For Alagaesia: 51. Green Ecstasy

His eyes flew open. He didn't know how he went into a complete slumber – a rare thing to happen to elves and him. But he had and now something had disturbed him. Groggily, he turned his neck around. He could sense Saphira waking too.

When Eragon rested his eyes on the spot where Arya had slept, he only found an empty blanket.

'Where is she?', he wondered.

He heard a squeak that was oddly familiar and remembered that it was such a squeak that had woken him up in the first place. He turned towards the direction from which the sound originated and found a scene that would stay fresh in his mind for eternity. Arya was staring wide-eyed at the green dragon egg that glowered in the red rays of the sun. The sun's rays falling over her body illuminated her in a golden glow. And the dragon egg was shaking. Shaking violently.

Eragon raised from Saphira's side in a rush. The excitement that was running rampant through his body could only be rivalled by that of Saphira's. She, for her part, roared in ecstasy.

Arya, turned towards the two of them when Saphira roared. Her face was so expressive and open that Eragon doubted if he was seeing the Arya he knew. Her expression was one of a person lost in the enormity of the moment. Her eyes conveyed a thousand emotions all at once: surprised, shocked, disbelieving, troubled, uncertain and yet entranced. Simply put, Arya wore the expression of one whose world had changed dramatically and didn't know what to make of the new world that awaited them. Eragon had never seen Arya being so vulnerable.

A surge of protectiveness for Arya rose in him and he rushed to her side. The egg fell silent as if it sensed his arrival. Arya turned towards Eragon and he could see a drop of tear gathered at the edge of her eyes. She looked beaten and lost. Eragon put his hand over hers and squeezed her arm assuring her that all shall be well.

The egg began rocking again in a much higher intensity than before. The little dragon inside squeaked again. Eragon could envision Saphira breaking out of her egg. The said dragon's huge face came down towards the egg at that instant. 'We are so lucky.', Saphira said, summing up Eragon's thoughts.

Yes, he considered himself lucky. Who would be a better rider than Arya who had personally trained under Oromis himself? Who could understand him and Saphira better than Arya who had become as integral to their life as Roran or even more so than him?

But what hurt him was Arya's reaction to the little green dragon's choice. Anybody in Alagaesia would be super happy to become a dragon rider. But Arya looked unwilling to accept the fact that she would soon be a dragon rider. He knew exactly why Arya felt as she did: because she had not planned anything in life beyond Galbatorix's downfall and this choice of the little dragon put a lot of responsibility on her shoulders, a lot beyond Galbatorix. He knew Arya's view of life came from her troubled past. Yet he couldn't accept Arya's reaction. She should be glad. Shouldn't she be? Being a dragon rider wasn't something to regret. It was a thing to rejoice. But why did she look so... forlorn?

Even Saphira, who more often than not understood Arya's reactions, was hurt by the elven princess's expression.

The egg fell silent again. And everything was so silent that each and every being in the surrounding was expecting the arrival of the dragon.

“What will I do?”, Arya asked, breaking the silence, in a hushed voice that was close to breaking.

“Just be calm, Arya. We will be with you.”, Eragon answered her.

Arya nodded her head but her expression hardly changed. Eragon held Arya's hand tightly when he felt her shiver. She eyed him gratefully.

“Everything changes.”, Arya said to herself as she regained her composure. “Everything.”, she repeated.

“I am not capable of this.”, she said, “I am a broken vessel.” She was still denying to accept.

'He will mend you.', Saphira said emphatically. 'Believe in him and he will mend you.', she said again.

“Should he suffer with me? My memories are dark. Should he be tainted by them?”, Arya asked.

'He is a dragon, Arya. He will handle everything.', Saphira said proudly.

When Arya remained silent, Saphira said, 'Remember that he has honoured you by choosing you after six thousand of years of rejecting people.'

Arya stared blankly at Saphira.

'This is a time of joy. Put your doubts to rest, little ones. Enjoy the moment for such an event won't happen again in the foreseeable future. Prepare to behold the last of our great race.', Glaedr admonished the three of them.

All three fell silent. Arya looking more certain if not hopeful than before; Eragon looking sympathetically at Arya(her words – 'broken vessel' had affected him deeply) and expectantly at the egg; and Saphira loooking absolutely delighted.

