literature

Magpie-Chapter 2

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The Forgotten Mistake
"I have been Foolish and Deluded," said he, "and I am a Bear of No Brain at All."-Winne-the-Pooh
It was over dinner that Magpie explained to Oromis and Glaedr exactly what she had been up to this past century. Oromis was surprised to hear of her tales, although he didn't show it.
"I did come looking for you, you know." he said, "Glaedr and I flew to Terim a month after you had left but there was no sign of you."
"The wind god Rhuk had already summoned me." Magpie smiled. "Such glorious battles I fought in the world beyond this one." then she frowned, "and to come back to find my home ravaged, my friends hurt beyond healing. I suppose this is the final battle." she sighed.
Oromis said nothing, but Eragon could tell something passed between them, and it had nothing to do with telepathy.
"Well then, your time here is limited Eragon and I've already spent too much of it running off to fetch Magpie. There is still much to discuss. Shall I guess which subject you would like to address next or will you tell me?"
"The two times we have fought Murtagh and Thorn, Murtagh has been more powerful than any human ought to be. On the Burning Plains, he defeated Saphira and me because we did not realize how strong he was. If not for his change of heart, we would be prisoners in Urû'baen right now. You once mentioned that you know how Galbatorix has become so powerful. Will you tell us now, Master? For our own safety, we need to know."
The young rider's gaze flicked towards Magpie, unsure if she had the privilege to such sensitive information.
"It is not my place to tell you this," said Oromis.
"Then whose is it?" demanded Eragon. "You can't-"
Behind Oromis Glaedr opened one of his molten eyes, which was as large as a round shield, and said, It is mine…The source of Galbatorix's power lies in the hearts of dragons. From us, he steals his strength. Without our aid, Galbatorix would have fallen to the elves and the Varden long ago.
Eragon frowned, and Magpie bit into an apple.
"I don't understand. Why would you help Galbatorix? And how could you? There are only four dragons and an egg left in Alagaësia…aren't there?"
Many of the dragons whose bodies Galbatorix and the Forsworn slew are still alive today.
"Still alive….?" Bewildered, Eragon glanced at Oromis, but the elf remained quiet, he and Magpie seemed to be locked in silent conversation. Even more disconcerting was that Saphira did not seem to share Eragon's confusion.
The gold dragon turned his head on his paws to better look at Eragon, his scales scraping against one another. Unlike with most creatures, he said, a dragon's consciousness does not reside solely within our skulls. There is in our chests a hard, gemlike object, similar in composistion to our scales, called the Eldunarí, which means "the heart of hearts." When a dragon hatches, their Eldunarí is clear and lusterless. Usually, it remains so all through a dragon's life and dissolves along with the dragon's corpse when they die. However, if we wish, we can transfer our consciousness to the Eldunarí. Then it will acquire the same color as our scales and begin to glow like a coal. If a dragon has done this, the Eldunarí will outlast the decay of their flesh, and a dragon's essence may live on indefinitely. Also, a dragon can disgorge their Eldunarí while they are still alive. By this means, a dragon's body and a dragon's consciousness can exist separately but still be linked, which can be most useful in certain circumstances. But to do this exposes us to great danger, for whosoever holds our Eldunarí holds our very soul in their hands. With it, they could force us to do their bidding, no matter how vile.
There was a loud cough and everyone turned to Magpie who had begun choking on her apple. She spat out a bit of it and breathed deep.
"That rotten old feather duster! I knew there was a reason he had dumped me here!" she screeched at the sky.
"What is it now?" Oromis asked.
Magpie turned on him, a wild look in her eyes.
"I…your…" she hung her head, "This is all my fault."
Oromis refilled his goblet with wine. "Go on." he said.
"When I was in Terim, researching how to bring Liam back I … made some notes, notes pertaining to an old myth about the god Rhuk. We Feathers say that Rhuk keeps his soul in a pearl which, depending on the version, is either kept within his paws as he travels the skies or hidden somewhere for no one to find. I used that legend to form an idea, and you know how ideas never die, this idea was that I could store the soul of a still living creature, or person, inside a gem. Perhaps even use it as a power source, a never ending supply of energy!" she bit her lip, "That's where Galbatorix got the idea!"
"Oh please," Oromis said, clearly exasperated, "you really must stop all this guilt. Galbatorix-"
"Came to me!" Magpie half shouted, "You showed me what he looks like Oromis! He came to my lab in Terim! I didn't know who he was at the time, I was so busy with research that I just handed him my notes." she slumped, "The notes were only half an idea based on Rhuk's Pearl, and in those notes I talked about ways to combine the energy from many such 'pearls' into a single stream. It's difficult to be taking energy from several things at once, it's erratic and messy. I was trying to remedy this, to bring many nodes of energy into a single, powerful stream. The day after Galbatorix came I was called away. He must have come back and taken the notes or gone on with that mad plan of his. Either way I'm the one who gave him the knowledge to do so."
"Magpie," Oromis said, "notes or no notes Galbatorix would have found a way. That's why I came looking for you in Terim, I wanted to warn you. By the time Galbatorix got there he was already set on domination. If anything you fueled the fire, nothing more do you understand?"
Magpie sighed and refused to meet his gaze.
Fixed a little bit of this chapter. But honestly I can't think of a way to refine it more. Not that this is going to be the next great american fanfiction. But it's going to be up there I think, along with Sapphire's Redemption.
© 2012 - 2024 thegriffin88
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