Black, Violet, and Red

[Nilaya]

Black Betrayal

Nilaya's reception in her hometown had gone about as well as could be expected. Her family had seen her and acted as though they hadn't, acted as though the girl who was their disowned daughter wasn't even standing there. That was fine with her. She didn't want anything to do with them anyways.

The only thing that had disappointed her was how much difficulty she was having finding Abner, her former teacher. His sister, Laureli, was a fortune teller. When Nilaya couldn't find Abner at their house she asked Laureli about it and learned that he'd be driven out of town by the villagers. He was supposedly hiding in a cave in the mountains on the far side of Leona Lake. That was where Nilaya was headed now with Laureli as her guide.

"How much further to this cave," Nilaya asked as they'd been trekking through the mountains for quite some time.

"Here is far enough," Laureli said. Her tone made Nilaya nervous. As they'd gotten further out of town Laureli had seemed less and less herself and Nilaya had grown more and more wary of the older woman.

"What do you mean? Is Abner coming to meet us here?"

Laureli laughed, a cold, brittle laughter. "I have no clue where Abner is. There's no chance he'd tell me."

Nilaya merely nodded, sensing something really was wrong here. She began to wonder why she hadn't trusted her instincts and left Laureli in the village. I have to keep her talking, at least until I know what's going on.

Fortunately that wasn't too hard. "You don't understand, do you child? The villagers never ran Abner out of town. Even when you tried to give him away he never revealed what he was, a spellcaster. The only reason he left was me, because of what I saw him doing."

She paused for a moment, then flew into her story again. "He started summoning spirits. It's a dark art, as you probably well know. I wasn't ready to drive him out then. No, I only warned him what he was doing was dangerous. He didn't listen and what I caught him doing next was far worse. He was trying to turn himself into a shade. I stopped him that time and drove him out. I haven't seen him since.

"Then.... Then you showed up. I remember he'd been teaching you. I began to think that either you knew where he was or you were coming back for a new lesson. You're too much like him Nilaya. When I realized you didn't know where he was I knew I had to stop you from following him, both physically and metaphorically."

Nilaya's heart began to race and Laureli pulled out a concealed dagger. The woman had lied once so there was no guarantee that this was the truth either. There was only one truth Nilaya could see, and that was that one of them was not returning from these mountains.

"Please," she attempted. "I knew nothing of this."

"I'm sorry," said Laureli. She didn't seem to mean the words. There was no sign of regret in her eyes, only unmasked malice. Nilaya had no choice, she turned and ran not wanting to use the word of power she knew would save her.

She ran through the mountains. For a while she lost sight of Laureli and it was then she spotted the cave. She heard the voice of her pursuer, calling her name. The cave was a risk. There was no telling what was inside there. It was far safer than staying where she could be seen though.

She ran in, but missed her footing as soon as she passed beyond the light cast by the sun of the cave. She tumbled into the darkness and down a small slope where she came to a stop.

She could just see in the light cast from cracks in the ceiling of this cavern. She was in a structure like a large nest, the only thing here aside from a large, round object. It shined like a gem and was a bright shade of violet. Quietly she crawled over and reached out a hand to it.

[Rashid]

The Violet Dragon

Rashid lay dormant within the shell of his egg as he had for untold years now. His mother and father had been killed by Galbatorix and the Forsworn, though this was unknown the the baby dragon. He reached out, searching for a consciousness that fit what he wanted in a rider. No one had touched his egg. Not even the Forsworn had known he was here.

So Rashid waited for someone to touch his egg, even if it wasn't his rider. Then he felt it. She touched his egg and he felt her mind. The first touch since his parents so many years ago. She was the one he wanted too. His rider had come, had found him. Nilaya.

[Nilaya]

His Eyes Were Red

Something felt odd about the strange, stony object to Nilaya. She wasn't really sure what to do with it. I'll take it with me. Maybe I can find someone who knows what it is. She picked it up and cradled it in her arms. She made her way up the gently sloping side of the nest. She reached the mouth of the cave, about to leave when she spotted something.

