For Alagaesia: 60. Learning. Speaking. Naming.

Dragons were wonderful. The way their mind worked was amazing to say the least. They always seemed to know what exactly had to be done. Young or old – experienced or novice, they were always one step ahead of even the most experienced and rational elf. Yet their aggression was something unheard of in human, elven, dwarven or even Urgal realms. When annoyed they could lose all semblance of fair judgement and follow their instincts blindly. But what served them in such extreme situations was the fact that the instincts of a dragon were almost never incorrect.

This Eragon had inferred from his experiences with young Saphira and old Glaedr. But he had no idea that even a baby dragon who could not even speak in the human and elven tongue would have as developed a sense of rightness and virtue as Saphira. But here he was experiencing the magic that the not-so-child-like-anymore dragon of Arya weaved; except, he was on the receiving end of the display along with Saphira and Arya.

The green dragon, who was barely a month old, had accidentally overheard a conversation between him and Arya about Galbatorix and the war. They had been so very careful till then to keep the dragon from knowing the pains of the outer world. All four of them – Eragon, Saphira, Arya and Glaedr – had not wanted to burden the young and enthusiastic mind of the dragon with the knowledge of the war and their helplessness against the enemy. It was not an ideal way for a dragon to grow. In more ways than one, the first month of a dragon's life was the most important in his whole life. The experiences of those times shape the character of a dragon. Initially, it was for this reason that they restrained from making the little fellow aware of the war brewing outside the forest. But then, the happy ways of the baby dragon had tied their tongues and minds for each member of the little dragon rider family wanted to keep and see the little dragon that way. It raised their spirits and gave them happiness. Each of them, even Glaedr – especially Glaedr – had restrained the other three from speaking about the war in the presence of the little dragon.

Glaedr, of course, did not show himself to the green dragon. He didn't want to confuse and burden the fellow with knowledge of Eldunari.

But right now, the green dragon was pacing back and forth like a King who was deciding on the punishment that had to be meted out to his subjects who had kept secrets from him. Atleast that was how Eragon felt like when he saw the dragon pace. However young and small he was, the majestic aura that naturally surrounded the green dragon was irresistible.

Saphira looked down on the dragon with pity. She knew how hard it would be to control the anger that the green dragon felt, having faced a similar situation herself about three years ago, when Brom had explained her about the fall of riders. Eragon could feel Saphira's emotions right in his mind just as if they were his own emotions. He figured that Saphira was consciously sharing her mind with him seeking solace in his presence. He had unconsciously done the same thing showing her just how he felt.

But poor Arya was as always left out in the cold, trying to reason with her dragon; explaining why they had kept the information from him. Without words, it was only harder, Eragon knew. Arya had to let go of all her inhibitions and open her mind in full to her companion for him to understand their reasoning. But he knew that Arya wasn't ready for that yet. In fact, for the past few days he had been trying to do just that with her. He had explained to her the importance of sharing literally everything with her dragon. She had of course cast him a dirty look after a few times; a look that said, 'as if I don't know that'.

Eragon knew that Arya had knowledge about that part of dragon and rider relationship, atleast bookish knowledge. But as it goes bookish knowledge can only take you so long. Practical knowledge and experience in sharing literally everything was the difficult and more important part to gain. He also knew that Arya wasn't ready for that kind of a relationship yet. She was after all a famous rebel and loner. It was a miracle that she had come to acknowledge him as her friend. And another miracle had to happen if she were to be a true dragon rider – one who shares all and sundry with their dragon unless there was an absolute need to hide things.

Considering all this, it was some kind of magic that the green dragon even stayed grounded. If it was him learning all these things Eragon knew that by now he would have bounded out of the forest to kill the usurper. But then again he was not someone known for patience although in recent months he had been taking great lessons in that art such as having to wait and wait and wait to be killed in or broken by or rescued from Uru'baen.

