only three places that we can go. The bogs of Aroughs, Mani's Cave in the Beor Mountains, and Eoam.
"I have absolutely no idea where Mani's Cave is, and Aroughs is in the Empire. So we have to travel to Eoam. Once there, I can use the magic of the Floating Crystal to transport you and me through time. I think I should have some method of returning before we actually go through time. I have found a spell to increase the limit of the spell's reach, so that you and I can go back. But we must leave soon. I will right a message to Islanzadi informing her about our plan. In the meantime, I want to have a look at those who I will be training personally."
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Littlefoot was sleeping. He had had a hard day. The trek to Saurus Rock had tired him greatly. "At least I have something to look forward to tomorrow," he thought to himself, remembering that tomorrow was the day. "I finally get to see my dad again."
They had heard that Littlefoot's father's herd was arriving from a Fast Runner that arrived the previous morning. Littlefoot was excited as ever. He wanted to see if he could see his dad from Saurus Rock, so he took the day to travel to the towering rock structure. His trip was in vain, though, because the herd was still unseen.
As Littlefoot fell asleep, he began to feel a curiosity enter his mind, even though nothing was new around him. When Littlefoot finally fell asleep, the usual sleep stories danced around inside his head. Then, just before he awoke, a new image came in front of the usual pictures. This one was as clear as day, and depicted a giant flying creature, of which he did not know, with a different creature on its back. The smaller creature seemed to look directly at Littlefoot, smiled and said, "Sleep well. I shall see you in the future." What did the creature mean? Who was that creature? Was it even real?
