I notice that not to many of you people subscribed, huh… Well, no matter. I'm sure you'll all do it eventually. Considering that roughly 600 people read the last chapter and only eight of you reviewed me, I suppose I should say it was a good haul that six of you signed up. Why don't any of you read my notes to you? I'll bet you five quid that the only people who actually read the notes signed up. I put them there for a reason! Read them, damn it!!!
Well, I have nothing to say to the those of you who didn't review, or the ones who did, for that matter. I did have the strangest suspicion that I know the reviewer Emma_Granger. Reminds me of a few people. Hmmm…
To anyone who wondered, the Latin text in the previous chapter translates to:
`May the powers who rule over this world help this Dexzaran become his true form!'
Just thought you might want to know.
Well, read on…
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The Draconis Saga
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Chapter 5
Ashrang
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Harry woke suddenly. Looking around him, he found himself in a room, this one different again to the two he had been staying in the past four days. At the end of his bed was change of clothes. These ones were more to what he was used to. A shirt (cotton), pants (he couldn't tell). He pulled them on and then looked around for his wand. Fining that, he stuffed it into a pocket, before looking around the room.
He was suddenly struck be how clear his vision was. Even clearer than his normal glasses. Maybe they had gotten him new…
He put his hand to the bridge of his nose. No glasses. He wasn't wearing any glasses. He remembered the Sage telling him about how a dexzaran had perfect day and night vision as well as all the rest of it.
The change must have gone correctly, then. He crossed the room and looked into the mirror hanging on the wall, interested as to what he looked like with no glasses. He almost jumped back in shock by what he saw. Moving closer, he peered into the mirror at his face.
His eyes were no longer their normal look. The whites of his eyes, along with his irises, had gone black. His retina, however, had taken on the colour his irises had once been, a vivid, emerald green. What really surprised him was that they had changed shape. The retinas were no longer round, like a what they had been, but slits, like a cat's.
After he had gotten over the shock of seeing that, he looked at the rest of his face. His nose was slightly more hooked, much like Dumbledore's, and his cheek bones were more prominent. It looked like he had thinned ever so slightly. The change must have taken a lot out of him. His hair, he saw, was the same colour as it had always been, but it was slightly shorter, and more spiky rather than messy.
Harry got over his sudden spout of vanity when there was a sharp rap on the door. He turned to answer it, and was met by a Elvin guard. The Elf looked rather haggard, and told Harry to bring his things and follow. The guard led him through more halls, and eventually ended up at the Sage's office.
Harry opened the door and stepped inside. Closing the door and turning around, he was met with the unfamiliar faces of a four elves, a dwarf, and four humans. He looked hastily to the Sage for an explanation, who hastened to answer.
"These people are here to be your teachers in your various subjects of study while you are here in Ellesmerá. The Elves before you are Jonas, from the city if Ilia Fëon, who will be helping to train you physically," A tall blonde elf next on the end of the line waved, "Aroralin, from the city of Kirtan, who will be teaching you sword fighting," A slightly shorter, dirty blonde elf waved this time, "Aumar, from the city of Ceris, who will be teaching you how to manage Animagi transformations; and Joran, from the city of SÃlthrim, who will be teaching you the art of the Metamorphmagi.
"The Humans are Merik, from the city of Aberon in Surda, who will be teaching you hand to hand combat; Devon, from the city of Petrǿvya in Surda, who will be teaching you how to ride your Dragon; Jackob, from the city of Kuasta in the Kingdom, who will be helping to hone your Dexzarani skills; and Marx, from the city of Narda in the Kingdom, who will be teaching you how to use other weapons, such as throwing knives, daggers, darts, the bow, etc.
"The Dwarf here is Fronva, from the Dwarven city of Galfni, who has agreed to help you in the selection of your personal weapons, as well as to teach you how to care for them.
"Finally, I myself will be teaching you the arts of Occlumency, Legilimency, and general magic. When we are teaching you, you will address us as `Master'. In our free time, feel free to use our names. Do you have any questions?"
Harry nodded his head, slightly bewildered at the sudden appearance of so many teachers to be assigned just to himself. "Is there a schedule for which subjects I'll be training in? Do I start now? What about my dragon?"