But soon a stage came when Arya glared at her dragon. He couldn’t quite place the Princess’s character. In public meetings, she took in each and every comment, derogatory, foolish or aggressive, nonchalantly. But she couldn’t stand a few angry and understandable words from her dragon. Her behaviour with her dragon reminded Eragon of another thing though: her behaviour with him when he spoke foolish things. ‘Perhaps, she gets annoyed when people she trusts and loves, behave unreasonably.’, he thought. He felt warm despite the cold of the winter.

The green dragon, whose scales shone brilliantly in the sun forming an arc of beautiful green across the surrounding trees, seemed to have lost patience with Arya’s explanation. He glared back at his rider and fluttered his now large wings. He was obviously hurt, worried and angry. It was all blatantly visible from the waves of thoughts that emanated from his mind.

“You are too young for all that!!!”, Arya finally exclaimed out aloud.

‘Eka Skulblaka!!’, the young dragon shouted back.

Eragon rubbed his forehead. The argument was getting more and more heated. Wait. It wasn’t it. There was something else. Wasn’t there? He spoke! He actually spoke. Saphira and Arya too seemed to realise that only late, like him.

It was such a natural thing for a dragon to say, that Eragon had almost missed the young dragon speaking.

“You… you… you spoke!”, Arya spluttered. But her dragon did not care to even listen to the change of tone in Arya’s voice.

‘Let me shred the egg-breaker to pieces, Arya.’, he thundered, in the ancient language.

Arya shuffled her feet. She looked delighted and sad at the same time. It was as if one half of her was absolutely jumping for joy while the other part was thinking of the war. She rushed to her dragon’s side and placed hand on his face. She rubbed him affectionately.

‘Look here, young fellow. We have been living with knowledge of Galbatorix for years. You should learn to do so too. There is much more for you to learn before you can even think of facing Galbatorix.’, Saphira said finally breaking her silence.

‘But… there are only… only…’, the green dragon struggled with the words. Eragon couldn’t guess if he was searching for words or if he was too angry to speak. He hoped it was the former. That was easier to handle.

How much ever Eragon tried to concentrate on the issue at hand, his mind wanted to celebrate. It was a special moment. One stage of the dragon’s growth was complete. He was talking!! The thrill of that thought pushed everything else away from Eragon’s mind.

But Arya didn’t look to be in as much a celebratory mood as he and Saphira were in. Eragon walked up to the young dragon-rider pair.

‘… the two of us remaining? No other dragon?’, the green dragon said overcoming his inhibition. 

‘Yes, little one. It is true, sadly. And I have had to live with this knowledge for years. We will have our revenge. We will. I will teach you to face the usurper and then we will have our revenge.’, Saphira said. Eragon knew she was thinking of Glaedr. Nothing short of that would have made Saphira speak in such a vengeful manner. But Saphira was quick to recover from her sadness. ‘But it is not time for you to worry about all that. Come now, you have learned to speak!’, she said happily. The enthusiasm in Saphira’s voice must have had an effect on the green dragon for he made a sound like he was embarrassed.

‘I have known to for a few days.’, the young dragon said. His voice was still boyish – an indication of his youth. And he sounded extremely embarrassed. Eragon even thought that he saw a slight reddening of the green scales on the dragon’s face. But it could have been the sun-rays playing on his eyes.

‘Few days? Now sir, you don’t have to lie. You never even called me by my name.’, Arya said teasingly.

Eragon relaxed. Arya’s mood change was indicative of the change in her dragon’s standing. It looked like Saphira’s words had affected the green dragon’s outlook for good.

‘Arya.’, the dragon said. The way he said her name made Eragon jealous. The dragon had poured in all his love for Arya in her name. Eragon was jealous for he couldn’t do something like that. He was forbidden from doing so. He slapped himself mentally. ‘Get a grip, Eragon.’, he cursed.

Arya smiled sweetly at her dragon. ‘Arya.’, he said again. This time Eragon had done away with all his jealousy. He smiled at the pair. Saphira nuzzled his face.

Arya put her hand around her dragon’s face and held him close. ‘Arya’, her dragon said savouring her name.

‘Arya won’t be alone anymore. She has found her soul-mate.’, Saphira said. She sounded relieved; happy even. It showed how deeply Saphira cared for the elven princess. Eragon stroked Saphira’s face affectionately.