Minutes passed. Nothing moved and not a word was uttered. Then, a crack appeared on the beautiful surface of the egg marring it. The crack traced the white webbing that covered the entire surface of the egg. Then another appeared and then another and another.

The dragon in the egg let a loud squeak. And a little part of the egg-shell fell down to the ground. Arya's hand that was still encased in Eragon's shivered at the sight of the little snout that came from the opening created by the fallen shell.

A gust of wind blew as if to welcome the magnificent creature to the earth. Saphira raised her head and roared into the sky. Eragon felt a tingling at the back of his mind as something that was powerful and that which laid dormant in Saphira rose up – magic. The trees around them, all of a sudden, bloomed a full blossom as if it was the peak of Spring. The strong wind spread the fragrance of the flowers through the area in a matter of seconds.

Eragon looked around him. The patches of snow on the trees and the ground combined with the vibrant  colours of the flowers that bloomed both on the ground and the trees gave the area an unique feel. It resembled the heaven that Eragon had imagined in his young days, where people who do good deeds go after their death, according to humans. The rocky nest where they stayed was now separated from the rest of the world not just by invisibility but also by the environment. It was a different world.

'You did that?', he asked in amazement to Saphira.

'I think, yes.', she replied, 'It just happened. As it did with Isidar Mithrim and Brom.'

Arya, though didn't seem to notice the change in surroundings. She had eyes only for the little dragon that was wriggling, trying to find a way out of its egg. But her hand firmly grasped Eragon's seeking comfort.

The dragon was pushing his head out trying to break free of the shell that had protected him for thousands of years. After much struggle, his head came in full view. The little scaly head reminded Eragon of the days when Saphira looked like that; when he knew nothing about Galbatorix and the history of Alagaesia. He smiled thinking of those days in Carvahall.

'He is so little.', Saphira said, her voice bursting with mirth.

'Well, you weren't exactly as big as you are now when yo were born.', Eragon teased her. Saphira cast him a hard glance and said, 'I know.'. Then she went back to marvelling the little dragon's arrival.

And then as if he was breaking free of a prison, the little one's legs burst out of the egg, shattering it to a hundred pieces. At the spot were the egg was moments ago, a beautiful, lean, scaly, green dragon stood.

Arya, it seemed had lost all power to move. She was still as a statue placed in a cellar. Her eyes were still uncertain. But her lips showcased an entirely different emotion: a little smile played on her face, probably unknown to her. The sight of a little dragon would be enough to make even Galbatorix rapturous and caring, so who was Arya to resist the feeling?

The dragon-ling, on his part, raised his head and took a leisurely glance at his surroundings; the inherently proud being that he was. Then he lifted his wings – that were completely disproportionate with his body size and looked more like a pair of extra long arms than like wings – and started cleaning his belly off shards of the egg.

It seemed he was completely uninterested in his surroundings and the people surrounding him.

'He is conceited.', Saphira complained.

'He is just born. Give him time. Besides, you were worse than him three years ago.', Eragon replied.

Saphira growled dangerously. Her sound seemed to alert the little dragon to his surroundings. He raised his head and saw Saphira. She turned her head towards him and met his gaze.

That was all the cue the little one needed. He squeaked, terrified, and ran clumsily, flapping his wings straight towards Arya.

Arya, at first, backed away from the charging dragon, pulling her hand out of Eragon's, to the ire of Eragon. He didn't approve of her behaviour with the little fellow who obviously trusted only her for his safety. But then, when the dragon stopped short of her initial position, she moved cautiously forward towards the dragon. The little dragon sensing the discomfort of Arya stood his ground waiting for her to approach him. He then squeaked towards Arya, like a baby hatchling would do with its mother. Arya, for the first time in that morning, smiled at that action from the dragon.

Eragon was relieved. He had feared that Arya might reject the dragon and leave the little one to suffer. There had been instances where a dragon had hatched for an unwilling person and then lived on as wild dragons, because they had sensed the unwillingness of their favoured person and hence stopped short of causing pain to the person by forcing them to be their rider by touching them. And such dragons were always vulnerable and unstable and often short lived.