"I will be forming a schedule for you soon. I will take some time during the coming week to formulate it for you, as we will be waiting about four weeks before beginning. In the mean time, you will be waiting for your dragon to hatch, and your Masters will be using the time to prepare themselves for their tasks. The hatchling should break out of its egg within the week, and you will have to care for it for about a week until it is old enough to stay by itself during the day. After that , we will leave you for two weeks to bond with it, to learn to communicate with it. I would also say that that time could also be used to arrange your thoughts, as you and your friend, unlike the rest of your future comrades, have come from another world, and are, therefore, more separated from those you hold dear. As well as that, you yourself have…other…things on your mind, I dare say…"
Harry nodded, thinking back to what had been running through his mind the past few days. Sirius. He did not feel guilty anymore. He no longer felt it was his fault that his godfather was now dead. The card Tristan had shown him had taken the guilt away from him. But he still grieved. He no longer felt that it was all his fault, that the death of both Sirius and Cedric had been his doing, but that did not change the fact that he had lost a friend and a beloved godfather.
---~*~---
I had been six days since he was introduced to his Masters. He had been put up in a small hut near the edge of the forest. He spent his days inside, watching his egg and reading some books that the Sage had given him to prepare for his upcoming training.
He had taken quite a bit of time in thinking about what had happened to him the past few years, and in the end, while eating dinner the previous day, he had come to a decision: No longer would he stand by while other people were hurt in his name. No longer would he let others control his life. No longer would he stand alone. No longer would he be weak. He would not rest until the evils of his world were dispelled into oblivion.
---~*~---
On the tenth day, the egg hatched. He had woken up to the sound of birds twittering outside his window, and, after he had gotten dressed, he had gone to make himself some breakfast. When passing the egg, which he had made as comfortable as he could in some spare pillows and blankets, he notice that the egg was moving slightly, and, while he watched, he saw a chip of the egg crack off and fall to the ground beside it.
Forgetting breakfast, he sat down next to it and watched it with baited breath, anticipation coursing through his veins.
Slowly, ever so slowly, chips began to fall away from the egg, and then, larger and larger pieces, until there was a large hole in the top of the egg. From the center of the egg, a long, low trill came from something on the inside, and he saw a leathery area of the Dragon moving around slightly. The Dragon gave a bit of a grunt and the egg split down the sides. The Dragon flopped out of it and stood, looking around through wide eyes.
It was jet black and strong looking. Sharp ridges stood in a line down his back and into his tail, at the end of which stood two spikes lethal looking, and needle sharp. Its eyes where a deep, golden amber, slitted, like his own now where. It looked around at him slowly, stretching its wings out in a long growl. It flapped its spiked tail around lazily, looking at him with its mouth slightly open.
He pulled a hand out from his pockets and stretched it out in front of him leaving it hanging inches from its sharp, cruel mouth. It raised its head to his hand and sniffed it gently before slowly moving its head so that its forehead lay just under his hand. Slowly, it moved its head closer to his finger tip before…it touched.
He let out a yelp and the Dragon flinched. He pulled his hand away from the Dragon and cradled it in his other arm. The Dragon withdrew its head, and he noticed that a jagged, silver lightening bolt had appeared on the Dragon's scaly skin above its left eye.
He stared down at his throbbing hand and on it, too, there was a mark that had not been there a few seconds earlier. A shining silver symbol, which slightly resembled a Soviet hammer and sickle, except that none of the lines where curved. As he watched it, the throbbing lessened slowly, before disappearing completely, leaving nothing but a vague tingling.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before looking up at the Dragon again. He met its eyes and immediately looked away again. A flash of low noise had gone through the deep recesses of his consciousness. It was a dim murmuring, like when hearing the noise of a dozen people talking from the next room.
---~*~---
It took three days until the voices in his head began to make sense. They had been getting louder and louder throughout the past two days, particularly when he was in the same room. On the third day, the noises in his unconsciousness changed slowly from vague growling sounds into disjointed, slurred English, and by the morning of the fourth day, the background noises had faded completely.
He would speak to the Dragon for hours on end, and though it could not answer, it would sometimes give a small word of comfort, as well as sending him calming feelings.