Arya eyed Eragon and smiled at him – a mild and happy smile. Eragon returned the smile. Only dragon riders knew the joy of seeing their dragons grow. Even the dragons wouldn’t know it. He was glad to be with her at a time of such joy.

‘Come with me Arya. We have lot to talk.’, her dragon commanded. The princess threw a worried glance at Eragon and followed her dragon who clearly wanted a private conversation with his rider. Eragon felt as if he had been intruding upon them. Saphira pushed him playfully and said, ‘Don’t worry little one, he won’t steal your lady from you.’

Eragon’s face heated up instantly. He had heard such teasing words from Saphira for a long time now. He couldn’t even remember how or when talk about his and Arya’s rather confusing relationship had transformed from melancholy to silly-talk. Eragon preferred the silliness to the earlier sorrow.

‘Oh, come on Saphira. You and I know that I wasn’t worried for that.’, he said. Saphira raised her eyebrow. With her enormous face and scales, how she managed to do it, Eragon knew not. ‘I am worried about the questions he will ask. And the answers Arya would give him.’, he said.

‘Don’t worry about that. Those are matters that have to be solved one day or the other. Besides, it will get those two closer. If he is to understand Arya, then he should know about her life. And almost all of it revolves around this war.’, Saphira brushed aside the matter.

The last part of Saphira’s words hurt him. He knew it was the truth. But every time he heard it, it hurt. Arya’s life revolved around the war. So did his. And Saphira’s. He didn’t want such a fate to befall the young and cute dragon of Arya. But he was powerless to stop it from happening. One day or the other, the beautiful green dragon had to face Galbatorix and the evil he spawns.

‘Come little one, let us fly.’, Saphira called. He knew what she meant by it. ‘Let us bury our sorrows and worries and let us be free of worldly responsibilities. Let us be happy and let us live for ourselves.’ One word: fly had those many meanings to Eragon and Saphira.

For the next two days, he couldn’t meet with Arya and her dragon. It was as if the green dragon had hijacked Arya. When he had contacted the pair, Arya only said, “We will come to you when he is ready to face you again.” Eragon was left to wonder, what wrong he had done to the young dragon.

Saphira didn’t seem worried. ‘It is only natural that he would want to talk to his rider after he has learnt to talk. Especially since he has discovered the world beyond the Du Weldenvarden.' When Eragon looked at her strangely, she shrugged(a flutter of her wings and raising & dropping of her feet) and said, 'Well, he would want to know.'

And then on the third morning since the green dragon had abducted Arya, the pair came to Eragon's tree house. Saphira was dozing off in her corner and Eragon was busy with a fairth. He hurriedly hid the fairths in a cupboard and welcomed Arya and her dragon. He might have been imagining it, but the dragon looked wiser.

“Hello, Welcome to our humble abode.”, Eragon welcomed the dragon in particular and the pair in general. Silently he prodded Saphira's mind waking her. The green dragon looked around his home nonchalantly. But once his eyes settled on Saphira's bed, he huffed.

'You have nice home here, Eragon.', the dragon said. Eragon stared back at the dragon. His voice had begun to harden. The boy's sound was going and a man's sound was slowly entering. But still he sounded sweet. Eragon had not thought of it before, but the green dragon had not seen the inside of his tree-home before. They had always met outside or in Tialdari Hall. Never in his home.

“Yes, well, it was built for the leader of the dragon riders. So.”, Eragon said.

The look that the dragon gave him was almost frightening. It seemed as if he was challenging Eragon to call himself the leader of riders again.

'Yes. It is comf... comf...', the dragon struggled.

“Comfortable?”, Eragon offered.

'Yes, well. Humans, Elves and their stupid languages. Whatever.', the dragon mumbled.

Eragon looked horror struck. Dragons and their pride. Arya smirked. Eragon suspected that her smile had something to do with his expression. He turned away, taking a sudden interest in Saphira's actions.

'He says you look like a child getting red and all.', Saphira said.

'What?', Eragon exclaimed and turned toward the green dragon.