Even though, Arya not liking to be a rider was far from what he knew about the elven princess, Arya's initial reaction to the dragon's choice had made him fear. He had known it was just an apprehension on Arya's part about the safety of the little dragon's mind – he would have to see all the past horrors of Arya's life. Yet he had feared. Now, Eragon was ashamed for even considering that Arya would be unwilling to be a rider.

The little dragon seemed to understand Arya's smile and moved ever so slowly towards her. Arya turned towards Eragon seeking guidance. Eragon smiled at her and signalled her to go ahead, in her own way. It wasn't right to interfere in matters of a dragon and its rider, Brom had taught him.

Arya set her eyes on the dragon. He, in turn, stared back at her. Within moments of that eye-contact, Arya's eyes softened and a tender expression came over her face. The dragon moved even closer to her. Both of them – would-be dragon and rider – seemed to revel in each other's presence. Arya's face glowed, not from the sun but from the radiance of its own.

Eragon looked on in wonder accompanied by Saphira, who rested her head, oddly, on his shoulder. Saphira was sharing her eye with Glaedr and the elder dragon was absolutely in a blissful state.

After minutes of staring at each other in silence and being still, both Arya and the dragon moved as if coordinated. The dragon raised his head and Arya moved her hand towards him.

Every second, slowed down to cover an eternity as Eragon waited for the bond to be forged; for the newest rider and dragon to be born; for a bright future.

And then it happened. The scaly head of the dragon came in contact with the soft palm of Arya's hand. A dim green light at the point of contact was all the indication that Eragon got before Arya screamed out a cry of pain and the little dragon whipped his head up to look at Arya's face.

Eragon jumped and reached out to Arya before she hit the ground, unconscious. The dragon-ling growled at Eragon when he neared Arya. Eragon ignored him and set Arya to rest on the ground, placing the blankets under her head as pillows. The little dragon watched all this and then deciding that Eragon meant no harm, turned his attention back to Arya.

Saphira couldn't control her excitement and she called the little green dragon by rumbling low in her throat. Yet again, the little fellow was terrified and jumped and stepped on Arya's leg. Eragon smiled at this. An afraid dragon was an entirely new thing for him.

Saphira changed tactics and posed as if she was going to hurt Arya. The little dragon stepped right in front of Saphira and challenged her. Hot smoke roiled up from his maw. Saphira laughed almost hysterically. 'You will be a great one', she said to the little dragon. He looked at her warily for a while but then when she turned away from Arya, he loosened his stance.

Eragon checked Arya's pulse and slightly touched her mind. She was perfectly normal. It was just the effect of the enormous magic at work that had made her unconscious. He didn't want to wake her. And her dragon too didn't seem too much in need of Arya. As of now, he was exploring Saphira from various angles, trying to decide if she was harmful or not.

For long minutes he continued to study Saphira. She acted as if she didn't care. That gave him more confidence and slowly he tried to near her. When he was close enough for her to pick him up, Saphira craned her neck down to do so. But he was fast and dodged her attempt. He backed away from Saphira then, choosing to watch her from afar.

The sun was rising, now in all its golden brilliance. Saphira settled down to welcome the sun, her most favourite celestial body. The little dragon looked at the sun in amazement and soon mimicked Saphira by settling down just as she had and watched the sunrise.

Eragon walked to stand by Saphira's side, between the two dragons. Entranced by the colours the sun splashed across the sky as it rose towards the zenith and the white of the snow that withstood the sun's heat and the fragrance and colours of the flowers that bloomed on the ground, Eragon stroked Saphira's flanks lovingly. Saphira hummed contently.

A delighted squeak from the little dragon caught his attention and he turned to see Arya standing by him, holding her little dragon in her hand. She smiled slightly at him. Eragon could see the oval-shaped  Gedwey Ignasia on Arya's right hand. He smiled back. The dragon in Arya's hand squeaked again, this time irritated for being ignored.

Arya stroked his head with her Gedwey Ignasia. The green dragon hummed contented along with Saphira. And all four of them, happy to be in each other's company, watched the most glorious sunrise they had ever seen in their lives.

Author's Note:

Oh my god, I am dying in exhilaration. This chapter has got me really involved back in the story. The little green fellow has excited me to no end.