The Dragon had been growing at an astonishing pace, doubling in size in three days. It had also been eating everything in site. Harry had fed it on raw stakes for the first few days, but was not required to feed it himself for too long. As soon as it was large enough to go outside, he had built a small hidey hole at the mouth of a small cave in the trees behind the cabin, and from then on, the Dragon had lived outside, hunting for its own food (it caught an average of one large cow once a day). Harry did not know where the cows came from, and dearly hoped they were not randomly disappearing from some poor farmers paddock, but no one had come to see him about it, so he did not worry long.
Slowly, the Dragon's speech became clearer and no longer disjointed. Harry found that he could speak to the Dragon through his mind as well; that it wasn't just a one way thing. He had come to this startling conclusion on the morning of the twentieth day he had spent in the cabin. He had been thinking to himself what he would name the Dragon, as, he thought, he (Harry had long since found out that the Dragon was male) had to have a name, didn't he? He dug out a book that the Sage had said he might find useful. It contained names, which Harry had found odd, not knowing what he would find it useful for, but that was now obvious. He had been thinking loudly to himself what he would name the Dragon, when the voice in the back of his mind suddenly spoke up.
A name, eh? It's about time!
He was caught off guard and gave a small start before realising who was talking to him. Wondering how the Dragon had known what he was thinking, he tried to send a message to the Dragon. Concentrating hard, he thought, Yes. Today, we will find a name for you.
He was rewarded by a squeal from the other end of the property (the Dragon had been looking for something to eat in the forest.
OW!!! Not so loud, damn it! Just direct the thought to me and I'll hear it, ok? Honestly…
Names quite forgotten, he had spent the rest of the day practising speaking with the Dragon through his mind, and only remembered the book of names when the Dragon gave an indignant snort while eating its evening meat and asking what he had done with it.
He hurriedly retrieved it and began to test names with it.
"Jura?"
No.
"Galzra? HÃrador? Briam? Ohen? Beroan? Roslarb?"
No. No. No. Definitely not. Sounds like a Horse. Nope. No, none of them.
"Saphira?"
What do you take me for??? That's a female name! NO!
He rattled off many others, and was careful not to go into any female names. Finally, he got it.
"Sowaroc?"
NO!
"Hmmmm… Ashrang?"
Silence.
Well… That's definitely better… Very well! Ashrang, I am! Now. What about you?
Harry gave it a puzzled look. I'm Harry, of course.
You misunderstand me. I meant that from what you have told me, that is your name from your world. In this world, you have told me, the names seem strange to you. Don't you think that while you are here, you should take on another name, maybe your True Name?
"My True Name?"
Yes…your True Name.
"What, do you mean by my True name?"
Ashrang folded his wings smugly behind his back and looked into the fire. Your True Name is not the name you are given at birth, but the name that your very soul would answer to. It is the name that the Magic residing inside your body calls itself. Simply, it is You. It is who you are at the deepest and most secret level.
"How do I find out what my True Name is?"
Any Elf can tell you, or, if you wish, I can, but only if you let me into your mind.
Harry sat down in front of Ashrang and looked the Dragon straight in the eye. Slitted eye met slitted eye. Harry smiled. I trust you. I will let you in.
Ashrang bowed his head. Then in I will go.
The room around him went dark, and then vanished. He could see nothing except himself and Ashrang. All around them, images flashed. Colours danced across his consciousness. He felt a probe moving slowly through his thoughts, his memories, his closest held secrets.
I have found it. You are a powerful being. You are a Dexzaran, and possess the powers of a Warlock already. You have ambition, knowledge, common sense, power, discipline, and above all, a pure heart. You are a true Rider, Astyan.
The probe retracted from his mind and the world around them came back to them. A bird twittered outside a window. The sun shined through at them, casting long shadows about the room. The greens and blues of the outside world came back to them. The wind rustled through the leaves of a tall maple tree. Harry turned back to Ashrang.
"Is that my name? My True Name?"
The Dragon lowered its head slowly. It is.
"What does it mean?"
It means…Warrior.
---~*~---
Eragon walked slowly down the hall at Farthen Dûr. He was off to speak with Ajihad, and he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous, even though the King was on speaking terms with him. He wanted to know what he could do while he was here, or if there was some obscure way of getting to Ellesmerá without waiting for the winter to pass.
He nodded to one of the Royal guards, who threw open the door behind him.