Just within her view was Laureli. Her back was to Nilaya who was still hidden in the shadows of the cave. Facing her was Abner. Nilaya recognized him, but his features were different. He was very pale and his hair and eyes were red.

Red eyes. Laureli was right. The thoughts were panicked in Nilaya's mind. She backed further down the tunnel so she could no longer she Abner. She could hear Laureli screaming, pleading, though couldn't really make out the words. It made little difference to the shade who had once been Abner. He ran his blade through the woman.

Nilaya slid back down the slope of the nest and waited in the dim silence. Waited for him to come and find her too. Night fell and he never did. Lighting a stick from the nest with the word for fire she held her torch and made her way out of the cave, the violet orb under her arm. She would get as far out of the mountains as she could tonight tonight. She'd head back to Teirm to meet Lagritz and Berl, even though she hadn't learned anything. She couldn't stay here, not when Abner, the shade who had been Abner, could still be around. She couldn't get the image of his changed face out of her mind. I will never resort to what you did for respect, she swore. Little did she know she would never have to.

((I have no intent to bring Abner back in at this moment. He was merely for some plot resolution.))

[Nilaya]

The Golden Future

((I know this is a double post, but it's more fitting to the pattern and Rashid's POV wouldn't work for this.))

Nilaya stopped moving finally when the sun started to rise over the horizon. She was tired, but she was finally out of the mountains, hopefully away from the danger. In the bright golden light she noticed something she couldn't in the dark, a crack forming on the violet orb she held. It started to grow and she dropped the orb in surprise.

Realizing what she'd done she stopped it from rolling away with her foot just as a clawed, scaly, lizard-like foot broke through. She watched as three other feet came through and then a tail. The remaining shell - she realized now that it was an egg - broke off as the head popped out. A largish lizard of violet color varying from deep, violent purples to lavender hues.

It turned it's head to look at her and stumbled trying to walk over to her. She bent down and picked it up. As she did she noticed something. On her left hand, the hand that had first touched the egg, was a silver-white marking. Why didn't I notice that before?

Because it was dark and you were scared and preoccupied. The male voice in her mind made her jump and she could feel it now as she realized she had before but had been to distracted to stop. There was another mind sifting through her thoughts, which angered her.

Oops... I see that now. You view this as a violation of you privacy, not that there's much you can do about me. We're connected now.

"Who... who are you?" she asked, searching for the source of the voice.

You're holding me.

She glanced down at the lizard - Dragon. - fine, dragon in her arms.

"Wait? A dragon? I thought Galbatorix and the Forsworn wiped you out."

They probably killed my parents, but after them no one but you had even found my nest.

How sad. He was all alone..... just like her.

Yes, just like you. I've seen those memories. You don't have to explain. I know how painful the memories are for you.

She turned her eyes to the golden sunrise again. The memories of her family disowning her were painful. The dragon was entirely inside her mind. She had an inkling of an idea what this meant, but wasn't entirely sure about it.

It's not really your choice. It was mine. I chose you.

"Why?" she asked, her eyes not leaving the sunrise. The dragon had now turned to look at it too.

I'm not sure really. It's just that when you touched my egg I felt your mind and I realized you were the one I wanted. I just knew.

This dragon had seen something in her, something where her family had seen nothing... or, her family aside from one brother. But when they'd gone to disown Nilaya and he'd tried to protect her they'd threatened to disown him too. He was engaged and if he was disowned that wouldn't go so well with his fiancee's family. He'd stepped down, not that Nilaya had blamed him.

"What's your name?" she asked the dragon.

I don't have one yet. That's for you to decide.

She knew what she'd call him. The dragon was her protector now, because now even that brother hadn't spoken to her when she'd been in town and there was no guarantee that would change when he got married. So the dragon would have his name, and maybe if her brother learned that he'd get the courage to stand up to their parents. Nilaya could possibly forgive him even if she could forgive no one else.

"Rashid. I'll call you Rashid."