“You are a child, little dragon. Not me. I am your master.”, Eragon said trying to intimidate the dragon. It would be dangerous to let the dragon have his way with him. He couldn't even manage one dragon bossing him around. Saphira growled. Eragon smiled at her sheepishly.

Arya walked up to a chair and seated herself in it. She was calm and looked quite happy. Although there was something between her and her dragon like they didn't want to look each other in the eye. Eragon wondered what had happened between the two of them.

The green dragon threw Saphira a nasty look. Clearly his comment was meant to be private.

'Hmmm... well, master, forgive me.', the dragon said. Despite the apology Eragon had a distinct feeling that he was not considered a 'master' in the true sense. Eragon wasn't annoyed or anything about it. It was as it should be. It was only to try and intimidate the dragon that he had mentioned it. Honestly, he didn't feel like a master to the dragon and certainly not to Arya. They were friends and equals.

'But you will do well not to call me 'little dragon' hereafter lest I pluck one of your hands from your body.', the dragon warned. 'I have a name, you know.'

“What?”, Eragon and Saphira said at the same time.

Arya leaned forward and cleared her throat, a sign of her being uncomfortable. It confirmed the notion. So the dragon rider pair had chosen a name for the young dragon in secret.

The green dragon looked back and forth at Eragon and Saphira. 'Is it something bad?', he asked.

“No. No. It is not. We were..um.. surprised.”, Eragon said.

'Well, then. You may call me Vānēndran', the dragon said.

'Lord of the skies?', Saphira said. 'You are the lord of the skies?'

Something in her voice said that she was teasing the young dragon. Vānēndran looked at Saphira annoyed. It was obvious that he respected and admired Saphira. But there was that challenging glow in his eyes, calling her to duel him. Saphira growled at him.

“Indra!! You know you can't defeat Saphira in a flight contest.”, Arya chided her dragon.

Eragon looked at the pair amazed. Arya had already given him a short name. And it was sweet. Indra – Lord of lords. It simply said. Looking at the dragon, Eragon thought it fit him well.

“Vānēndra, you need to train before you challenge Saphira.”, Eragon said. Saphira growled at him. 'What? If he trains, you think he can defeat me?', she said.

'Oh, the dragons!', Eragon groaned.

'It is not that Saphira. He can't even compete with you without further training. And you will train him, remember?', Eragon said carefully hiding his words from both Arya and Indra.

'Ah, well. I shall forgive him for challenging me.', Saphira said thankfully to him alone.

'Seeing as you both are the closest beings to me besides Arya, you may call me Indra too.', Vānēndran said nonchalantly.

Eragon smiled and bowed slightly. It was a honour to be allowed to call a dragon by the nickname(short name) given to him by his rider.

'Well then, Indra. Come, lets fly.', Saphira said and swooped out of the tree house, making the whole tree sway slightly  under her weight. Indra followed her example. His flying had greatly improved and Eragon could say that in a week or two he would be strong enough to carry Arya on his back.

Arya smiled at him when the two dragons were gone. Eragon sighed. Her smile was so beautiful.

'Humph... Stop day dreaming and present her a cup of tea.', Saphira said.

He could see through their mental link at Indra trying to catch up with her and could feel her smug pride at being much faster than the young dragon.

'Aye, Saphira. You are much faster, aren't you? You have a three year lead over him.', Eragon said sarcastically.

'Two-legs.', Saphira said and closed her link with him. She was going to teach the young dragon the ways of their ancestors.

“Would you like some honey tea?”, Eragon asked.

“Why not?”, Arya said softly. Oh, her voice was a stream of honey. Eragon went into his little kitchen.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long. Real life played with me and I let myself be led adrift. The story is moving too slow, I can see. I will try and speed it up. And there are many repetitive parts in each chapter and between chapters. I will try to stop them from creeping in hereafter.


What did you think of the name? 'Vānēndran' is a combination of Tamil and Sanskrit. 'வான்'(Vān) is a Tamil word which means Sky and 'इन्द्र'(Indra) is a Sanskrit word meaning Lord(of the gods - like zeus) Do you like it?


Thanks for reading. You are my inspiration.