He walked slowly into the King's chambers and sat down in front of the King's desk, who looked up expectantly. The first time he had been in here, he had thought it odd that a king should sit behind a desk, but he had later found out that it was something of a tradition between these kings to try and have the most normal looking rooms while putting in them the most abnormal of objects (the contest was so far against a king that had ruled during the last century who had put a royal set of jewels inside a chest of drawers with his undergarments).
"I wanted to know, sir, how long it will take us to get to Ellesmerá once the winter is out, or if there were another way to get out where we could bypass the snows and get there faster."
The King looked at him strangely, which he expected had to do with how he had just said all of this in one breath and very fast.
"The only other way to get you out faster would have been to use the tunnels out of the city, but they where destroyed by the Urgal attack and haven't been repaired yet. You'd still have had to wait at Galfni until the winter is over there anyway. And it's a longer journey to Ellesmerá from there anyway. I think it would be best if you waited the winter out here. Besides, we could always use another hand."
Eragon nodded and stood. "What should I do while I'm waiting out the winter, sir?"
"I don't know what needs to be done, really. I have been wondering if we should prepare better defences, though, as Galbatorix is not, I should think, going to give up after just one failed attack. Perhaps you could help with that?"
Eragon nodded and walked back out through the door, intent on telling Arya and Murtagh about what the king had said.
---~*~---
Hermione looked up as a sharp rapping sound was heard from the kitchen window. Fawks sat benignly on the window, looking in at her with his head to one side. She quickly stood and made to let the Phoenix inside, where he flew over and alighted on the table, and bent over to eat some of her bacon (they where in the middle of breakfast).
Her parents gawked at Fawks for a moment before asking quietly what it was.
"It's a Phoenix. His name is Fawks. He's Professor Dumbledore's bird."
She untied the message from his leg and unrolled the scroll slowly, reading through it fast.
She put the scroll down slowly and let out a small sob. Running out of the room to cries of `What's wrong, dear?' from her parents, she ran into her room and flopped down on her bed, crying.
42 miles away and 12 minutes later, in the Weasley household, Ron unrolled a scroll from Dumbledore's Phoenix as well. He sighed, and, refusing food, went up to his room to think.
---~*~---
Harry walked slowly into the room that had been designated for his personal classes. Inside was Jonas, the Master who would be training physically. Jonas smiled at him and then began to instruct him in hat to wear during their lessons and what they would be doing in his classes.
The way it had been organized, he would be practicing this class as well as sword fighting, hand to hand combat, and dragon riding for the first three months twice as much as he would otherwise. For the next three months, he would practice Animagi and Metamorphmagi, his Dexzarani Skills, and his classes with the Sage. In the last week, he would be taking trails to see that he had learned everything perfectly, as well as taking his time to learn from Fronva, the Dwarf, on the care of his personal weapons, as well as selecting them.
He began to train.
---~^*^~---
A/N: Helloooooooo Readers! Ok. First thing's first: I'm just gonna say sorry for not making this longer. This happened to be one of the slow points in the plot, and I just wanted to get everything across. That's why it's on the short side (roughly 3500 words). I was going to try and make it a standard sized chapter (5.5 - 6 K words), but I just didn't get there.
Hope you can forgive me.
Secondly, I took about 2 ½ weeks to get this out, and next time, I should get it out faster, I know. I'll do my best, but I need about a week to plan the next chapter. After that, it takes me about a week to write it (sometimes more if I don't know how to phrase it). About 2 weeks total (I'll try and go fast, I promise).
Also, I want everyone who actually reads my Author's Notes to review me, even if you do it anonymously and tell me all the questions you have about the fic. If they are about certain things that have happened, or about loose ends in the plot, they'll be answered in the actual writing of the story. If they're about plot or things just in general, I'll try and get back to you or it'll be answered at the beginning of the next chapter or in the story itself as well. (Does all that make sense???)
On second thought, just ask me any question you have which has to do with the fic.
Constructive criticism, ideas, or other comments are welcomed. Flames just piss me off (unless they have a valid point), so don't do that.
Also, would you people PLEASE put an e-mail address where I can contact you if you are giving an anonymous review. That way, I can get back to you. Signed reviewers: you can too if you want, but I can just get your address off of your profile, so no matter.
Right. That's it, I think.
Cheers!
SilverDagger
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