"We should land here," Teräos said. They'd been traveling for almost six hours straight and all of them were very tired. They were currently above a meadow with a small forest nearby. Yes, let's do that, please, Lilio whimpered. I'm starving and my wings are sore.
They still had a long way to go, Ellesméra was about two days away. But now it was time for some well-deserved rest. As soon as the Rider got off their backs, the dragon fell to the ground, exhausted. Flauga's stomach roared with hunger. "You guys should eat something," Mema said with concern. Yes, but later, Tidr whispered. I can't even move my wings right now.
Amma took off Flauga's saddlebag, so the blue dragon could rest his back. But she did it for other reasons, too. She loved looking at the dragon eggs they were delivering. Their energy, their magic, their mystery. All these things fascinated her. Some eggs had bright, colorful shells. Others had mute, calm colors. But all of them radiated miraculous energy, that Amma could not quite put her finger on.
The dragons fell asleep. They were still clearly hungry, but their exhaustion got the best of them. Mema, Teräos and Amma ate some of their food supplies and then rested, staring at the sky. Coulds passed above their heads and everything was peaceful. "Where do you think the eggs will hatch?" Mema asked, breaking the silence. "I hope they will choose someone strong and reasonable," Teräos mumbled. "Not some weakling who can't even hold a sword properly. We have too many of these in the Hall." Amma rolled her eyes. Teräos liked to go on about how many Riders are bad fighters. She heard that at least seven times since the start of their jurney. The truth was, everybody kind of sucked when they came to the Hall. That's why they were travelling there in the first place - to learn history, magic and fighting.
"Well, that's not up to you," Amma chuckled, responding to Teräos. "It's the dragons' choice. You can only hope they make a good one."
Flauga opened his eyes and yawned. I'm so hungry! If we don't go hunting right now, I'll bite my own tail off. Lilio and Tidr got up too. Yeah, let's go get some food, Tidr grunted. The three dragons stretched their wings and soon took off to silence their hunger.
They returned an hour later. They were carrying one young doe each. The dragons landed on the ground with a loud thud and ate their prey in less than five minutes. I could use another nap after such delicious lunch, Lilio purred, but Flauga shook his head. No, we have to get going. The sooner we get to Ellesméra, the sooner we can head back.
And so they flew. They took breaks more regularly, because they weren't willing to risk such hunger and exhaustion again. The day was coming to its end, and far, far ahead, first trees of Du Weldenvarden forest were forming. Their journey was near the end.
The night finally came. The dragons landed and their Riders got ready to rest. "I'm going to keep watch first," Amma announced. She didn't like waking up in the middle of the night.
They got back on track later than they wanted. Teräos insisted on sleeping in and the dragons wanted to hunt something small before continuing their flight. The sun was already above the horizon when they took off. But hour by hour, they were getting closer and closer to their goal.
They had to stop more often that day. The dragons' wings were still tired from yesterday. But as the night was creeping to the sky once again, they landed in the forest of Du Weldenvarden. Lilio scratched her wings when flying throught the thick roof of the magical forest, but they didn't have enough stregth to continue flying. They also didn't intend to continue on foot, as that would only slow them down and make them more vulnerable to whatever was hiding in the resilient forest.
Stars covered the sky and the dragons went to sleep. It was a long day and they needed to get some rest. Ellesméra was now only few hours away. The Riders soon followed them, but didn't stay like that very long. The thought of meeting Queen Arya unsettled them in a way.
They woke up long before sunrise, one by one and couldn't go back to sleep. So instead, they admired the nature around them and slowly said goodbye to the eggs. "You know what? I'm gonna miss them," Mema said, staring at the saddlebags full of what was soon to become powerful dragons. "Me too," Amma agreed and took one of the eggs out of the bag. It was bright orange, like sunset. This was not the first time Amma held it in her hands. She was always drawn to this one. She liked the color. She liked its energy. She believed in the dragon sleeping inside it.
Amma froze, as the silver mark on her palm started glowing. "What is going on?" the other Riders turned to her. Amma could not answer them. She had no idea. The egg's shell started cracking, and Amma put it on the ground, in fear of breaking it more. Flauga rose from his sleep. His Rider's distress must have woken him. What's happening?
The egg kept cracking and soon it was as clear as day, that Amma was not the who broke it. Pieces of the eggshell started peeling and a pair of golden eyes peered from behind them. Half of the egg fell off and revealed a small, golden-eyed hatchling. The light that was coming from Amma's palm woke the other dragons up as well. And then it slowly subsided. The realisation dawned on Amma.
There must have been a mistake. One Rider could not be chosen by two dragons. There were spells preventing that. But what else would be going on then? The orange dragon must have chosen her as its Rider, even though Amma already had a partner of heart and mind.
As the last morning star shone in the sky, they sat there in silence, with questions running through their minds.
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